Bird Sightings

A well developed juvenile Herring Gull with its adult in the productivity colony. ©ThomasWeston

Census was undertaken this morning showing an arrival of Willow Warblers into Millcombe. The team were undertaking productivity surveys across the island. The Manx Shearwaters are growing well with the next chicks developing their primaries quickly. There was more excitement at the Herring Gull colony where a number of the metal ringed chicks have started to fledge and explore the surrounding area. Above the colony, there was a nice post-fledging flock of 9 juveniles and 20 adults seen. Due to the visibility being excellent today, flocks of Gannets were seen at distance with at least 21 individuals seen in small feeding flocks whilst others passed by. All the Puffins from the Jenny’s Cove colony and most of the Guillemots and Razorbills have now left the cliffs and were seen on the water in the Cove. It’s looking like a successful year for these species but we are starting to calculate the productivity estimates for the former two species. Moreover, Fulmar are continuing to raise their young, but they do have a long way to before we determine the success of the colony. On the other hand, Kittiwakes seem to have gone from good to bad within a few days with the number of nest failures dramatically increased over the last few days. We are quite complexed what has happened in the last week but with our, already small colony, getting even smaller each visit it’s not looking great.

Ringing

An evening session of Manx Shearwater resulted in 0m fog, some moisturising drizzle, poor visibility, and a small catch made. As with this site, it is amazing how we can catch 50% new and 50% retraps each nocturnal session.

Census counts from today included 5 Woodpigeon, 4 Collared Doves, single Oystercatcher, single Lesser-Black Backed Gull, 13 Herring Gulls, single Fulmar, 4 Shags, single Kestrel, 10 Carrion Crows, 7 Ravens, 3 Skylark, 8 Wrens, 14 Starlings, single Blackbird, 2 Robins, 2 Wheatears, 4 Dunnock, 14 House Sparrows, the male Yellow Wagtail calling over Barton’s Field, 5 Pied Wagtails, 12 Meadow Pipits, 34 Linnets and 12 Goldfinches were seen.  This was followed by a day of housekeeping for most of the conservation team whilst fog covered the island reducing sightings from elsewhere.

Ringing

A Manx Shearwater session resulted in a small but worthwhile catch of shearwaters. Considering the moon phase and cloud cover, we did pretty well.

Sightings from across the island by all-comers involved 7 Mallards, 3 Feral Pigeon, 8 Woodpigeon, 2 Oystercatchers, 400 Puffins, 9 Guillemots, 9 Kittiwakes, 45 Herring Gulls, single Great-Black Backed Gull, 15 Lesser-Black Backed Gulls, 25 Storm Petrels (second half of the night), 14 Fulmar, 15 Manx Shearwaters, 2 Gannet, 19 Shags, 3 Kestrels, 3 Peregrines, single Carrion Crows, 10 Ravens, 2 Skylarks, 2 Swallows, single Whitethroats, single Wren, 30 Starlings, 2 Blackbirds, single Robin, single Stonechat, 16 Wheatears, 18 House Sparrows, 2 Pied Wagtails, 16 Meadow Pipits, 40 Linnets, and 7 Goldfinches.

Meadow Pipit by Quarter Wall ©ThomasWeston

Census this morning was good. The migrants of yesterday had moved through with counts and species lower than recent. However, counts from today included 6 Mallards in Barton’s Field; single Feral Pigeon near the Lambing Shed; 25 House Sparrows in the Village; 3 Woodpigeon, 3 Blackbird, 2 Robins, 4 Dunnock, in Millcombe; single Oystercatcher in the Landing Bay; 5 Great-Black Backed Gulls, 2 Lesser-Black Backed Gull and 87 Herring Gulls across the route with breeding birds at Benjamin’s Chair; four flyby auk spp., past Rat Island; 2 Kestrel on the Lower East Path; 8 Carrion Crows, 4 Ravens, 2 Wheatears, 2 Stonechats single Pied Wagtail, 27 Meadow Pipits, 37 Linnets, 17 Goldfinches, and 6 Skylark in the Fields; 2 Swallow visiting a nest behind the Tavern; single Whitethroat and Chiffchaff in Millcombe; 13 Wrens; and 59 Starlings in the Village/Old Light.

Meanwhile, at Jenny’s Cove, a BIG decrease of auks has occurred with roughly ~120 Guillemots in the cove as well as less than 30 Razorbills and a flock of 100 Puffins on the water. There was only a single Puffin pair visiting a burrow, so our productivity surveys for this species has come to an end for another year. It is amazing how quickly the season goes from nothing to crazy busy and then back to nothing again. Jenny’s Cove will continue to decrease in activity as the season progresses. However, Fulmar and Kittiwakes are still breeding and will continue to be present for the next month or so still.

From the Seabird Station, a quick check on Pondsbury resulted in 11 Mallards on the pool. An evening in the Landing Bay resulted in a few Oystercatchers, Manx Shearwaters returning to their colony, Storm Petrels (see below), a surprise Common Sandpiper which is an island scarcity, however, there has been a very slight passage of this species in the last week.

Ringing

Female Mallard caught and ringed at Pondsbury. ©Lucy Pecasse

A planned Mallard catch on Pondsbury resulted in a moulting female caught and ringed on the pool. We then undertook an evening Storm Petrel session on the Jetty and caught a small number. However, even with the low numbers caught, you can find something super interesting everytime. Out of about ~15 birds caught, 12 were new, one was previously ringed only last week at one of the colonies, one had a French ring so we look forward to hearing the ringing data from this bird, and one had a British ring that we do not know where it was ringed just yet – possibly Welsh or Irish but we shall see.