Bird Sightings

Finally the winds have swung round and we’ve been met with Westerlies once again, bringing some considerably more unsettled weather than the past few months! Hirundine and Swift passage has continued but at a slower rate, now that we are late in May, and a couple of Greenland Wheatears have been seen: 22nd and 25th. 

We had another flurry of Golden Oriole activity between 22nd and 24th, with males seen each day (Millcombe) and a male and female together on 23rd. Millcombe also produced a singing Garden Warbler on 25th, and small numbers of Spotted Flycatchers almost every day. Siskin were only recorded on 20th at the Terrace. The Terrace continued its Subalpine Warbler streak with another bird, female this time, on 20th.Subalpine female on Terrace, 20th May, R Bower Redpoll have been seen on 4 days, either on the East coast or around the Tavern/church, and a Turtle Dove, which didn’t appear to stick around, was seen on 22nd at the top of St John’s Valley.

The last confirmed sighting of our Blue-Headed Wagtails was on 20th, so we wonder if the individuals that have been around since late April have finally departed.

The 20th brought several sightings of a Marsh Harrier, and the female-type bird was seen again on 21st. Following this, the next notable raptor sighting was a Hobby on 27th, a day which brought a Force 9 gale to Lundy. A 1h15min seawatch at the end of this day produced 1039 Manx Shearwater, including a raft of c500. It is lovely to see good numbers of our 25,000 birds rafting at sea. In further Manx Shearwater news, we now have 14 eggs in our 30 monitored Manx nest boxes, a great start to their breeding season. 

The seabird season appears to be off to a great start, and all Lundy’s cliff-nesting seabirds are being counted week of 26th May by a dedicated RSPB team. RSPB team in actionDuring surveys (26th May especially), several Shag chicks have been spotted in the North of the island, some only hours old. On 26th one of the team flushed a Storm Petrel from the entrance of its burrow at the North End.

However, unfortunately the recent stormy weather has had its impacts. Small numbers of the monitored Kittiwake nests have been washed off by the high waves. Thankfully there is still time for a second brood: fingers crossed.

Good land Puffin counts came from the Battery on 21st, 35 birds present, and 50 were seen on the St Phillips Stone buttress on 25th. We have now noticed a few birds coming into burrows with sand eels at Jenny’s Cove, which suggests chicks have begun to hatch!

Lundy has seen minimal Teal activity at Pondsbury, 2 males spotted on 21st, followed by a female on both 23rd and 25th. Waders continue to visit the island in passing: 2 Whimbrel North End on 22nd, a Dunlin on Middle Park Pond 20th and 28th.

Two Raven family groups continue to be seen, likely broods from Long Roost and Benjamin’s Chair.Raven family, Aztec Bay, K Power A Peregrine pair has also been recorded around Gannet’s Combe.

Despite the winds, we have sighted Painted Ladies, Red Admirals, Green Veined, Large and Small Whites, Common Blue and Peacock butterflies. 95 Small Heaths were seen on 21st, a bumper count for the species. Several Brown Silver-Lines have been seen throughout, and a nice Cream-Spot Tiger in a trap moth trap this week. 

Visitors viewed 7 Common Dolphin from the Oldenburg crossing on 20th, and the same day 3 Harbour Porpoises were seen during a seawatch at South Light.

The continued spell of very fine weather has led to another shining week on Lundy!

Millcombe’s wooded slopes have produced a variety of notable species including Hawfinch (15th-17th), Grey Wagtail (13th) and Reed Warbler (15th & 18th), as well as a flyover Hobby on the 13th. Two year high counts for Spotted Flycatcher were achieved on the 13th and 18th, producing 18 and 25 birds respectively, with the majority of sightings coming from the valley. The 18th in particular proved to be an exciting day in Millcombe with sightings of a female Golden Oriole and Crossbill, as well as Cuckoo and Redpoll all coming in around midday.

Female Crossbill feeding in Millcombe Pines, 18 May. Carol BaillieCrossbill silhouette, Carol Baillie

Further afield notable species included the second Eastern Subalpine Warbler of the year spotted on the Terrace on the 17th, and a Grey Heron seen first at Pondsbury on the 15th. Continued sightings of Blue-headed Wagtail, Yellow Wagtail, Tree Pipit, White Wagtail and Siskin were logged throughout the week. Lundy has seen a further trickle of waders: Whimbrel (maximum count of 3 on 14th and 18th), Ringed Plover and Dunlin (both achieving highs of 3 on 17th). Sightings of a Harbour Porpoise and a distant Great Skua were had off the North End on the 14th. Elsewhere on the island, frantic Kittiwakes continue to snatch huge bill-fulls of nesting material, including directly outside Puffin burrows at Jenny’s Cove. The first Kittiwake egg of the year was spotted on the 19th, heralding the beginning of the breeding season for this species.

The week of the 5th to 12th May brought mostly settled weather, which led to some consistent hirundine passage and a trickle of Swift sightings, resulting in observations of 1868 Swallow on 7th which was trumped only two days later by movement of a staggering 3076 on 9th, counted between 10.30 and 18.00 (but the great majority from 13:00 to 16:00) mainly along the west and leaving from North Light, with 1425 House Martin and 117 Swift also counted moving north off the island the same day.

A few waders continue to drop in on the island, Whimbrel being a consistent star, seen each day until 10th, with a high count of four on 6th. A couple of Lapwing passed through, one of which showed well in Brick Field on 7th. Turnstone and Common Sandpiper were spotted at North Light on 6th. Dunlin have trickled through most days, with a high count of nine observed on the 9th across the south of the island. A Ringed Plover and Greenshank were heard on 10th around Pondsbury too. As of 10th May we still had four Teal on Pondsbury, three of which males. Lundy has had more Cuckoo action, with two birds seen or heard on the 8th, 10th and 12th mainly around Millcombe and the east coast, including a likely female looking for Meadow Pipit nests. A Collared Dove has been seen every day except 12th, and two were seen during Bird Obs census on 11th.

Lapwing, Brick Field on 7 May. Tim Jones

In seabird news, large feeding flocks of 200-500 Kittiwake were observed off the west on 5th and 6th, and following this, they were first seen getting busy collecting nesting material on 7th at Aztec Bay, which held 196 birds on ledges.

Auk counts have also been good, with an excellent count of 5116 Guillemot on cliffs at Jenny’s Cove on 10th, joined by 573 Razorbill neighbours. A year high Puffin count was achieved on 8th with 496 counted at Jenny’s Cove over both land and sea, and complemented by another 43 from the North End. Manx Shearwater have been seen in the distance most days, and on 10th over 480 were seen travelling north close off the east of the island. Despite the bright moon and clear night skies, birds can be heard calling from the village. A high count of 108 Shag was achieved on 12th, with most birds seen in the far north. A large number of nest sites have also been located.

On morning of 12th, a group of unhappy gulls and crows along the east drew attention to a female-type Marsh Harrier moving quickly north, a first for the year! 6th and 7th brought sightings of a pale female Merlin, mostly seen in the northernmost quarter. Hooded Crow have been spotted across six days, including a max of two on 7th and 12th near the water tanks and Brick Field. One of the birds on 7th seemed more of a hybrid phenotype. There has been considerable Raven activity of late with two fledged broods seen, one just south of Long Roost and one Benjamins Chair, totalling five young. Ravens have been very busy over the seabird colonies with surveys regularly including sightings of Guillemot egg thieving.

Our trusty Millcombe Song Thrush continues to sing every day, with great renditions of Greenshank within its varied repertoire, which regularly confuses the Merlin bird app. Numbers of Passerine migrants are dwindling now, with 9th-10th being the first two consecutive days with less than three Blackcap since the end of March. However, Garden Warbler sightings continue. Two were seen on both 7th and 12th, with singles several other days. 

Several of Lundy’s breeding passerine residents have been observed collecting nesting material or food, including Starling, Blackbird, Linnet, Skylark, Meadow Pipit, Stonechat, and good coverage on 9th meant 38 Wren were seen or heard, many displaying breeding behaviours.  On 5th May a brood of five Stonechat chicks were located and ringed at Pondsbury Heath. 

Stonechat nest (monitored under license), Brennig Hughes

We have had great views of Spotted Flycatcher every day, including 12 on 12th, mostly on the East and especially Barton’s/Upper Millcombe fenceline, their favourite Lundy perch. These were joined by Pied on 6th, 7th, and a stunning Pied male on 10th. 6th brought us a Whinchat, and the days either side provided possibly the last Common Redstart sightings of the spring, with a Black Redstart too on 5th.  Among the good Wheatear counts (47 on 5th and 7th), we have had a smattering of smart Greenland candidates. 

After careful identification, it seems as though Lundy has seen both a male and female Yellow Wagtail and Blue-headed Wagtail throughout the week, the male Blue-headed bearing a ring and being the potential Channel Wagtail candidate first spotted on 1st. Mainly seen around Barton’s Field and the village, this bird seems to be sticking around, spotted almost every day. Tree Pipit sightings have continued every day except 12th, and the presumed long-stayer was seen bathing on 8th in Millcombe. As of 6th, we had 146 Linnet still remaining. 5th and 6th brought more Siskin sightings, with three and six respectively.

In Lepidoptera news, during the calm, bright weather of 11th, we experienced a sudden influx of at least 115 Painted Lady and 126 Red Admiral on 11th, and have been observing other species including Small Copper and Small Heath (17 on 12th), Common Blue and Brown Silver-Line moth. 11th also brought a record sighting of a Four Spotted Chaser, the 4th Lundy record since the mass invasion of 1963! The sighting was then replicated on 12th.

Four-spotted Chaser, Pondsbury 11 May. Tim Davis

Despite no further sightings of the Eastern Subalpine Warbler, the 3rd of May produced an exciting pair of new warbler species for the year... Richard Campey came across a sculking Cetti's Warbler in St John's Valley on a morning bird watch, and not long after, on census, Flo Turner came across a Dartford Warbler, seen and heard around Belle View Ruins before it flew off soutwards, from gorse bush to gorse bush along the Upper Eastside Path. The former species is the first spring record for Lundy, and the latter the fourth! Fantastic to see. Too busy chasing rarities, Campey didn't bother to count the humble Robin.

It was certainly all go on the 3rd, proven by a sudden Racing Pigeon influx, 14 birds seen charging over the Island throughout the day. The following day, although just one Racing Pigeon was sighted, we had a pleasant passage of 245 Swallow. However, despite his great intention to count these migrating hirundines between 13.20 and 14.30hrs, Campey fell asleep. Other passage migrants include singles of Garden Warbler and Lesser Whitethroat on the 3rd, a single Bullfinch calling in Milcombe on the 4th, and a great count of 9 Siskin along the East Coast, including Millcombe and the Quarries, also on the 4th.

Although not seen or heard on the 3rd, Cuckoo was recorded again on the 4th, at Quarter Wall Copse and in Millcombe.

At least one Tree Pipit was noted at the South End on the 3rd, but on the 4th we had a count of 5! Single female Pied Flycatcher were seen at the Quarries on the 3rd and in Millcombe on the 4th, and 6 Spotted Flycatcher across the South East also on the 4th. While a male Black Redstart was observed singing at the North End that day, a male Common Redstart was about Rupell's Quarry.

The Hooded Crow continues its presense in the fields about the South End. 

Single Whimbrel were seen at the North end on both the 3rd and 4th. A much less common wader noted in the early hours of the 4th was a Greenshank! Stirred in the night by the muscial tones of singing Manx Shearwater, Brennig Hughes, from the RSPB, heard the single bird calling over the Lodge Garden, cirlcling twice before it continued its northwards passage. This is the first record for the year! During a nocturnal survey the other end of the day, the Conservation Team's efforts with thermal imagers revealed the first incoming Storm Petrel recorded on Lundy this year! The elusive seabirds were seen dashing like bats about the rocky coastal slopes, hopefully prospecting nest sites for this coming breeding season. In other seabird news, a check of the nest boxes at the Manx Shearwater colony produced a count of 11 eggs being incubated, which is very positive news so early in the season as last year a total of 11 chicks successfully fledged overall. Another coastal nesting bird noted over the past two days was Shag, with 37 counted at the North End on the 4th, including several nesting pairs, and this within a total of 80 birds seen across the whole Island. 

One last piece of Island breeding evidence was in the form of another Mallard brood on the 3rd, a female with 8 young sighted at Pondsbury.

 A magical Lundy night sky, May 4. F Turner.