By Thomas Weston
Another early morning for the Birders Week brigade. This time the wind was yet again NW and from observations on Ventusky, it was due to a high-pressure system coming up from the Bay of Biscay. The past few days the high pressure was quite low and so most overshoots as a result were arriving in the extreme SW of the UK, including a notable sighting of a Melodious Warbler in Cornwall. With this in mind, and the high-pressure not situated so any wind was coming off the north coast of France, out into the Atlantic and then hitting into Lundy. Some rain, producing a stunning rainbow to the west of the island was noteworthy. Having not had rain for a while, it was looking like an interesting day! Even if the rain did not hit the island as such, its close presence was good enough.
Melodious Warbler in Millcombe by ThomasWeston
However, Millcombe mist netting started at 6am and was another Willow Warbler migration day. Now these days do not start busy. We do not get down there and the rush is on; it takes time to emerge. However, yet again, between 7am and 8am, a rush of Willow Warblers came down and up the valley feeding in the bushes. Meanwhile, Greg was on census and ‘checked in’ with the ringing. It was going well and he continued having quite a quiet one today. Until Greg reached Smelly Gully where he found a Melodious Warbler in the bushes with the Willow Warblers. The bird was super elusive and spent most time hanging around at the bottom of a bush. Fresh in and a bit tired, it spent the time feeding up and gaining energy. Greg continued census and found a nice range of species on the route. The bird was actively feeding and as do most warblers, the bird gained more energy and headed up the valley where it ended up in one of the nets. As a result, some of the Birders Week participants got to see a new species, many had never seen a rare bird in the hand, and some had seen the species a while ago.
Around 11am we packed up in Millcombe whereby the ringing totals included 1 new Linnet, 1 new Stonechat, 2 new Sedge Warblers, a new Blackcap, the Melodious, a new Blackbird, a retrap House Sparrow, a new and retrap Wren, a new Chiffchaff, and 51 Willow Warblers too. Everyone was a bit tired today and it was the last full day for the Birders Week. Some of the team headed along the east coast looking for birds; another checked Pondsbury and found a Red-veined and a Common Darter hawking over the lake; whilst others took it steady.
The evening talks were seabird talks focusing on seabird research on the island. I am grateful for the time and effort put into the talks this week, focusing on a broad range of subjects. I think the wealth of knowledge we have on the island has been summed up and this evening was no different. Emma this evening provided information on the breeding seabirds this year focusing on the productivity site data. It seems to have been a mixed year for the seabirds, with some doing well, others OK, and some quite poor! With most of the seabirds now gone, we hope that they can have a great overwinter period ahead of next year’s breeding season.
Log followed before an evening Wheatear dazzling session. We ended up seeing 6 different birds but due to the sky being so bright with stars, and many of our Wheatears already heading off on migration, the birds seen were all super jumpy and quite flighty. Migration ready!