The Bardsey Beacon is the newsletter of the Friends of Bardsey Bird and Field Observatory. All pictures by Steve Stansfield unless otherwise stated Registered Charity No. 249790. The Observatory is a member of the Bird Observatories Council. Bardsey Beacon Golau Enlli The newsletter of the Bardsey Bird and Field Observatory Sef cylchlythyr i aelodau Gwylfa Maes ac Adar Ynys Enlli Issue 177- Spring 2024 Photo: Bob Normand 2024 AGM- Sunday 9th June BARDSEY BIRD AND FIELD OBSERVATORY 68th Annual General Meeting Sunday 9th June 2024 at 11:00 To be held via Zoom (See the main website for the link) Meeting ID: 885 8515 1275 Password: 487411 Agenda
Page 2 bbfo.org.uk Winter work The year began as usual with plenty of paperwork, and putting together the annual report for NRW which involves writing up months of work on the island, this was all completed, and the report submitted. Ollie had left mid-season in 2023 so this meant also writing the sections which he would normally have done. I was also pulling together the reports for all the special methods licences and colour ringing projects that we are doing, and applying for new licences in addition to the normal ringing licences that we have. Once these were all done it was time to organise the members’ day. This also involves putting together my annual ‘review of the year’ slideshow presentation for the members’ day in early February.. Ed and Kate came to see us in Norfolk for a few days in early January, and Dianne also came along for a day, for us to do a staff induction. After the formal day of work, Dianne, Emma and I went for a nice wander along the East Bank at the famous Cley Nature Reserve, where we saw thousands of Geese. At the weekend, Ed and Kate were joined by Ollie, and Riley Woodhouse (who came on the Uni Week in 2023 and lives nearby in Norfolk) who all made a team in the annual Cley Bird race. William Earp (our report proof-reader), along with myself and another local made up another team, We had a great day out doing the race, and William and I came second out of the ten teams that did the race, with 99 species….However, Ed and Kate’s team came first with 106 species - a new record for the bird club!!! Velvet Scoters and Red-breasted Goose– some of the cracking birds seen over the weekend The members’ day was held on 10th February, was a great success and it was very nice to catch up with all the observatory members, everyone had a great time and were well fed, thanks to Lis and her team of helpers who cooked and baked some delicious food. We also had two great guest speakers in Dr Steph Harris, who spoke about the Manxie tracking projects we have been doing over the past few years, and also Lauren Evans, who will be doing Manxy tracking for her PhD here for the next two summers. Dianne welcoming everyone to the Member’s day Emma and I then attended the BOC meeting in Thetford. As ever it was a very exciting meeting, hearing from a number of guest speakers, and hearing about all the ups and downs the of other Observatories across the country during 2023. The BOC Meeting at BTO HQ in Thetford Getting back home Emma and I left Norfolk in early March as planned, and then we were going to spend a few days shopping etc before heading back to the island. However, it did not all go according to plan... We left Norfolk Sunday night at 1800. We arrived at my Mums in Rotherham 21.30pm. Chatted with Mum and went to bed at 1am. The plan was to do shopping in Rotherham and take my mum for dinner in the late afternoon and then head to Southport at 7pm. I then had a message at 9am the following morning: “Can you be at Cwrt by 5pm? Weather poor for rest of week and for foreseeable” I rushed downstairs, said to mum, change of plan we are leaving! ‘When?’ she asked… NOW!!!! Quick hugs and goodbyes and we were off! We had a carload of stuff - stuff that had just been thrown into Director of operations report
bbfo.org.uk Page 3 bags and boxes in Norfolk and should have been repacked in Southport at Emma’s mums before our final leg of the journey. This wasn’t going to happen. We called Emma’s mum and explained we were no longer going to be heading there… The traffic was ok, and we made good time. We went to Lidl in Pwllheli and had to shop like you have never seen before. Colin arrived and we went over on a very flat sea, we landed at 1800, and loaded and unloaded the trailer - we made it, thanks to Colin, Ellen, Gareth and Meriel! We got unpacked to a certain extent and then had a lovely welcome home meal with Gareth and Meriel. Thanks to Gareth for alerting us and Colin for running us over at short notice, we were then back home and starting to get prepared for the season. On the first night back, there were some issues with the Rayburn. After a winter’s build -up of soot, it began billowing smoke out of the door at the front. I serviced it the following day, but it had produced a thin layer of soot all over our house and we had to clean absolutely everything in the house from too top to bottom. On the upside it did make the cobwebs easy to see!!! More snags One of the inverters had also failed, so this then became my main priority. Getting a sparky out here, especially a specialist one who knows about solar inverters, was going to be ridiculously expensive. One electrician quoted approx. £500 plus travel and boat costs to come and diagnose the fault, and it would be the same again to fix it. Connor and I spent many hours trying to figure out what was wrong, and working on the issue. Eventually between us we figured that it was a communication error between the inverters, as both worked fine individually, but they would not talk to each other. Thankfully, we currently have a ‘spare’ inverter waiting for the next phase of the solar project, that I was able to strip replacement parts from, so I stripped down the inverter that appeared to have failed, and discovered that a couple of the RS232 port inner terminals on the parallel comms board had corrosion on them, and once I re-booted, the machines then began to communicate with each other!! Though I will now need to order another parallel board to replace the one in the spare inverter. So that was my first week back!!! A few days later the staff arrived with volunteers, the Observatory was again very mouldy after a very wet winter and a big push was made to get it all scrubbed, tidied, painted and prepared for the season. After lots of mould removal, lots of paint and lots of hard work by everyone, the place looked great again. Many thanks to Lynda and Mike once again for their unwavering help with one of the toughest jobs of the year! Lynda cleaning Mould in the Obs! Kate and Ed bleaching ceilings Emma cleaning bedrooms – nothing left uncleaned!
Page 4 bbfo.org.uk The place looked fantastic... Well done team! Next up was the gift shop, which had not been painted for over a decade. There was more filling and painting by everyone, and then Emma got it all ready for the season. Gift shop gets a complete paint job and make over! The weather at the start of the season was awful, water was falling from the sky in biblical measures day after day. The island was awash; everyone who drove a vehicle across the Narrows managed to get stuck!! The place was becoming littered with abandoned trucks! Eventually it did begin to ease, but in 27 years, I have never seen water like this, and in places we had new ponds! Ed, Kate and Jonathan settled into their routines, doing census, writing the blog and ringing whilst Emma and I were busy ordering shop stock, taking bookings, writing the annual report and general management and administration. It has not been the best of springs, but there will be a full round up of spring passage in the next newsletter. However, we have had a Corncrake, which took up territory near Tŷ Pellaf Reedbed. This in turn attracted another that was singing at Carreg, and then yet another that has begun to sing at Nant! This was just amazing news. The island population of Corncrakes stood at 7 in the early 1950s, but rapidly declined into the 60’s and 70’s.This is the first year that we have had a breeding attempt for some time and to have three in one year is crazy. Seabirds seem to be having a really good season so far, with record numbers of Shag nests being recorded on the east side of the island. I will also be doing a full round up of the stories from our very successful Bangor University week in the next newsletter, but just to say that it was again a great laugh, and to see so many young faces making new friends and having new experiences, and better still, having them here on Bardsey is amazing. Lots of new friendships were made and we are already planning our next Uni Week in late August! Kate helping students identify fish when rock pooling Steve Hughes celebrates 60 years of visiting the Obs! See page 10 Bardsey Bookings! It’s easy! Get your skates on and come and stay on Bardsey this year! We really are filling up fast so if you would like to secure a room, please get in touch soon! Check out the availability on the ‘Stay’ page of the website: bbfo.org.uk/stay or just email: stayonbardsey@gmail.com Although many of the single and double bedrooms are now booked up, we have availability for most weeks in our 4-bedded skylight rooms, don’t forget you can hire a 4 bedded room to yourself for a supplement, or book yourself a dormitory bed. Though there is still plenty of availability in all rooms for late autumn! Don’t miss this opportunity to stay on Bardsey Island, give yourself a break and get some rest, relaxation, peace and tranquillity…
bbfo.org.uk Page 5 March marks the return of the observatory staff and volunteers to Bardsey and this year, myself (Lauren Evans) and Tom Williams accompanied them to build and install 30 nest boxes for the island’s Manx shearwaters. Manx shearwaters typically lay their eggs and raise their chicks in underground burrows, but have taken extremely well to nest boxes provided in other colonies on Lundy, Skomer and Ramsey. Late last year, Steve, Steph Harris (Manx shearwater researcher at Bangor University) and I discussed the possibility of installing similar nest boxes on Bardsey not only to provide additional nesting sites but allow for easy access to chicks for productivity monitoring and long-term studies. Steve promptly put a request out for donations and were kindly gifted £635 by the members and friends of Bardsey Observatory including one anonymous donation of £500! We applied for and were granted licences by Natural Resources Wales (NRW) which would allow us to install the boxes on the island and then Steph and I spent the winter ordering timber and compiling the raw materials. After a few days of anxiously waiting for calm enough weather for a crossing, we loaded 100kg of wood on and off the boat (many thanks to Colin for all his help) and arrived on Bardsey. Having finally arrived, we set about building straight away (with occasional birding breaks)! For the next three days, Tom and I set about constructing the boxes as well as enjoying our first Wheatears, Willow warblers, Swallows and House Martins of the year (it would be rude not to do any birding whilst on Bardsey)! The nest boxes followed the design kindly provided by Greg Morgan on RSPB Ramsey Island and included a hatched lid for easy inspection of the nest box contents and a pipe entrance to mimic an underground burrow. More building- adding the felt roofing, inspection hatches, latches, and unique numbers. After three days of construction, we were finally ready to take the boxes up the hill and into the colony for installation. Unfortunately, transporting the boxes also involved puncturing the tyre of Ty Pellaf’s car- sorry Gareth!!! Carrying the 100kg of wood, now in box shape, up the hill was also rather challenging but it was all forgotten once we’d gotten the first nest box in place. The boxes are positioned under dense heather to protect from the worst of the Bardsey weather and wandering sheep and the thick grass will soon grow around the entrance tunnel- hopefully making them inviting to prospecting Manxie customers. We successfully installed all 30 boxes in the colony and not a moment too soon as Tom and I found out we would have to leave early on the boat the next day to make it off that week due to more forecasted bad weather. I’ll be back on Bardsey in June this year for my PhD fieldwork investigating Manx shearwater diet and I cannot wait to check our boxes when hopefully their new inhabitants will have moved in. I would like to say a massive thank you to NRW for allowing us to install the boxes, to our generous donors who made the whole project possible, to Steve and Emma for having us to stay in the observatory and to Tom for his drilling expertise and making the whole process painless and fun! Manxy nestboxes Lauren Evans
Page 6 bbfo.org.uk A row of nest boxes installed- the pipe should mimic entering an underground burrow. Tom and I relieved to be sitting down after carrying 30 boxes up the hill!
bbfo.org.uk Page 7 I’m Lauren Evans and I’m a first-year PhD student at Bangor University investigating the diet of the Manx shearwaters breeding on Bardsey Island. I will be tracking adult birds on their chick-provisioning foraging trips to find out exactly where they’re feeding. Using a cotton mouth swab, I will collect traces of prey DNA from inside the mouth of the Manxies to determine their diet as well as monitoring their chick growth. I’ll piece all this information together to work out where adult birds are feeding, what they are eating and how this affects the growth and survival of their chicks. I first visited Bardsey last summer to meet the team and the Manxies, and start collecting some data. In our samples, we had lots of variation in where adults birds travelled to find food and we have already identified Sprat, Herring and Sandeels in the birds’ diets. I will be back on Bardsey, tracking and swabbing, from June until August 2024 and so I look forward to meeting visitors then. Investigating Manx shearwater diet Adult foraging trips and adult & chick diets from August 2023:
Page 8 bbfo.org.uk Hello everyone, my name is Kate and I am super excited to be back on Bardsey this year, now working as Assistant Warden. I have been a keen birder since I was a teenager, growing up with the Dorset countryside as my playground, and am an A permit bird ringer. A month in and I am absolutely loving island life and still can’t believe this is my job! Bardsey has been a very special place for me ever since my first visit on the 2017 Young Birders’ Week, drawing me back whenever I had the chance. One whiff of a Storm Petrel and I was hooked! After attending a second Young Birders Week in 2019, I returned as a volunteer for a month in August 2022, having graduated in Zoology at the University of Exeter that summer. As well as a great chance to wind down after my degree, it gave me a taste of island life and a greater understanding of working at a Bird Observatory. I then hopped across the UK and spent the autumn volunteering at Spurn, where I got to experience east coast birding for the first time and life at a mainland bird observatory. The birding was brilliant, and it really helped to hone my skills in bird identification and survey techniques, spending most mornings completing point counts and recording visible overhead migration (vismig), as well as mucking in with a range of practical jobs and engaging with visitors. Since then, I spent the last year working for the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) as a Training Officer, delivering online training events to engage with the public and help upskill volunteers. This was a great first ‘big girl job’, and I was very proud to work for the organisation having been a volunteer since 2016 when I started bird ringing, and more recently contributing to WeBS, BBS, and their Youth Engagement work as a Youth Rep. I learnt a great deal and made some lifelong friends, however the draw of the wild was too strong and I needed to be outside, so when I saw this role advertised, I knew I had to apply. Fast forward a few months and we’re all settled in, the Obs is up and running, and the birds are on the move! Even in just a few weeks there have been so many memorable moments, from my first trip into the seabird colonies (my face hurt from smiling!) to the excitement of the surprise birds (a Waxwing during a morning cuppa was pretty cool), and of course being part of such a fun team. There have been a number of times I’ve thought ‘only on Bardsey’, and the standout highlight so far was a night out dazzling on the narrows a few weeks back. Walking to the boathouse in the pitch black holding up three pillowcases, each containing a Whimbrel that Ed had caught on Solfach. I could hear the Manxies calling overhead, the red blip of the lighthouse in the distance, and wafts of a Corncrake crexing when the wind swung in the right direction. As far as I’m aware that’s not a normal situation one would find themselves in... and yet, I’d have it no other way. Here’s to a brilliant 2024 season! Kate monitoring seabirds - photo Jonathan Dodds “I can’t believe this is my job!”
bbfo.org.uk Page 9 My name is Jonathan and I’ve been fortunate enough to call Bardsey my home for a month already. I’m from sunny Kent. I’ve been interested in bird observatories ever since I visited my most local one, Sandwich Bay. I highly recommend anyone to visit there for the sheer variety of flora and fauna, you’ll always have something to look at! As a teenager, my interest in birding was catalysed during my time at the University of Reading studying Zoology. Between my studies and other commitments is when I was introduced to Sandwich Bay Bird Observatory, regularly I helped with census and most recently I’ve been assisting with covering the recording area for national BTO surveys such as WeBS and WinGS as part of the team. Sandwich Bay is where I really honed in on my birding and developed the skill set I use today. Since graduating, I have participated in multiple surveys from Woodcock to Nightingale for my local county ornithological society as well as national organisations such as the BTO. Later that summer I joined the university week at Bardsey Bird Observatory, where I was surrounded by like-minded people and shared some incredible moments including starlit nights learning how to ring our first Manx Shearwaters and Storm Petrels. I left that week knowing I definitely want to visit again! Come the following autumn in 2023 I was fortunate enough to be the autumn residential volunteer at Spurn Bird Observatory. Spurn was an excellent chance to gain further experience in point count surveys, which would take up most of our mornings before any practical work or data input dominated the afternoons, between the birding of course! A variety of tasks from habitat creation to maintaining the observatory during its busiest period, even some demolition, meant I witnessed the full workings of a bird observatory for the first time. Spurn is the place where I’ve experienced my best birding day ever, autumn fall conditions were ideal and sure enough by the end of the day we had seen over 30,000 migrating birds! Including one of 12 Yellow-browed Warblers, being a new bird for me! Ever since my time at Sandwich Bay and Spurn I knew I wanted to get involved more with bird observatories. Since then I’ve been taken on as a trainee ringer under BTO license by Sandwich Bay Bird Observatory, something I’ve wanted to get involved with for a couple of years now after seeing it in action at Sandwich Bay and Spurn. Fast forward to spring 2024 and now I’m here at Bardsey Bird Observatory as their spring residential volunteer! We have been busy preparing the observatory for staying guests, some of you I’ve been lucky to meet already! Lots of deep cleaning and redecorating kept us busy when the weather turned stormy during March. Mornings have been dominated by census, where some impressive falls of spring migrants have already occurred. It’s been amazing meeting so many people already in the short time I’ve been here. My best bird I’ve seen so far has to be the Corncrake which I managed to find one morning during census, a new bird for me crexing away! I very much look forward to meeting lots of you throughout my time here on Bardsey, until then, happy birding! Spring volunteer!
Page 10 bbfo.org.uk I first visited Bardsey with a school group at the end of March 1964 and so I was keen to be back with friends and family when the Obs opened in early April this year, to celebrate sixty years of visiting the island. Bardsey was where I did my first serious birdwatching, where I learned to ring, and incidentally where I first came to faith on the hillside above the chapel. I initially came with schoolfriends, then with university ones, and then with my wife, children and then grandchildren. Generally we have filled the Obs and sometimes other houses as well and over the years must have come around 60 times – twice some years but a few gaps – and with nearly 200 different people – sharing the island which is so special to us. Much has changed over that time. When I first visited you only knew whether a boat was coming or not by stationing someone on Aberdaron headland to look for Wil and the Benlli – no Colin to call the night before. The observatory itself was run on youth hostel lines with bunk beds in what are now the front doubles, an evening meal provided for everyone to eat together, and a duty roster for such jobs as emptying the toilets. Tilley lamps lit the main rooms and candles the bedrooms. Two families farmed the island from Ty Pellaf and Ty Nesa – and just a handful of other visitors – generally through long term arrangements. There was cover everywhere with brambles prolific. The warden in those days and through the 60s was George Evans. Memories of early morning walks down to the south end to count visible migration – and of course nocturnal shearwatering – and of plenty of willow warblers after lighthouse attractions. By the time the Obs reopened in the mid 70s with David Henshilwood and then Peter Roberts as wardens – the mode of operation was much closer to today’s. Self catering and less formality about the duties but without the mod cons now enjoyed.. By this stage I was married and we brought small children – as well as friends from Hilbre and South Lancashire. As secretary at the time the rule which restricted families to two weeks in the summer (so called potty weeks) was quietly dropped. With the first change in ownership the island itself, Obs apart, remained quiet with few other visitors. Heavy grazing meant vegetation outside the Withies and the gardens became sparse and just one farming family remained. A new addition though was the north end plantation which at the time neatly took two 18m mist nets. As the 70s drew to a close the successful campaign to buy the island led by the amazing Susan Cowdy and many from the observatory led to the formation of the Bardsey Island Trust and the Obs elected to become a tenant of the trust and to retain its independent identity. With the trust in charge through the 80s things gradually changed. The land was more explicitly managed for wildlife as well as for farming. Houses were gradually renovated. Carreg Bach housed Obs staff for a while and then Dafydd Thomas as the Trust officer and the other houses gradually came into use for trust staff and visitors. After Peter Roberts seven year tenure, observatory wardens over the succeeding years generally came for two or three years at a time, each bringing their own unique contribution until Steve Stansfield appeared in 1998 – and the rest is history. Lots of memories and lots of family and friends to share them with over the years. Sixty years of Bardsey Steve Hughes
bbfo.org.uk Page 11 Bardsey Bird Observatory is delighted to announce a new project based on the marine mammals found on and around the island. Bardsey is in the middle of an important area for marine mammals: It is surrounded by the West Wales Marine Special Area of Conservation (SAC) designated for Harbour Porpoises, and the Pen Llŷn a’r Sarnau SAC for which Bottlenose Dolphins and Grey Seals are features. The Grey Seals are also a feature of the National Nature Reserve Designation for Bardsey. Our new project will focus on engaging people on Pen Llŷn and Bardsey with the marine mammals in the local waters and will build on recent pilot studies that have developed the use of drones to photograph Risso’s Dolphins, creating a catalogue of individuals identified by the unique patterns on their dorsal fins. In addition, Risso’s Dolphins are regularly seen and have been the subject of long-term studies by organisations such as Whale and Dolphin Conservation in collaboration with the Observatory. The seas all around Bardsey have also recently been internationally designated as an Important Marine Mammal Area, recognising that Harbour Porpoises, Bottlenose Dolphins, Risso’s Dolphins, Common Dolphins and Minke Whales all use the area. We will be contracting two additional staff: A Scientific Officer – based on the island in the summer months to carry out systematic watches, obtain images and video and develop the catalogue, incorporating images from previous studies. A Community Officer – based on mainland Pen Llŷn who will undertake community engagement both on and off the island to highlight the importance of the marine mammals in the area, talk to interest groups and schools, and recruit and train volunteers to assist with dolphin watches We will be recruiting for these two posts in the coming month so watch this space! The project will increase the systematic recording of marine mammals in the area and set a new standard that can be used at other locations. This project is funded by the Nature Networks Programme and is being delivered by the Heritage Fund on behalf of the Welsh Government. Bardsey Marine Mammal Project - Connecting people with the sea
bbfo.org.uk Contact Information: www.bbfo.org.uk • Chair Dianne Charles 2 Regent Close, Edgbaston, Birmingham, B5 7PL. chair@bbfo.org.uk 01212 490490 • Hon. Secretary Andrew Lawrence 14 Jack Haye Lane, Light Oaks, Stoke on Trent, ST2 7NG. secretary@bbfo.org.uk 01782 253502. • Director of Finance Dianne Charles 2 Regent Close, Edgbaston, Birmingham, B5 7PL. finance@bbfo.org.uk 01212 490490 • Bookings Administrator Emma Stansfield stayonbardsey@gmail.com • Membership Officer Jill Lawrence 14 Jack Haye Lane, Light Oaks, Stoke on Trent, ST2 7NG. membership@bbfo.org.uk 01782 253502 • Newsletter Manager Alison Hill 57 Exeter Road, London E17 7QZ, alison.hill18@btinternet.com 07963 522637 020 8520 8985 • Director of Operations Steve Stansfield BBFO, Cristin, Bardsey Island, Aberdaron Gwynedd, LL53 8DE. warden@bbfo.org.uk 07855 264151 • Boatman Colin Evans 07971 769895 Spring 1953 We soon settled into life with a new baby. As Richard was so attracted to playing with water, he was always ready to help bath Branwen Cristin. However, when she was being fed, he would register the fact that ’Mum is busy’ and get up to all kinds of ‘terrible twos mischief’. One day there was a knock on the front door-----Islanders always came to the back door---and there were some day trippers anxious to inform me that ‘there is a little boy sitting in a puddle on the path and he has taken all of his clothes off’. Another opportunity for him to ‘escape’ was when Brenda Chamberlain started coming to do ‘Mother and baby’ sketches whilst I was feeding the baby. Oh dear, really embarrassing, the only consolation being that as it was no doubt Modern Art nobody would ever recognise me! I wonder if we ended up on a wall in Carreg. Then another artist friend staying with Brenda also wanted to take advantage of the chance to sketch us but she wanted to do Richard too, which was rather ambitious as he was never still for a moment. I never saw any of the results! Brenda had just won the Eisteddfod Gold Medal for her painting of the ‘Cristin Children’ who used to live in Cristin Isaf. Brenda was to be crowned in the Bardic Chair at the Eisteddfod. It used to be only the winner of the Poetry who was crowned but this year each winner of a Gold Medal was to be crowned. I needed to take Branwen to the Doctor in Aberdaron to have her blood checked so I went over with Will Evans. It was a fine day, the sea quite calm and on the way back, as we came into the Sound, we were joined by a porpoise which leapt over the bow, continuing to play around the boat nearly all the way across. This was quite a beautiful experience, although I was slightly apprehensive in case it landed on my baby in her carrycot! Throughout her life in many parts of the world she has been extremely lucky seeing dolphins displaying. The whole country was now preparing for the Coronation. On the actual day we were able to hear a lot about it on the battery radio. During the Coronation ceremony, Brenda Chamberlain’s Siamese cat had kittens. Someone suggested their names should be Victorious, Happy, Glorious and God Save the Queen. The Lighthouse had a special cake which had been sent for the men. They drew lots for the little Coronation Coach decoration and Alan won it. In the evening a party of us went up to the top of the mountain where a bonfire had been prepared and as we walked up, Gwylm Griffiths was letting off a distress flare he had acquired from somewhere. We took turns carrying Branwen and keeping a firm hold on Richard. It was a lovely clear evening and as it got dark we saw the Beacon fires on the mountain tops right up toward Snowdon and down to the Cader Idris range. Our fire burnt well. A very memorable occasion! Life on Bardsey MEMORIES OF THE QUEEN’S CORONATION Recollections of Ynys Enlli, part 4 by Audrey Till