Bird Sightings

Colour ringed Wheatear from Spring 2023 has been seen 5 times this year and has raised juveniles on the island. Airfield. ©ThomasWeston

A morning that initially looked very good with a breeze from the North hopefully inspiring migrants to move. This was not apparent in the morning with a short ringing session resulting in 5 Willow Warblers caught and ringed. This session was soon closed and census was undertaken. Sightings included 6 Mallards in Barton’s Field; 3 Woodpigeons in Millcombe; single Dunlin over the Village; 12 Herring Gulls; 18 Shags in the Landing Bay; single Peregrine; 5 Carrion Crows, 6 Ravens, 5 Swallows, 13 Willow Warblers mostly at Old Light and Millcombe; 9 Wrens, 71 Starlings, single Blackbird, a Spotted Flycatcher at Old Light; 2 Robin, 7 Wheatears, single Dunnock, 23 House Sparrows, 3 Pied Wagtails, 12 Meadow Pipits, 94 Linnets, and 21 Goldfinches.

A check of the Fulmar productivity site was productive with all chicks present and correct. A Shag colony nearby was very active with 9 juveniles seen including 2 still in nests being fed by parents. There were also 2 Whitethroats in the bracken so there were almost certainly migrants arriving onto the island. Walking back to the Village resulted in a few Mallards on Pondsbury. An afternoon Manx Shearwater session saw all our artificial box birds doing well and one of which looked like it was close to fledging within the nest week. A very exciting move as this bird’s parents have probably left so the chick can fatten up and fledge when it’s ready.

Ringing

House Sparrows/Starling session; Manxie box checks; a morning Millcombe session; an evening ringing session in Millcombe that resulted in resident species juveniles being caught including Goldfinches and Linnets but it was also great to catch the first Garden Warbler of the Autumn as well as a few more Willow Warblers too; and a nocturnal survey saw 9 Wheatears on the tracks of which 2 were caught.  

Census was undertaken today in the cloudy conditions this morning. These conditions quickly deteriorated into fog again resulting in a day of no migration on the island. Low numbers were recorded throughout and will be updated soon.   

A day which looked slightly promising quickly materialised to be a very foggy morning. Warm and very humid, a band of very warm air came from the south with thunder heard at dawn. However, the nets were opened for a while and it was just low fog to begin. A small catch was made and the nets were quickly closed around 11am when the rain came in. However, a good time to do census as there was seemingly the band of cloud was clearing from the west and a patch of very lovely blue sky followed. Sightings from census included: 11 Herring Gulls, 7 Lesser Black-backed Gulls, 2 Gannets, 11 Shags, single Kestrel, 11 Carrion Crows, 6 Ravens, single Skylark, 4 Sand Martins, 3 Swallows, 9 Wrens, 29 Starlings, 3 Blackbirds, 7 Robins, 10 Wheatears, 3 Stonechats, single Dunnock, 12 House Sparrows, 2 Pied Wagtails, 10 Meadow Pipits, single Chaffinch, 112 Linnets, and 2 Goldfinches.

Kittiwake Productivity Site. ©ThomasWeston

After census, the Kittiwake survey was undertaken. There were only 41 adults and 7 juveniles at the colony showing that the majority have now fully fledged and left the area. Even the adults are leaving as the numbers were above 200 adults at the peak. However, the productivity survey was complete and it means now we can start looking at the annual report for this species. Not much was moving out at sea apart from a couple of Gannets and a few Kittiwakes. However, at North End a team of researchers currently out on the island saw a Curlew and Arctic Skua. The latter, the first of the year!

Ringing

A colour ringed Wheatear recaught from May 2024 in the Village. ©ThomasWeston

An evening of breezy weather followed and it was thought a bit of night catching would be good. We ended up catching 12 Wheatears including a retrap from 10 days ago and a colour ringed adult male originally caught in May around Bensons Cave as part of the island’s Retrapping Adult Survival (RAS) project. A great way to end the day.

A foggy start to the morning with a keen North-east wind bracing the island. It was a slow start to begin with few birds moving. However, as the morning continued, a large pulse of Willow Warblers arrived and a large majority of the birds in Millcombe were ringed. This, alongside the resident’s juveniles led to a high number of birds caught today. As the nets were being closed, the cloud began to break and the toasty hot weather appeared. Census was followed and it was great to see both Cormorant and Grey Heron migrating out to sea heading in a leisurely South-East direction. Other birds seen on census included 8 Swifts, 6 Herring Gulls, 2 Lesser Black-backed Gulls, single Gannets, 2 Shags, 3 Kestrel, 2 Peregrines, 7 Carrion Crows, 8 Ravens, 9 Swallows, 29 Willow Warblers, 12 Wrens, 34 Starlings, 5 Blackbirds, 4 Robins, 15 Wheatears, 4 Stonechats, 2 Dunnock, 26 House Sparrows, 3 Pied Wagtails, 6 Meadow Pipits, single Chaffinch, 106 Linnets, and 9 Goldfinches.

Ringing

Spotted Flycatcher caught and ringing in Millcombe. ©ThomasWeston

A busy morning with good variety and a few retraps.