Submerged in Nature!

 Submerged in Nature!

Day 1

We arrived at the Cwrt Farm at around 12:00pm and unloaded the luggage from the car, ready to put on the trailer that takes it all down to the boat. While waiting for the trailer to arrive, I looked around the car park for any interesting butterflies. Eventually, I saw a white butterfly species land on a bramble leaf. At first, I didn't know what it was, but after a bit of research, I found it was a Small White, my first confirmed sighting of this butterfly! Eventually, the trailer arrived and after helping load the luggage, we began the walk down to Porth Meudwy. Along the track, I noticed many more white butterflies but I couldn't identify them. I also noticed my first ever Gatekeeper, as it landed on an umbellifer. We then reached the beach, and while waiting for the boat, we met Ollie. I found out that he is here to assist with researching the Manx Shearwaters. While waiting, we also spotted Small Tortoiseshell and a Migrant Hawker. First day, first hour and already satisfied!

When the boat arrived, we all got on and began the journey to the island. On the boat, Ollie pointed out a few Manx Shearwaters, my first of the year, and also a few Kittiwakes. I then spotted a Guillemot sat on the sea. When we arrived. We followed a couple with their grandkids to the observatory, where we unpacked. We gathered round the front for an introductory talk. After hearing the talk, we had some food and then set of with the assistant warden, Ed, who took us with him to ring some Manx Shearwater chicks! He brought us down to Pen Cristin, which held multiple Manx Shearwater burrows. He reached his hand into one of the burrows, finding a Manx Shearwater chick. It was amazing to see him blindly reach into a burrow, like celebrity get me out of here and then produce a fat great chick. They were amazing to look at and amazingly compliant, not trying to run away. They behaved much like a content new born.  He explained how he rung the bird, flattening out the F sized ring. After he was done with ringing, he let me hold the chick before releasing it..

We continued along Pen Cristin, ringing more Manx Shearwater chicks until Ed called me over to see a Small Copper butterfly. Unfortunately, it was too quick for me to be able to get a record shot, but that was my third new butterfly species of the day! Then, Ed pointed out a Lapwing flying over the island, heading south. I soon learnt that Lapwings aren't a common sight on the island. After ringing more chicks for the whole afternoon, we headed back to the obs in the evening, where we met Patrick (who was here with his wife and grandkids) seawatching, I asked him some questions, ate some supper and went to bed, ready to explore the island tomorrow!

Day 2

We woke up early the next morning, excited to retrieve last night's moth trap. We followed Ed to where he placed the trap and on the way, I saw a Magpie Moth, which was new for me. It flew out of a bush as we walked round to the trap. I went to go locate where it landed, but Ed mentioned that there was a Magpie Moth in the trap! When we got to the trap, Ed showed me the moth sat on the grass. As I tried to gently coax it on my finger, it flew off.

As Ed walked away to check the mist nets and try to capture something in the Heligoland trap, he pointed out a Chinese Character moth on the light, as well as a Willow Beauty. I noticed the Willow Beauty straight away, as it stood out as a large, grey moth, but having never heard of a Chinese Character, we had no clue what he was looking at. When he returned to bring the trap back to the front of the obs, I asked him where the Chinese Character moth was, and he pointed to a small, white lump, with markings that looked exactly like bird poo. 

As Ed noted down all the moths, I had a look through the egg cartons, asking him about all the moth species that I wasn't sure about. The first new moth species I saw in the trap was The Clay.

Then, Ed pointed out a Rosy Minor moth, another new moth for me. This moth was surprisingly small and very confiding, as I managed to put it on my finger, before placing it on a wall.

Then, Ed placed four species of moths on the table, saying the bottom moth was a Large Yellow Underwing, the moth on the left was a Lesser Yellow Underwing, the moth in the middle was a Lesser Broad-bordered Yellow Underwing and that the moth on the right was a Least Yellow Underwing. The two smaller yellow underwings were both new to me. 

One of my favourite moths from the trap was a Dark Sword-Grass, one of the three target moth species of the trip, with the other two being Convolvulus and Hummingbird Hawkmoth. This was one of two seen in the trap. 

Another of my favourite species of moth in the trap was a Ruby Tiger moth. Ever since I heard about the moth, I had really wanted to see it. I wasn't expecting to see this moth this week, meaning I was delighted when I saw it. Also in the trap were multiple Scarce Footmans, Common Rustics and Brimstone moths, as well as The Lychnis moth and a Lackey moth, which I managed to get walking along my hand before flying off. A few micros were also in the trap, with Eudonia Mercurella and Dingy Dowd being my favourite two.

Before leaving to explore the island, I checked the Buddleia bush, seeing multiple Red Admirals which allowed me to walk close to them. Then, Emma, the wife of the warden who took on may of the responsibilities of the lodge, told me about an iron sheet in the front garden, which I flipped and saw the only reptile species on Bardsey, a Slow Worm. I was then told that I could hold it, but as soon as I knew this, it had already slithered away. Slow Worms aren't actually a snake, they're a legless lizard, which I found fascinating when Emma told me.

We then began our first trek around the island, walking down Green Lane to get to the west coast of the island, before then heading south along a coastal path. We noticed many Wrens along Green Lane, and then loads of Meadow Pipits in the fields and Stonechats on the gorse bushes. There were also many Ravens flying over, making their distinct deep 'cronk-cronk' call. Another numerous bird, was the noisy, yet stunning Oystercatchers. 

The fields along the coastal path were covered in adult and juvenile Wheatears. When we got onto the main track, there were many relaxed Grey Seals in the bay towards the lighthouse.

We then walked back to the obs to eat some lunch. While I was waiting on the benches out the front, a dark, large bird with a cream coloured head came into view. It was a Marsh Harrier, I watched it for a bit, before it flew out of view behind the courthouse. I ran over to tell Ed, who came round to the front and relocated the bird flying around the withies, before landing. He then told Steve who ran down to the main track and managed to get a photograph of it. 

I then began walking up to The Nant, hoping to see a few migrants, I got to where I thought Nant was. The Nant, but only saw a few spread out pine trees and a large, plant-filled pond, so I walked towards an area with young plants and some bee hives. Along that walk, I saw many Common Blues & Meadow Browns, as well as one or two Green-veined Whites which I managed to photograph. We then headed up a path that lead up the mountain (a walk I dreaded, recalling the hike up a mountain to see Ptarmigan in Scotland that was hard to climb). I really wanted to see a few new butterfly species, so I was determined to climb it.

Halfway up the climb, (which so far had turned out to be surprisingly effortless) I noticed a dark butterfly, showing a flash of red. I waited for it to land and as soon as it did, four eyes, one in each corner, with two big and two small, stared at me. It was the beautiful Peacock Butterfly. A species I was hoping to see when I found out that they were present on the island. 

We walked further up the mountain, until we reached a spot with tons of bare rock and Bell Heather, two things that Ed told us the Graylings (one of my target butterfly species for the mountain) loved. I started scanning, when I saw a dull, cold-toned version of a Meadow Brown flutter around before landing in a patch of grass. It had its wings closed, white grey streak; a white curly vertical band and a black circle with a small white dot inside surrounded by a dull orange. It was a Grayling. I was very pleased with this sighting, having dipped it before in Cleveland. We continued up, seeing loads more of them, further up the mountain. 

We then reached the very tip of the mountain, so we scanned about when my mum/chauffer spotted a small butterfly with spotty orange patches on both its wings. It was a Small Copper! Having seen this butterfly only once, briefly when ringing Manx Shearwater chicks with Ed, I was very pleased to see this one, which stayed put long enough for a photo.

I then continued scanning when I heard a 'chee-ow'' call, followed by two, small, crow-like birds with a curved, red bill and red feet feeding on a bare, grassy area. They were Chough! I watched them, managing to take a record shot before they flew off. We then walked back down to the obs, ate some dinner, and ventured back out, but this time to the Southern end 

Having heard of a Little Egret (a scarce bird for the island) being seen in the bay at Cafn, we walked over, meeting Patrick (who was coming back from the Southern end) who said the Little Egret was still present. When we got down to Cafn, we immediately spotted a distinct, small white heron, the Little Egret. Then, a Grey Heron flew in and mobbed the Little Egret, stealing its catch and taking its spot. 

We then carried on towards the lighthouse, seeing multiple Grey Seal. We got word earlier that there was at least one Common Seal amongst them, but after searching through the seals, we couldn't find it. 

When we got to the lighthouse, I noticed a large, orange and black butterfly fluttering in a field by a path. When it landed, I spotted its orange wings, with black wingtips, all covered in white spots and the wings having black streaking on the orange. It was a Painted Lady butterfly, my fourth new butterfly of the day and my sixth new butterfly of the trip.

It was turning dark so we headed back to the obs. We ate supper and got ready for bed, when Patrick knocked on our door, asking if we wanted to come out with him and his grandkids and Ollie and Steph to remove some GPS tags of some Manx Shearwaters. We immediately said yes and got ready. When we went downstairs, we were handed some spare headtorches from Steph to borrow. We dressed up warm and then headed up to Pen Cristin. Steph, who had been on the island six weeks before us, had mapped out a four small, grassy hills that made a square, with all the small hills covered in Manx Shearwater burrows. We checked all the burrows, seeing that two Manx Shearwaters were in the burrows and feeding their chicks thanks to the two wooden sticks placed by the entrance of the burrow. If the sticks were up, it meant a Manx Shearwater adult had not yet gone through, however if the sticks were down, it meant a Manx Shearwater was in the burrow. The first two burrows we checked both had their sticks down, and we could see the Manx Shearwater's tail in both of the burrows, so we blocked off the entrance to prevent them from escaping and waited to let them feed their chick. After waiting for around half an hour, we went round and collected the Manx Shearwaters in the burrows. The first one was very calm. Ollie and Steph showed us how they removed the tags, and also answered my many questions on shearwater navigation. It was an amazing surprise night and I did not feel tired at all. 

They then removed three tags of three different Manx Shearwater, before we called it a night and left Steph and Ollie to retrieve the tags in peace.

Day 3

We woke up late the next morning, and when I went outside, I saw the moth trap covered in a cloth. I asked Ed if he had opened it, and he said yes. He also said that there weren't many interesting moths in the trap. I then decided to loom through it, when I noticed a light brown moth on the cloth covering the trap. I asked Ed what the moth was, and he replied, saying it was a Scalloped Oak, a new moth for me.

I then looked through the egg cartons, noticing many Scarce Footmen, Brimstone Moths and Common Rustics, as well as a few Square-spot Rustics and White-line Darts. I then got surprised by Ed with the news that we were going off the island to twitch a mega rare Bridled Tern! So we got ready and got onto a boat off the island before walking to the farm car park.

We then got a lift from Patrick and set off with Ed to Hafan-y-Mor to see this rare tern. When we arrived, we did a fairly long walk to the path just outside the caravan park, and started scanning the rocks. Since I didn't have my scope, I couldn't scan very well, however I did search with my binoculars. There were loads of terns, which consisted of mainly Sandwich Terns, however there were also many Arctic & Common Terns.

As well as terns, there were also loads of gulls. Most of them were Herring & Black-headed Gulls, but there were also a few Great & Lesser Black-backed Gulls. Amongst all the commoner gulls, were a few Mediterranean Gulls. We continued searching, when Patrick spotted some Common Sandpipers that were visible on the sandy beach. 

We searched for nearly three hours, seeing multiple Arctic Skuas flying past throughout, including three that flew close in, when suddenly, someone runs over to our group of twitchers, saying that the Bridled Tern flew towards us, however it was far out. A few people got onto it, saying it was getting closer, and flying towards the rocks in front of us, so I waited. Eventually, a dark-backed tern came into view. It was the Bridled Tern. I watched as it landed in front of us, long enough for me to get a few record shots of it. It was a stunning bird and it was great to watch it for ages, as it gave great views at all angels, as if it knew it was modelling for us all. 

We then headed back to the island, stocking up on some groceries at Asda along the way, as we heard our stay would be extended by a day. When we arrived on the island, we carried the bags up to the obs, seeing many Stonechats along the way.

We then ate some supper when some people pointed out a huddle of Yellow Meadow Ants beginning their nuptial flight on the corner of a step. 

We then did a seawatch, seeing a few Manxies, as well as some Kittiwakes, a Common Scoter, a Great Skua, a few Arctic Skuas and a Sandwich Tern. Then, Ed suddenly said that there were two dolphins breaching between the mist net pole and the furthest right chimney. I watched, and waited nervously when suddenly two fins broke the water. They were Risso's Dolphins. At first, we only saw two, but then we counted at least four. I was ecstatic to see them, as they were one of my three targets for the trip.

We then set off with Ed to ring some Storm Petrels. We grabbed the nets, and after struggling a lot putting the nets up, having to move the anchor, replace the nets for longer ones and replace the speaker's battery, we finally got it all set up thanks to Ed's perseverance. We played the speakers and waited. We used a thermal camera to check if the nets had caught any Stormies, and Ed said there were around four, so he went to quickly retrieve them.  He then waited for the group to pay attention, hiding one of the birds behind his back, before the big reveal. I was ecstatic to see the Storm Petrels, as they were another one of my three targets for the trip. 

Then, Conor (Emma and Steve's son) came over with two adult Manx Shearwaters he had found. They rung both of them, and let them go. One flew off straight away, with another just laying there, allowing us to pet it. 

We then kept catching many Stormies and managed to get this comparison shot of one, showing just how small they are as compared to a Manxie! After watching and releasing a few more Storm Petrels, we called it a day and headed back. However, we had no clue where to go and got lost. Luckily, Patrick, who was also heading back to the obs, heard us make a loud noise after being pricked by a gorse bush, so he came over and thankfully showed us the way back. 

Day 4

I then woke up early the next morning in order to not miss the moth trap. Knowing that I'd have to wait a bit, I did some birding from the window in the room I was staying in. In the front garden, the first birds I noticed were migrants, with many Willow Warblers, Blackbirds, Robins and a few Blackcaps. 

I then went to check the light, seeing my first new moth of the day, a Purple Bars. There were also a few Yellow-Tails. 

I then noticed a two pug moth species on the light, which Ed identified for me. The first one was a Double-striped Pug.

And the second one was a Common Pug. There was also a Willow Beauty on the light as well as a few of what I think are Dark Fruit-tree Tortrix (one of them pictured in the bottom of this image)

The last new moth for me on the light and for the day was a Garden Rose Tortrix, a stunning and distinct micro moth.

I then got back to birding from my room's window, seeing a few Ravens flyover and a Curlew feeding in the fields.

When Ed opened the trap, there were many Scalloped Oaks, Square-spot Darts, Common Rustics & Brimstones but nothing new or interesting. There were also a few Common Sexton Beetles and Geotrupes Stercorarius. We then went up the mountain again, seeing some more Graylings as well as a few Meadow Browns & Painted Ladies, however we didn't see any Chough this time. We then walked to Ty Pellaf hoping to see Willoughby's Leafcutter Bees after reading about them in Bardsey's 2017 wildlife report. We went inside the shop to ask the lady inside if she had any sightings recently of Leafcutter Bees, and she said that they come in her garden and eat her rose leaves. We got a tour of her amazing garden, in which she grew many crops in, including apples, tomatoes, rhubarb, cabbages and lettuce. We then had a look for any bees, but saw none. We also met the farm's sheep dog, Moss, which was  the only dog permitted on the island, as it was a working sheep dog. He often stayed at Ty Pellaf, watching the geese. The lady was called Christine and was Collin's (the person who drives the boat to Bardsey Island) mother. She said she raised him on the island in the old schoolhouse, teaching him and other students. Her husband, Ernest, was a fisherman, catching lobsters. We then left and walked around the island, waiting for it to turn dark to do another Storm Petrel ringing session. 

We then set off at around 9:30pm to unravel the nets and play the speaker, before settling down in a patch of Bell Heather. We then caught a few Stormies straight, with Steve, Ed and Patrick all ringing them, including Steve guiding me through ringing my first ever bird! Last night, Ed ringed 55 Storm Petrels by 1:00am, however tonight was a bit quieter, with plenty flying around the net, but not many being caught, with the ones that were being caught escaping soon after. This was due to the wind, so we ended up leaving early, but this time following Steve so we didn't get lost. When we arrived back at the obs, Steve took us round to check the two ponds for newts. We looked at the first one, behind the schoolhouse, and didn't see much. We then checked the one near the bird feeders. and saw a brief glimpse of a youngster. He also mentioned about Ant Woodlice, an uncommon species of isopod found at Bardsey. 

Day 5

When we woke up the next day, we got up just in time to see the moth trap opening, however the only interesting/new moth for me today was a Rosy Rustic.

 

I then got called over to the courtyard by Steve, and when I arrived he showed me a Spotted Flycatcher on a pole fly-catching. 

I then asked him about the Ant Woodlice while Ed went to try and set up a net to catch the bird. He showed me some stones which he flipped over, yet to no avail. Then, Ed arrived and flipped one stone over, showing me loads of Ant Woodlice crawling around. Like there name suggests, I found out from Ed that they only survive in ant colonies, of which the ants take them in, thinking they're their eggs and feed them. 

We then set off to Ty Pellaf, trying to find Christine to let her know we were in her garden, but when no reply came, we walked off, when the sheep dog, Moss, followed us in front, we walked over to the boathouse, looking for mining bees, and then headed over to the west coast, walking along the path, with the dog still following us. Then, Moss, went down to the beach, so we followed him when he got to the waters edge, and waited, we were puzzled at first, but then realised what he wanted, so we chucked a few stones in the water, which he chased after, barking. We continued to throw some sticks & stones in the water, which he barked after and chased. We then walked along the west coast, with Moss following in front. We then reached the north end, seeing multiple Meadow Pipits, Wheatear, Raven, Kittiwakes, Chough, Shags and Herring Gulls throughout. When we reached the Nant, we looked for some more migrants, seeing another Spotted Flycatcher as well as loads of Willow Warblers. 

We then headed back to Cristin, ate some lunch, and went back to the Nant where Ed was ringing, spotting a Small Tortoiseshell along the way. 

When we arrived at Nant, Ed said he only caught a few Willow Warblers but had seen many Spotted Flycatchers. We sat at the spot he recommended, seeing loads more Willow Warblers and Stonechats, as well as better and prolonged views of another Spotted Flycatcher. 

We then walked this time to the lighthouse, with Moss following us after we picked him up from Ty Pellaf and talked to Christine. On the way to the lighthouse, we noticed a few bees going into some holes. At first I thought they were mining bees, but after asking a bee expert, William, I found out these were actually a species of Colletes Bee, and after looking at Bardsey's reports, I found out there are often large congregations of Heather Colletes Bees most years where we saw them. They are also the only Colletes Bee species on the island, and matched the description of the bees we saw, meaning they must have been Heather Colletes Bees.

When we got to the lighthouse, we saw many Shags, as well as a few Oystercatchers, Curlew and a Whimbrel.

We then headed back to the obs, seeing a flock of at least four Turnstones and six Redshanks along the way. 

Day 6

I woke up the next morning really early, and checked the light on the moth trap, seeing a few Chinese Characters, Brimstones, a Ruby Tiger and many Scarce Footmen. Then I flipped some stones, trying to find some special woodlice species such as Painted or Common Pygmy Woodlice, when I noticed a flash of white on the wall, and then saw the distinctive Yellow-tail moth. 

I then spotted a Whitethroat in the front garden, skulking in the bushes, as well as a few Blackcaps & Willow Warblers. 

I also spotted a Raven flying around low in the fields in front, and managed to get a record shot of one, finally on the ground, showing me the distinct ID features of Ravens on the ground, with a huge body and bill. 

I then decided to do a seawatch, seeing multiple diving Gannets, Manxies and Kittiwakes. 

Then, we were told that Steve wanted to take us out on a guided walk, so we did a seawatch while we waited, seeing nothing interesting or new for the day. We then set off with Steve, who showed us where the Gwynne's Mining Bees were nesting last year, however we didn't see any. He mentioned that it could've been due to the time of year, as they were seen in June. We then stepped into a wildflower field, seeing many Common Bird's-Foot-Trefoil, as well as the rarer Autumn Lady's-Tresses (pictured). 

Steve then took us down to the coast where he showed us another rare plant, Sharp Rush, which, like its name suggests, is very sharp.

After hearing about the Common Sea-Slaters, a large isopod, being seen under rocks along the coast at Bardsey, I flipped some rocks and under the first one, I saw loads scurry off. I then lifted another one, and managed to pick one up and let it crawl around my hand, before placing it back on a rock to get a record shot, before it scurried off. 

Steve then took us to some rock pools, where we walked barefoot around the rocks in pain and in the water with comfort. Steve then said to stay still and look down at our feet, and a shrimp species (most likely Brown Shrimp) came to our feet and starting nibbling on it, cleaning the dead skin from my feet, making a tickling sensation. We also saw a few other rockpool species like Common Limpet and Kelp.  

We put our socks and shoes back on and continued along the coast, when Steve pointed out a Black-headed Gull, an irregular sight at Bardsey. We also saw a total of eleven Turnstones as well as many Redshanks, Oystercatchers, Curlews and a Ringed Plover. We then walked down to Henllwyn, finding another congregation of Heather Colletes Bees. It was turning dark, so we decided to head back to the obs and call it a day.

Day 7

I woke up early the next morning. With the winds being good for seawatching, we were hoping for Balearic, Cory's and Great Shearwater. We did a lot of seawatching in the morning, seeing Kittiwakes, Fulmar, Gannets, Manxies and Sandwich Terns. After a while of seawatching, I DM'd Kevin Clements (an isopod surveyor who wrote a paper on isopods on Bardsey) where he saw Common Pygmy & Painted Woodlouse, he said he saw Common Pygmy Woodlouse under wood behind the large green tank by the Heligoland trap, which Emma showed me, and he said he regularly saw Painted Woodlouse at the east side of the Abbey graveyard wall. When Emma showed me the wood pile, she also said that she had a piece of netting lying around, as she needed a stick to attach the netting to. We immediately found a metal stick, perfect for the net. Emma then went back to make the net while I searched for the Common Pygmy Woodlouse, to no avail. Emma then came back with the finished net, so, with the help of Conor, who used to catch newts when he was younger, we managed to catch two young Palmate Newts, which Conor said were the smallest he'd ever seen. I filled a pot up with water, putting the two newts inside to have a closer look at, before getting a record shot of one and then releasing them. It was turning dark, so we went to check the graveyard wall with no luck, before calling it a day.

Day 8

After an amazing week on Bardsey Island, it was sadly time to leave, so we checked the graveyard wall one last time, to no avail, before packing up our bags and then walking down to Cafn, ready to depart. Along the way, we decided to bring Moss to Cafn with us and also said goodbye to Christine. When we arrived at Cafn, we played "fetch" with Moss for the last time, before Collin arrived with the boat and it was time to leave. 

Overall, a phenomenal trip with 2 new birds, 1 new mammal, 1 new amphibian and many new inverts.