Bird Sightings

By Kirsty Cox

Today was very much a day of two halves. The first half of the day was spent in the office catching up on seal admin tasks. Each time a seal population survey is carried out all the photographs taken of hauled out seals are put into a powerpoint ‘album’ and each photo is checked against an online database and our own Lundy catalogue to look for matches in fur patterns. Finding a match means we can start to put together a ‘history’ for the seal, plotting their movements and pupping locations. The photos I was processing this morning were taken on a survey of the East Coast earlier in the week. There are over 60 photos of seals to look through which will take some time but I have already matched a seal to our Lundy catalogue who is also known to surveyors in West Cornwall so that’s an exciting find. And I also matched a tagged seal who was rehabbed at West Hatch and released in 2023 - it’s always wonderful to spot a tagged seal as it proves that rescue, rehab and release works!Seal Tag by Kirsty Cox

After lunch I spent some time on recycling duty, a very necessary part of Lundy life. The recycling from all the holiday properties on the island has to be sorted before it can be shipped off so it is a big job during the summer season. We are always very grateful for visitors who take the time to wash out and sort their recycling from their rubbish as it makes the job much easier and definitely more pleasant!

Then it was time for some outdoor survey time. Jessie and I were on the hunt for Lundy Cabbage Flea Beetles. These beautiful little bronze coloured beetles live and feed solely on the Lundy Cabbage and so are endemic to the island. We survey cabbage plants in a particular area once a month to see how many beetles we can find and today we had a good result of 8 beetles!Lundy Cabbage Flea Beetle by Jessie Dermody

Once the beetles were surveyed, it was time for the seals. Pupping season has started on Lundy and so most days now I carry out a ‘Pup Check’. This entails walking a particular route and looking for pups on all the beaches. If any pups are spotted then photos are taken of the pup and the mother for ID purposes and we then monitor the development of the pups as they moult and are weaned.

It was a busy day for bird sightings across the island too. In the morning Greg saw a Ringed Plover and a Grasshopper Warbler on census, and Thomas, Eleanor and Tara ringed 12 Manx Shearwater chicks at the South end of the island. And in the afternoon, Thomas and Eleanor spent time watching a Spotted Redshank at Pondsbury and then spotted a Green Sandpiper at Quarter Wall Pond.

Green Sandpiper by Thomas Weston

By Greg Lee

We were treated to a bit of a rarity in recent times as we headed back from an evening Storm Petrel session in the northern reaches of the island, thick fog! This descended on us just as we left the site and headed our way back to the Village. As the wind was set to be very still, it was perhaps no surprise in the morning that I lifted the blinds to see that the fog had resumed, although it slowly dissipated throughout the morning.

Census today was fairly steady, with predictably, little dropping in on the island overnight. A total of 13 Willow Warblers was fairly low for recent weeks, having enjoyed a steady daily passage so far this autumn. Two Sedge Warblers in lower Millcombe were carefully picked out of the vegetation, standing still and waiting for movement often yields some good results at this time of year. A single Spotted Flycatcher up near Old Light was a nice sight in the Stoneycroft garden, which rarely fails to deliver some migrants. Although the Buzzard wasn’t a feature of census, the fog had clearly kept the bird from moving over the Bristol Channel as it was seen loitering towards the end of the day.  Likewise, the young Grey Heron was investigating Rocket Pole pond, seemingly not too bothered by my presence nearby.

Grey Heron by G.Lee

After census, there was a healthy pile of recycling to sift through which kept me occupied for the afternoon, it is a never-ending job, but there is definitely a satisfying element to it!

By Tara McEvoy-Wilding

Saturday was a Bideford boat so after some toast and cleaning the Vestry it was time to go down to see the Oldenburg in! Meanwhile, Greg was on census and spotted a Cormorant perched on Quarry Cottages! Other highlights included the Buzzard on the airfield, 4 Spotted Flycatchers, 17 Willow Warblers and 2 Yellow Wagtails. 

Today was a very good spring tide, so we took advantage of it to complete some of our annual rockpool surveys. This entails surveying 5 pools that are in various intertidal zones and recording the different species and how abundant they are in each pool. The idea is that over time, changed to the rockpool community composition can be identified.

Today it was the turn of two of the middle pools to be surveyed. After around 20 minutes of trying to find them based on the photos provided we found D and then quickly after E (we have now taken what three words for the pool's locatiosn!).

Exciting times on Lundy if you like clinging to sheer rock faces, hanging above precarious ledges or laughing in the face of gravity.  The climbing season is right around the corner, so I decided to head up to Devils slide and give it a go.

Devils slide is widely regarded as the most popular route on Lundy; it remains open for climbing all year as it’s not suitable for birds nesting.  It’s essentially a sheer granite slab on a “generous” angle that allows climbing that’s not too strenuous on the arms.  It’s also one of the original climbing routes on the island; I wasn’t going alone though and a whole team of climbers from Southampton climbing club joined me out on the rock.Southampton Climbing Club

The first thing to note about climbing on Lundy is that you’re normally starting with an abseil, I’ve climbed a fair amount from my time up in North Wales, but it was good to be around experienced climbers who helped refresh my very rusty knot tying abilities. 

The whole experience took around 4 hours from abseiling, to taking time on belaying other climbers up and with three separate pitches to overcome.  Overall, it was a success, I did unfortunately drop my Belay device though... One of those slow-motion moments where you just watch it disappear.  Fortunately, another climber managed to find it and bring it up to me, saving me a little embarrassment. 

Southampton Climbing Club

At the top I was ready for a break, it was hot and humid on the slope and luckily, we’d all brought snacks and drinks.  At this point I did thank my former self for haribo purchasing and bagging an extra flapjack.

After that, it was time for a catchup online with the Seal Research Trust, we’re working closely with them to get ready for the upcoming seal pupping season.  The pups will soon be arriving on the beaches and we'll be monitoring their success rate along with naming the new individuals.  Seals have unique patterns like our fingerprints, once they loose their fluffy pup fur, we can name them depending on recognisable shapes on their skin.   If anyone is interested in Seals or Seal research, I’d highly recommend reaching out to them Seal Research Trust

The day ended with a refreshing swim down in the landing bay where we were checked out by a roaming Fulmar which repeatedly dived us to see what we were up to before heading up the island. Other birds spotted included a juvenile Peregrine, Grey Heron and a Buzzard that's a little lost but still hanging around the interior.

Big thanks to all the members of Southampton Climbing Club!