By Kirsty Cox
Today was very much a day of two halves. The first half of the day was spent in the office catching up on seal admin tasks. Each time a seal population survey is carried out all the photographs taken of hauled out seals are put into a powerpoint ‘album’ and each photo is checked against an online database and our own Lundy catalogue to look for matches in fur patterns. Finding a match means we can start to put together a ‘history’ for the seal, plotting their movements and pupping locations. The photos I was processing this morning were taken on a survey of the East Coast earlier in the week. There are over 60 photos of seals to look through which will take some time but I have already matched a seal to our Lundy catalogue who is also known to surveyors in West Cornwall so that’s an exciting find. And I also matched a tagged seal who was rehabbed at West Hatch and released in 2023 - it’s always wonderful to spot a tagged seal as it proves that rescue, rehab and release works!
Seal Tag by Kirsty Cox
After lunch I spent some time on recycling duty, a very necessary part of Lundy life. The recycling from all the holiday properties on the island has to be sorted before it can be shipped off so it is a big job during the summer season. We are always very grateful for visitors who take the time to wash out and sort their recycling from their rubbish as it makes the job much easier and definitely more pleasant!
Then it was time for some outdoor survey time. Jessie and I were on the hunt for Lundy Cabbage Flea Beetles. These beautiful little bronze coloured beetles live and feed solely on the Lundy Cabbage and so are endemic to the island. We survey cabbage plants in a particular area once a month to see how many beetles we can find and today we had a good result of 8 beetles!
Lundy Cabbage Flea Beetle by Jessie Dermody
Once the beetles were surveyed, it was time for the seals. Pupping season has started on Lundy and so most days now I carry out a ‘Pup Check’. This entails walking a particular route and looking for pups on all the beaches. If any pups are spotted then photos are taken of the pup and the mother for ID purposes and we then monitor the development of the pups as they moult and are weaned.
It was a busy day for bird sightings across the island too. In the morning Greg saw a Ringed Plover and a Grasshopper Warbler on census, and Thomas, Eleanor and Tara ringed 12 Manx Shearwater chicks at the South end of the island. And in the afternoon, Thomas and Eleanor spent time watching a Spotted Redshank at Pondsbury and then spotted a Green Sandpiper at Quarter Wall Pond.
Green Sandpiper by Thomas Weston
By Greg Lee
We were treated to a bit of a rarity in recent times as we headed back from an evening Storm Petrel session in the northern reaches of the island, thick fog! This descended on us just as we left the site and headed our way back to the Village. As the wind was set to be very still, it was perhaps no surprise in the morning that I lifted the blinds to see that the fog had resumed, although it slowly dissipated throughout the morning.
Census today was fairly steady, with predictably, little dropping in on the island overnight. A total of 13 Willow Warblers was fairly low for recent weeks, having enjoyed a steady daily passage so far this autumn. Two Sedge Warblers in lower Millcombe were carefully picked out of the vegetation, standing still and waiting for movement often yields some good results at this time of year. A single Spotted Flycatcher up near Old Light was a nice sight in the Stoneycroft garden, which rarely fails to deliver some migrants. Although the Buzzard wasn’t a feature of census, the fog had clearly kept the bird from moving over the Bristol Channel as it was seen loitering towards the end of the day. Likewise, the young Grey Heron was investigating Rocket Pole pond, seemingly not too bothered by my presence nearby.
Grey Heron by G.Lee
After census, there was a healthy pile of recycling to sift through which kept me occupied for the afternoon, it is a never-ending job, but there is definitely a satisfying element to it!
By Tara McEvoy-Wilding
Saturday was a Bideford boat so after some toast and cleaning the Vestry it was time to go down to see the Oldenburg in! Meanwhile, Greg was on census and spotted a Cormorant perched on Quarry Cottages! Other highlights included the Buzzard on the airfield, 4 Spotted Flycatchers, 17 Willow Warblers and 2 Yellow Wagtails.
Today was a very good spring tide, so we took advantage of it to complete some of our annual rockpool surveys. This entails surveying 5 pools that are in various intertidal zones and recording the different species and how abundant they are in each pool. The idea is that over time, changed to the rockpool community composition can be identified.
Today it was the turn of two of the middle pools to be surveyed. After around 20 minutes of trying to find them based on the photos provided we found D and then quickly after E (we have now taken what three words for the pool's locatiosn!).
Lundy map - click to enlarge