page_title: Bardsey Island
section_title: Wildlife
hierarchical_section_title: Bardsey Island / Wildlife
caption_attribution_description: English: Manx Shearwater ((Puffinus puffinus) at the breeding grounds on Skomer Island, Pembrokeshire, Wales, UK
context_page_description: Bardsey Island is a small island 1.9 miles off the coast of Wales. Bardsey is 0.6 miles wide, 1.0 mile long and 179 hectares in area. The north east rises steeply from the sea to a height of 548 ft at Mynydd Enlli. The western end is low and flat farmland. On the south, the island narrows to a peninsula with a lighthouse. It is the fourth-largest island in Wales.
  Bardsey has several names, including the "Island of 20,000 saints". In Welsh the name means "The Island in the Currents". In English the name means the "Island of the Bards", or possibly the "Island of Barda", a Viking chieftain.
  The island has been an important religious site. In AD 516, Saint Cadfan built a monastery on Bardsey. In medieval times many pilgrims visited the island, and by 1212 the monastery was part of the Augustinian Canons Regular. In 1537 Henry VIII closed the monastery and had the buildings pulled down, but pilgrims still visit the island.
  Bardsey Island is famous for its wildlife and rugged scenery. A bird observatory was set up in 1953 as the island is on important migration routes. It is a nesting place for Manx shearwaters and choughs.
context_section_description: The island was made a National Nature Reserve in 1986, and is part of Glannau Aberdaron ac Ynys Enlli Special Protection Area (Welsh: Ardal Gwarchodaeth Arbennig Glannau Aberdaron ac Ynys Enlli). It is now a favourite bird-watching location, on the migration routes of thousands of birds. Bardsey Bird and Field Observatory (Welsh: Gwylfa Maes ac Adar Ynys Enlli), founded in 1953, nets and rings 8,000 birds each year to study their migration patterns.
  The island was made a Site of Special Scientific Interest because of its maritime life. This includes internationally rare lichens; bryophyte, plants, bird species; and intertidal communities. Nationally important flowering plants include sharp rush, rock sea lavender, small adder's tongue, western clover, and the rare purple loosestrife. Two nationally rare heathland lichens are found on the slopes of Mynydd Enlli: the ciliate strap lichen and golden hair lichen; and there are over 350 lichen species in total. The leafcutter bee, which cuts neat, rounded circles in rose leaves, used to seal the entrance to its nest, is native.
  Thousands of birds pass through each year on their way to their breeding or wintering grounds. Chiffchaffs, goldcrests and wheatears are usually the first to pass through, followed by sedge warblers and willow warblers, whitethroats and spotted flycatchers.
  About 30 species of bird regularly nest on the island, including ravens, little owls, oystercatchers and the rare chough. Hundreds of sea birds, including razorbills, guillemots, fulmars and kittiwakes, spend the summer nesting on the island's eastern cliffs. There are no land predators such as rats or foxes on the island. On a dark moonless night an eerie cackling can be heard across the island as 7,000 pairs of Manx shearwaters, 3.5 per cent of the British population, come ashore to lay and incubate their eggs in abandoned rabbit warrens or newly dug burrows.
  The island is one of the best places in Gwynedd to see grey seals. In mid summer over 200 can be seen, lying in the sun on the rocks or swimming in the sea. About 15 pups are born each autumn. Their sharp teeth and strong jaws are perfect for breaking the shells of lobsters and crabs which live in the waters. It is also possible to see bottlenose and Risso's dolphins, and porpoises. The currents around the island carry food-rich water. The Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society has been carrying out surveys since 1999 to find out which areas are important for feeding and nursing calves.
  The seas around the island are rich in marine life. There are forests of strap seaweed; in the rock pools are sea anemones, crabs and small fish; and in deeper waters, the rocks are covered by sponges and sea squirts. The yellow star anemone, found offshore, is more common to the Mediterranean.
caption: 7,000 pairs of Manx shearwaters nest on Bardsey Island.
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