Bardsey

The fieldwork is still ongoing - the sun has even been shining - and the team have managed to forward this image of their recent encounter with those illusive Risso's dolphins. Note the characteristic scaring, high dorsal fins and pale heads.

More blogs to follow.

Here is the latest update from Bardsey Island. Project leader Pine Eisfeld reporting.

Being on Bardsey has the strangest effect, as time seems only to exist in terms of meal times, but events that people think have happened days ago, actually happened just that same morning or the day before.

I call this phenomenon BOT - Bardsey Other Time.

So, every day, lots of stuff happens here on this little island.

Last week, Wednesday, we suddenly had a spell of calm weather after all the ex-hurricanes and there was a quick changeover on the island. Mark, Vicki and Rob got off and Roger and a car load of food that could feed an army came on. I got moved with all the kit from the Bardsey Island Trust house, Nant, in to the Bird Observatory where Roger joined me.

I quickly trained him up in our protocol to spot whales and dolphins from our site on the North End, explaining why and how we do 10 min. scans with special binoculars, how to record the data, etc. We even saw a couple of Risso's in the distance!

On Thursday morning we rose bright and early to a flat sea and while we were just getting our gear ready, Steve, the Bird Obs warden, shouted "Rissos!". He had spotted them through his scope from the terrace in front of the Bird Obs. We radioed farmer Steve to see if he could take us out in his boat and about 1 hour later, myself, warden Steve and assistant warden Richard were on our way towards the dolphins guided by Roger and Giselle from the terrace.

The first group we met was made up of five adults and a tiny calf. They were very elusive and hard to photograph, but we tried our best and then moved on to another group of three juveniles who were frolicking around the boat. Looking around, there were more Risso's in in the distance leaping out of the water and when we got closer to them, we were met by a group of about ten older adults, all with really white heads surfacing in two by two in perfect synchronicity! This was a stunning sight and everyone on the boat was oohing and aahing and shooting lots of pictures.

The dolphins didn't seem to be going in a particular direction as we saw them constantly changing direction, doubling back on themselves, zig zaging back and forth between the horizon and our boat. We observed some surface rushes and breaching and fast swimming which indicates they were foraging and feeding. Following them, we were about half way to Anglesey and realised we would need to get back as otherwise we would run out of fuel. All in all, we met four subgroups of at least 25 Risso's, but the photo-identification pictures we have taken still need to be analysed to confirm this estimate.

I couldn't stop grinning for the rest of the day!

Roger got to see Risso's in the afternoon from our observation platform at North End. Again they were zig zaging back and forth, going off towards Ireland, then coming back in our direction, but always staying at least 500m off the coast of Bardsey. As we realised this, we stopped our scans, as we were recording the same animals over and over again and just kept watching them and directed the Pedryn, the Countryside Council for Wales' boat which was on the water to get some ID photographs, towards the dolphins.

What a fantastic day!

Pine Eisfeld.

Bardsey Blog 01 – 11 September 2011

Here starts the report from the other UK field work ongoing this year by the WDCS team – the study of cetaceans around Bardsey Island off the North Coast of Wales.

After a 24 hour delay due to stormy seas, the notorious Bardsey Sound fell calm for a few hours and allowed us to cross over to our home for the next month, Bardsey or Ynys Enlli - the Island of the Currents! We quickly settled into our cottage, Ty Nant, or Brook House amid reports that another storm was brewing out in the Atlantic. Ty Nant occupies a stunning position on the north of the island with views across the hay meadows and then west out across the Irish Sea.

There are about forty people on the island at the moment; WDCS Science Team, an environmental Christian group on a pilgrimage, the island’s resident farming family and the staff at the Bird Observatory.

Living on an island, especially one as sparsely populated and as small (just 3 km long) as Bardsey, comes with its own challenges. Our cottage has no electricity just gas to power the heating, stove, refrigerator and lighting. Luckily, our vast array of electronic equipment can be charged at the Observatory just down the track or by our latest very exciting piece of kit, the Power Gorilla!

Safety here is paramount as the island is regularly cut off from the rest of the world for days, sometimes weeks, when the weather turns in. If, however, you were injured and needed helicopter assistance, there’s a very good chance that the future King of England, aka HRH Prince William, would come to your rescue, as he’s stationed nearby on Anglesey.

The resident Bird Observatory warden gives all visitors a presentation early on during their stay highlighting the amazing variety of birds that come through Bardsey underlining its important location as a prime migration route. It’s not just the birds that the Observatory collects data on. It also records moths, butterflies and marine mammals – primarily the Grey seals and dolphins that frequent its waters. There are an estimated 400 Grey seals here at the moment and now, in early September, we are starting to see the first of the seal pups with a current count of four.
By the end of the season about 30 seal pups will have been born on the rocky beaches and sheltered coves of Bardsey. Link here to see what the WDCS Director of Science has to say about his encounter with the seals.

The weather is particularly challenging at the moment with wind speeds of 50+ mph screaming across the sea. The weather has no obvious effect on the reason we are here on this island paradise – the Risso’s dolphin. This mysterious and elusive dolphin is frequently encountered around the island and the neighbouring mainland peninsular. They are often spotted with young and Sunday was no exception, as we witnessed a group of six adults with two calves breaching and surfing in high seas just a hundred metres offshore at the north end of the island. This appears to be a typical travel pattern, as from our previous land-based surveys we observed the dolphins arriving from the north east coming very close along the north west shore before heading west back out to sea again. Even with hurricanes Jack, Irene and Katia turning the waters around Bardsey to a bubble bath of froth, the Risso’s have still been spotted frolicking in the waves on six out of the last eight days.

Hopefully, as this current weather systems blows through we’ll be able to establish our two land based viewing platforms and set a schedule for our boat surveys……..

Rob Lott wraps up the Bardsey blog for 2010 with an island perspective.

As the sun sets on another successful field season in North Wales, it is time for us to pack up, say goodbye and, like the birds of Bardsey, migrate south.

Some of Team Bardsey (“Life Aquatic”) managed to spend two weeks on this island paradise while the rest continued their sea watch from the mainland.  Our comfortable base on the island was the Bardsey Birds Observatory and the wardens there gave us a warm welcome. Anyone staying on Bardsey can’t help but get caught up in the buzz of birdlife you get to see here – especially this time of year with the migration in full swing. And yes, we were there primarily to document the marine life but here are a few things I learned about our feathered friends. The wardens were kindly on hand to answer my most searing questions.

The most abundant bird in the world is….the chicken!



Seriously though, Bardsey is home to a true record breaker. A female Manx Shearwater (whose Latin name incidentally is Puffinus puffinus!) that breeds on the island is thought to be ….drum roll please….the oldest wild bird in the world. She was first ringed in 1957 as an adult and has made the incredible journey from North Wales to Argentina and back every year for over 50 years.



Sadly, she hasn’t been seen since 2008 so she may or may not still be with us but still holds a place in the Guinness Book of Records.

At school, I was always told that the smallest British bird was the Wren. Not so, it is in fact the Goldcrest and they were seen many times on the island. These are in fact the smallest birds in Europe and weigh less than a pound coin. Trained wardens ring the Goldcrests that come through Bardsey and the information gathered from this feeds into important conservation management plans for the protection of the species and its habitat.



Is this the Bardsey blog or the Birdsey blog??

During our field season, we were fortunate enough to see Risso’s dolphins on five different occasions and harbour porpoise most days when the sea was flat. We also had a few encounters with bottlenose dolphins on the south coast of the Llyn peninsula (we even managed to photograph one distinct animal on the two different occasions which is called a recapture!). Our winter project now will be to number crunch all the gathered data which will hopefully add another piece to the jigsaw puzzle and explain why this area is so special to the mysterious and elusive Risso’s dolphin (and the other cetaceans of course!).


 
No Bardsey blog would be complete without a mention of the abundant grey seal population that inhabits the island. They were our constant companions on this tiny kingdom and our visit just happened to coincide with seal pup season. It seemed that each day a new white fur ball appeared in the sheltered coves and beaches around the island. In the evenings, when it was calm, you could hear the eerie moans of the seals wafting through the night air.


My abiding memories of this very spiritual place will be the stunning Celtic sunsets, the wealth of marine wildlife and staring up at the star-studded night skies watching the Milky Way snaking overhead.

It just leaves me to thank the Team, without whose passion, hard work and enthusiasm none of this would have been possible. So please take a well deserved bow, Pine, Bea, Mike, Pablo, Pete, Sion, Jacki, Charlotte, Sam, Angela, Rachel, Laura and Mark.

Team Bardsey, I salute you!

Volunteers Bea and Charlotte tell us about the last week...

Thursday saw the all female 'Hula Balullas' and 'Ginger Ninjas' crews commandeer Pagan, a sailboat, from Pwllheli to Bardsey Island and back.  Skipper and willing amateur conservationist, Jacki Clark, came all the way from Macclesfield to meet us in Pwllheli marina, where we discussed the day's plan and safety briefing over hot chocolates in her comfortable cabin.

The trip started well at midday, with the sun shining and good sightings of grey herons, cormorants and oystercatchers at at the mouth of the marina.

Our spirits were high, but unfortunately, so were the waves..... once out of the harbour we soon realised the extent of the swell, which make it a tricky day for spotting cetaceans.  But there was plenty of other wildlife to be seen.....

On the south end of Bardsey, in a quiet bay, almost fifty Atlantic grey seals (Halichoerus grypus) were spotted basking on the rocks.  Among them were pups, some being only a day old, still adorning their fluffy white coats.  Curious adults surrounded the boat trying to decipher the unexpected visitors.

Reaching the North end of Bardsey Island, the waters were littered with sea birds, including puffins in their winter attire, Guillemots, Razorbills and mixed sea gulls.  Northern Gannets were also seen circling above the surface, which can be used as a good indicator for fish shoal presence and feeding marine mammals.  We circled the area hoping to get a glimpse of the elusive Risso's dolphins, which had been sighted of the Island's north end days prior to our visit.  Although there were numerous birds circling and resting on the surface, no harbour porpoise , Risso's or bottlenose dolphins were sighted.  

At around 4.20pm it was time to start the return journey to Pwllheli and so we sailed with the wind behind us. It was great to be out on the water at this time, with the sun setting behind us casting a beautiful glow and we kept ourselves entertained on the three hour journey back with jovial sing alongs to the harmonica and tin whistle. Although a very enjoyable day there were no cetaceans recorded. However, later on a report came in from the Bardsey crew 'Life Aquatic', of seven Risso's dolphins, traveling past the North end of Bardsey, the exact spot we had been earlier- such a close miss! The dolphins were recorded as breaching the water, foraging and milling about half a mile of the coast.     

At the end of the week the crew changed over, with 3 new members joining us from head office. Angela, Rachel and Pete have settled in well. Pete heading over to join Rob on the island and Sam returning to join the mainland crew. The weather has been perfect for spotting over the last few days, with calm seas and glorious sunshine, sometimes we have to remind ourselves that we are in North Wales in October! We have had lots of harbour porpoise sightings from both the mainland platforms, which, along with the fine weather, have put big smiles on our faces! 

P.S. We have also had a great sightings of a sheep rock climbing at St.Mary's Well. We have named him 'Cliff- the extreme sheep'!