Bird Sightings

Over the past two days, we have seen a wonderful increase in the seabirds piling onto the Island's cliff and slopes. Seabird surveys have produced super counts of Kittiwake in Jenny's Cove and Aztec Bay in particular, with 172 seen on the 22nd and 149 on the 23rd. 2566 Guillimot were counted on the cliffs at Jenny's Cove on the 22nd, all bar 116 of these crowding on the ledges! Also on the 22nd, 699 Razorbill were seen, thanks to brilliant Island coverage from Benjamin's Chair to the North Light. Puffin numbers are gradually increasing, with a count of 268 on the 22nd, 134 of these on land at Jenny's Cove. Some very muddy individuals have clearly been busy excavating their earthy burrows! The biggest Fulmar count of the year appeared on the 23rd, this a total of 134 birds, 87 of which were on the Gannet's Rock colony. The Bird Observatory team have enjoyed watching courtiship behaviour between seabird pairs at their nests, such as gentle preening and billing rituals.

First Manx Shearwater Egg of the year, 22 April. J ParkerDuring a check of the Manx Shearwater nest boxes at the Old Light Colony on the 22nd, the first egg of the season was found! In addition to this, a fantastic effort was put into catching Manx Shearwater that night, and into the early hours of the next morning! The team processed 111 birds, 67 of which were retraps, the three oldest originally ringed as adults between 2010 and 2012.

The wader passage theme continues with another 4 Whimbrel sighted on the 22nd, matching the count on the 21st. The largest Oystercatcher count of the year has reached 30 individuals, this on the 23rd.

Whimbrel in flight, 22 April. P Holt

Another big Swallow passage day arrived on the 23rd. Thanks to timed counts by visiting birders, 925 were recorded in total, the 2nd biggest count of the year! Willow Warbler and Chiffchaff are still not quite piling into the Island in as high numbers as expected for this season, so we are anticipating a big push any day now. Sedge Warbler are slowly increasing, with 7 ringed in Millcombe on the 22nd. A cheerful sound about Millcombe both mornings has been supplied by reeling Grasshopper Warbler.

Spots of exciting migrants include a single Yellow Wagtail at Quarter Wall Copse on the 22nd, one Redwing heard in flight Millcombe on the 23rd (the first since the 14th), and two more Greenland Wheatear candidates on the Airfield on the 23rd. Sightings of the Hooded Crow were noted again on both days. The evening roosts of Linnet around the Tavern were counted at around 40 birds on both evenings and are such a beautiful sight in the warm, dimming sun.

Finally having a rain-free, warm, moonless night on 21st, we were able to put out the moth trap in Millcombe. This reaped a small but lovely catch (on the morning of the 22nd) of 10 moths of 6 species. Early Grey, Early Thorn, Angle Shades, Marbled Coronet, Clouded Drab, Brown Silver-lines. Small numbers of Red Admiral and Large White butterflies are being spotted Island wide.

This past week of decent island coverage has produced a notable increase in breeding behaviour and pulses of passage migrants.

Brief encounters of various wader species have been a highlight, including a Northern Lapwing spotted flying west while ringing Goldfinch in the Lodge Garden, a single Golden Plover on the 17th and 19th, sightings of single Whimbrel on the 17th, 18th, 20th and 21st, one Common Sandpiper in Landing Bay on the 19th, Common Snipe in small numbers around Pondsbury and Quarter Wall, and a stunning Dunlin nearly in full summer plumage on the 20th, seeming to hesitate at the North End before imminent departure northwards.

Some well-needed rain along with gusty winds buffeting along the western slopes provided the perfect conditions for some decent night time Manx Shearwater catches. We had two very good sessions, catching just under 100 birds in each, and gained incredible retrap data, such as birds ringed here on Lundy in 2009 and 2010! Other seabird news from the cliffs around the Island includes Guillemot piling endlessly onto their ledges, Puffin busily gathering up tufts of dry grass to nestle into their burrows, and observations of copulation in both Guillemot and Razorbill. Shag have also been hard at work, many seen transporting large piles of vegetation to their developing nests around the Island. Between the 17th and 19th, a run of summer plumage Cormorant have been sighted. A single Mediterranean Gull was seen on the 20th, far out from the North End amongst Kittiwake while a pod of c.50 Common Dolphin breached below.

In terms of raptors, an exciting find was a fleeting Hobby on the 19th. Dashing after passerines before moving north, this was the first for the year. Merlin have been seen again on both the 20th and 21st. We have also had some nice corvid sightings, with a Rook on the 20th being the first since the 5th, and a long-staying Hooded Crow being seen daily in the southern fields since the 16th, often pushed about by the resident groups of Carrion Crow.

Our biggest hirundine passage this year came about on the 17th, with 1082 birds (a mix of Swallow, House Martin and Sand Martin) counted on the 17th. However, it is good to note that this is certainly an undercount, with a very useful 1hr count from 1230hrs conducted from the North End producing 634 birds within this time alone! Passage warblers have been appearing in small pulses. A steady Blackcap movement peaked at 42 ringed in Millcombe on the 17th, 3 Sedge Warbler were ringed on the 17th, 2 on the 20th and others heard singing in the valley, Grasshopper Warbler were heard reeling in Millcombe and St John's Valley on the 16th, 17th and 19th, along with small numbers ringed, single Lesser Whitethroat sightings on the 16th, 17th and 20th, and a predation event of a Common Whitethroat in Middle Park (presumed to be the work of a hungry Kestrel) coincided with a mini arrival of 7 around the Island on the 20th.

Grasshopper Warbler in the hand, 21 Apr. Paul Holt

There have been few other nice movements to note about the Island this week. The Pondsbury Teal count peaked at 2 pairs. Daily Stock Dove sightings, centralised around Barton's Field, were recorded, and a second individual added to this on the 20th. A single Collared Dove in the Village on the 16th. A maximum count of 32 Goldfinch, also in the Village, was wonderful to see, and ever-growing flocks of Linnet have been an enjoyable highlight of the sunny evenings as the migrants gather up in flocks for roost. Bullfinch in Millcombe peaked at 2 males and 1 female on the 17th and have been logged daily since. A single Goldcrest at St Helen's Copse on the 19th was the first since the 11th. After a busy early spring passage of Ring Ouzel sightings are now slowing, with the 3 logged on the 16th much lower than the 7 on the 12th. Interestingly, this higher number in fact equalled the highest spring count of the 21st Century, matching the count on the 8th April 2015; it did not quite however reach the heights of the 23 seen on the 7th April 1966! Singles were also seen on the 17th and 20th. One Spotted Flycatcher, the first  observation of the year, was seen on 16th at Quarter Wall Copse. A second for the year was female Whinchat along the Lower Eastside Path on the 20th. A female Common Redstart was spotted at the Quarries on the 19th, frustratingly inside the Heligoland trap but not caught! Single Tree Pipits were noted over the Lodge on the 18th and 19th. And finally, the Wheatear passage continues, with a few Greenland candidates appearing here and there.

A Hawfinch graced Millcombe on 12th, followed by a male and female Bullfinch the next day. Goldfinch passage resulted in 30 logged on 12th, supported by news of a recent North Devon ringing recovery. A Sedge Warbler ringed on 12th was quickly followed by the first Reed and Grasshopper Warbler records the following day. Blackcap continue to dominate on the passerine front, with 49 and 29 individuals logged respectively over the two days. Two Common Whitethroat were seen in Millcombe on the 12th, including a singing bird at the top of the valley. A small arrival of Ring Ouzel enjoyed up to seven birds across the east and west coasts while a Black Redstart frequented the North End on 13th and light hirundine passage trickling through day. 

The Stock Dove and Collared Dove continue there stay around St Helen's Field and the Village. A single Teal pair reside at Pondsbury while Jenny's Cove featured 148 Kittiwake on the sea and another on 65 ledges on 13th. The Ringed Plover was still present at South West Point on 12th, but no further sign since. East coast boasted a Common Sandpiper on 12th, followed by a Great Northern Diver off the Terrace and 5 Cormorant high across the Landing Bay on 13th.

Reeling Grashopper Warbler, 13 Apr. N Barnes

The second record of White Stork graced the island today, initially clocked over Pondsbury at 11.32hrs, the unringed bird was logged over the Church and North End in very quick succession (briefly seen attempted to depart north before aborting). Last seen tracking south at midday, the individual was photographed over Ilfracombe an hour later! See Devon Birds post to enjoy Martin Thorne's mainland photos. The only previous island record dates back on 20 Apr, 1992.

Other highlights include the first Green Sandpiper of the year at Rocket Pole at 17.53hrs and the Hoopoe still at Quarter Wall West and later on near the Castle. It appears that the Ringed Plover has relocated to Three Quarter Wall, after a 10-day residency at Kistvaen Pond (South West Field). A sterling ringing effort from Flo and Tony from 06.45 - 16.30hrs resulted in 42 Willow Warbler, 23 Chiffchaff, 44 Blackcap and a male Bullfinch ringed among the local residents and a few continental Robin. Other notables includes a female Bullfinch, single Redpoll, two Pied Flycatcher, three Common Redstart, a Stock Dove in Barton Field and three Ring Ouzel across Belle Vue Cottages and Quarter Wall West.