Bird Sightings
March 21st Sightings - A Fall of Migrants
One of the many Chiffchaff seen feeding on the floor in Millcombe. ©Thomas Weston
A night of northerlies swapped to a south westerly wind resulting in an arrival of migrants to the island’s East Coast.
Day highlights:
- 45 Chiffchaff – highest count of the year!
- 26 Goldcrest – highest count of the year!
- 8 Cormorants North
- 3 Blackcaps – 1st of the year was only yesterday!
- Green-winged Teal male on Pondsbury
Census was productive with the section through Millcombe resulted in 7 Robins, 6 Blackbirds (7 seen in total), 10 Dunnocks, our singing male Song Thrush, singing male Goldfinch, 8 Wrens (17 in total), 9 Chaffinches and a single Stonechat (4 in total), 24 Goldcrest, 30 Chiffchaff and 3 male Blackcap. From the Ugly, I was joined by two guests looking for the divers. We ended up spotting a flock of 8 Cormorants heading North, 120 Razorbills (388 in total), 4 Shag, single Fulmar, 2 Gannet, 3 Guillemot and 2 Great-northern Divers. From the descriptions it sounds like one of the Red-throated Divers were here but unfortunately whilst I was there, I could not see it. Up to Benjamin’s Chair resulted in sitting Herring Gulls, a Peregrine, a Rock Pipit, and a few singing Meadow Pipits to add to the totals. Rocket Pole Pond was quite with a couple of Mallard (4 in total), nesting Stonechat (4 in total) and a flock of Carrion Crow. A female Merlin, passage Sand Martins and a small flock of Pied Wagtails were along Highstreet Field. In the Village, a Blackcap and Wheatear came inoff and landed joining our resident Starlings and House Sparrows.
Green winged Teal male on Pondsbury. ©Thomas Weston
A walk down the Terraces found another arrival of Chiffchaff with an additional 15 here! Also, another male Blackcap and a couple of Goldcrest in the Willows too were nice to see and begs the question of how many of the latter three species are currently on the island. The usual Robins, Dunnocks, Blackbirds and Stonechat were the best of the rest. Moving onto Pondsbury and the male Green-winged Teal was still present alongside three European Teal and a small flock of Sand Martins were feeding over the water.
Ringing
Despite the fall, the wind was unfortunately in the wrong direction to open the Millcombe nets. However, one Robin was caught in the Heligoland.
March 20th Sightings - A Trickle Of Migrants
The Firecrest in Millcombe. ©Thomas Weston
A humid morning, foggy afternoon and relatively calm night resulted in a nice little arrival of migrants today with a flock of 6 Cormorants, 4+ Wheatears, 75+ Sand Martins, 2 Swallows, White Wagtail, 8 Chiffchaff and our first Blackcap of the year seen across the island by allcomers.
Other notable records from today included the American Green-winged Teal male still on Pondsbury with a pair of European Teal, the female Merlin was hunting the Old Stone Crusher Site/main helipad site, a pair of Kestrel were seen on the East Coast around the Quarries, 2 Red-throated Divers in the Landing Bay and the Firecrest remains for a second day.
Alongside the divers and the Firecrest, census was busy with 4 Mallard, 5 Woodpigeon, single Oystercatcher, Great Black-backed Gull, 86 Herring Gulls, 6 Lesser Black-backed Gulls, 3 Guillemot, 35 Razorbills, 4 Shag, one of the two Kestrels, a Peregrine, 30 Carrion Crows, 6 Ravens, 18 Skylarks, single Sand Martin, 8 Chiffchaff, 5 Goldcrest, 11 Wren, 76 Starlings, 7 Blackbirds, 2 Song Thrushes, 5 Robins, single male Wheatear, 3 Stonechat, 6 Dunnocks, 21 House Sparrows, Pied Wagtail, 4 ‘alba wagtails’, 40 Meadow Pipits, 3 Chaffinches, 5 Linnets and a single Goldfinch.
Ringing
A couple of hours in Millcombe resulted in a single Chiffchaff caught and a nocturnal session walking around the fields resulted in a few Meadow Pipits and Skylarks. The highlight was a Meadow Pipit originally ringed in September 2021 as a juvenile.
March 19th Sightings - Fog
A foggy Red-throated Diver in the Landing Bay. ©Thomas WestonA foggy start after a stormy night resulted in a census of two halves. Millcombe was very warm and humid with a Raven, a Chiffchaff, 5 Robin, 12 Dunnocks, 5 Woodpigeons, 3 Chaffinches, a single lost looking Sand Martin, 3 Goldcrest, Chiffchaff, 11 Wrens and 7 Blackbird were spotted. The fog lifted enough to see the Landing Bay and the visibility was good. Here, 2 Red-throated Divers (scarce here), the overwintering adult winter Great northern Diver, a Guillemot, a Gannet, 2 Shag, 3 Oystercatchers, 3 Lesser Black-backed Gulls, a Great Black-backed Gull and 15 Herring Gulls were spotted. The fog soon dropped and the walk past Benjamin’s Chair resulted in a small flock of Linnet feeding on the clifftop. Rocket Pole Pond had a pair of Mallard (4 seen today in total) and the pair of Stonechat continued to build their nest. Walking through Southwest field and the Airfield saw singing Skylarks and Meadow Pipits noted but by this point even we were getting lost and disorientated today! Finding ¼ wall was an achievement but the small flock of Carrion Crows and a Pied Wagtail in Brick Field alongside a few flyover ‘alba wagtails’ were the highlights.
Outside the census period, notable sightings by allcomers:
- 1st Firecrest of the year was in Millcombe around midday.
- Single Swallow flew south through the Village.
- A female Merlin flew over St Helen’s Copse.
- Male Wheatears were seen beyond ¼ Wall, in Barton’s Field and in Tillage Field.
- A small flock of Puffin made landfall at Jenny’s Cove this morning with a flock later noted offshore.
- A flock of 6 Sand Martins flew south through Millcombe this afternoon.
Ringing
With the weather calming down enough to open the nets, a couple of hours in Millcombe resulted in just one bird being caught, a new Chiffchaff.
March 18th Sightings – Sunny Census Counts
A calm, nice, sunny day today.
One of our returning Linnet near Pondsbury. ©Thomas Weston
Census counts from involved 13 Wrens, the singing male Song Thrush, 3 Oystercatchers in the Landing Bay, 3 Robins, 11 Ravens, 27 House Sparrows, 7 Blackbirds, female Merlin flew below the Tavern, 4 Pied Wagtails, 2 Redwing, 8 ‘alba’ Wagtails north, 4 Chaffinch, 7 Dunnock, an increase to 10 Goldcrest, 14 Meadow Pipit, singing Goldfinch, 2 Gannet, 3 Fulmar, 151 Razorbill, single Guillemot, 4 Shag, 6 Chiffchaff including one in subsong, 3 Woodpigeon, 2 Great Black-backed Gulls, 2 Lesser Black-backed Gulls, 5 Stonechat with two pairs noted, 3 Linnet, 32 Carrion Crow, 14 Skylark, Rock Pipit, 114 Herring Gulls, 3 Mallards, 52 Starling, 3 Sand Martin flew North and 2 Cormorants also flew North.
A quick check on Pondbury resulted in the Green-winged Teal male, a female Teal, a Linnet, 5 Sand Martins, 4 Meadow Pipits, 6 Skylarks and a Wren.