Bangor University visit Bardsey Island Bird Observatory

In April 2026, with the help of the Cameron Bespolka Trust, 10 students from Bangor University visited Bardsey Island Bird Observatory for a week of warden training.

Starting the first day off with beautiful sunshine, the boat crossing gifted us with gannets and puffins flying overhead. Immediately after settling in, we got straight into birding and sea watching out of the front of the observatory. Within 20 minutes, we had pods of Common Porpoise, Common Dolphins and Bottlenose Dolphins! This was going to be good. With the good weather, we were able to go out Manx Shearwater ringing that night! This was most people’s first time ringing or even handling a bird and what a bird! Their incredible calls were heard throughout the rest of the night and every night that followed.

From this day on, the weather was not in our favour. Winds too high for any ringing and too low to bring in any birds, rain every morning that halted our morning bird walks, but no one idled. On one day in particular, the rain cancelled our plans, so we stayed inside for a Bird ID talk. This was very quickly followed by the whole group marching out into the rain to apply this knowledge; differentiating warblers, pipits, shags or cormorants. We were making distinctions between these common but challenging species.

It felt like a slow week of birding at first, until, as days went by, we realised what we were seeing. Day one, we saw hundreds of Phylloscopus warblers. Next day they’d be gone and replaced with hundreds of Goldfinches (a record number for the island). Each day brought more excitement as to what would arrive on our doorstep. I feel like this week really slowed us down. Ahead of the week, we anticipated chasing rarities, but we went home with more than that. We learned so much from the wardens: from counting migrating birds, watching nesting behaviour of Linnet and Moorhens to moth trapping and rock-pooling.

The impact from Bardsey Island is unavoidable, but this year I truly felt like I got to watch everyone find a place for themselves in conservation. Whether that’s in ringing (passerines or seabirds), surveying or even getting involved with the local community side; everyone left with the inspiration to carry on with these skills.

-Saffron Forrester

Students watching sandpipers on the beach: photo by Saffron Forrester