BLEAK HOUSE; COUNTRYSIDE.

Byline: Jill Tunstall

TO SOME it's a lump of rock in the sea, to others a windswept and wild place to live but, to migrant birds, Bardsey Island is a beacon - a place of sanctuary for the tired and hungry who have been blown off course.

The island's powerful lighthouse is one of the reasons this landmass off the Llyn Peninsula is visited by so many rare migrants but, as to why this year has proved so special, as naturalist Peter Hope Jones says: "How long is a piece of string?"

From spring onwards the wardens on Bardsey (Ynys Enlli) have been ticking an incredible list of sightings. First came the Siberian chiff-chaff in March, swiftly followed by a migrating snowy owl, strangely going south.

"That was the first record of a snowy owl, I'm sure, on Bardsey, " says Peter, and he should know. The retired Countryside Council for Wales Officer has been visiting the island since 1959 and wrote The Natural History of Bardsey Island.

And the exotic visitors kept coming. In April a pine bunting, possibly the first to visit Wales, landed to rest and feed, then came an Iberian chiff-chaff, swiftly followed by a blueheaded wagtail, a collared flycatcher and a Bonelli's warbler. The Wylfa Observatory staff were rubbing their hands with glee when Montagu's harrier stopped off, followed by a honey buzzard and a bluethroat. The fact that the species of a rare American warbler could not be exactly determined, because of its shy and skulking nature, didn't seem too much of a hardship given what had gone before. And so it continued. . .

"The reason so many birds are drawn to Bardsey is often the weather, " explains Peter.

"A lot of birds are blown across by bad weather or aren't finding food elsewhere. If birds are migrating at night - navigating by the stars - then when the cloud comes down they can become lost. Bardsey's lighthouse has a bright light which attracts them and draws them to the island.

"We have had three relatively thin years on the trot but this season has put the island back on the map."

The island's observatory was established in 1953 during a wave of enthusiasm for the study of migration which stemmed from Germany. Among its founders was renowned naturalist William Condry. "Bird migration has always been a fascination but these days, with easy round-the-world travel, it seems small beer, " says Peter. "But when I was a youngster it was a great adventure to go to a bird observatory."

The original observatory staff helped curb the egg collectors who had found easy pickings on the island, especially of the rare peregrine and chough eggs, and were starting to be outlawed under new conservation laws.

For Peter who has not missed a visit to the island for as many years as he can remember, having spent two summers there as a student working on his MSc, the island has its own attractions and he is drawn back, more as a summer visitor than a migrant. "It really is lovely, people get hooked on it, " he says. "I can't imagine a year without Bardsey. It is a haven of peace and quiet."

CAPTION(S):

BEACON: The lighthouse on Bardsey Island is one reason why so many rare migrants stop off there