by Greg Lee
Today saw a marked day in the calendar, the return of the daily Observatory census as we gear up for autumn. Admittedly, it has only been a month since we stopped the spring migration census, however it signals the starting of that busy and anticipated time in the British birders year. This time, we shall be doing census right up until November so lets hope that it can be as productive as spring for some varied and busy days!
It perhaps wasn't the most auspicious start today, with a very strong easterly breeze that swayed the trees and deafened any sounds coming from the bushes, in a couple of months, a similar direction to the breeze could potentially be quite exciting but it is a little early at the moment. Millcombe itself was quite quiet but as I reached the top of St John's Valley, I came across a real pocket of activity with a group of young Sparrows being joined by a Pied Wagtail, some Stonechats, a Dunnock and two Willow Warblers. The latter were certainly local progeny but by the end of the month, we should expect so see migrants from elsewhere passing through, perhaps even in considerable numbers. For now though, it was enjoyable watching the lemon-yellow juveniles working through the bushes and trees. Heading up to Old Light, I then spotted two Sand Martins somehow flying against the wind and heading southwest towards the village, with a Swift also spotted distantly over the Airfield indicating there was some migration afoot in the conditions.
Willow Warbler by G.Lee
The rest of census saw birds generally lying low with a few Meadow Pipits squeaking in the areas of long grass and another Collared Dove also appearing in the Village. On the other hand, it was surprisingly good for Red Admirals, with an influx clearly underway of these migratory butterflies. The rest of the morning and early afternoon saw some data input and also collating the various descriptions of Golden Orioles collected during the spring, with at least nine different individuals thought to have occurred on the island!
A Windblown Sand Martin by G.Lee
Thomas and Eleanor undertook a seawatch from the Ugly in the late afternoon and were rewarded with some good gull activity including five Black-headed Gulls, which so far this year have been quite scarce on the island.