This past week of decent island coverage has produced a notable increase in breeding behaviour and pulses of passage migrants.
Brief encounters of various wader species have been a highlight, including a Northern Lapwing spotted flying west while ringing Goldfinch in the Lodge Garden, a single Golden Plover on the 17th and 19th, sightings of single Whimbrel on the 17th, 18th, 20th and 21st, one Common Sandpiper in Landing Bay on the 19th, Common Snipe in small numbers around Pondsbury and Quarter Wall, and a stunning Dunlin nearly in full summer plumage on the 20th, seeming to hesitate at the North End before imminent departure northwards.
Some well-needed rain along with gusty winds buffeting along the western slopes provided the perfect conditions for some decent night time Manx Shearwater catches. We had two very good sessions, catching just under 100 birds in each, and gained incredible retrap data, such as birds ringed here on Lundy in 2009 and 2010! Other seabird news from the cliffs around the Island includes Guillemot piling endlessly onto their ledges, Puffin busily gathering up tufts of dry grass to nestle into their burrows, and observations of copulation in both Guillemot and Razorbill. Shag have also been hard at work, many seen transporting large piles of vegetation to their developing nests around the Island. Between the 17th and 19th, a run of summer plumage Cormorant have been sighted. A single Mediterranean Gull was seen on the 20th, far out from the North End amongst Kittiwake while a pod of c.50 Common Dolphin breached below.
In terms of raptors, an exciting find was a fleeting Hobby on the 19th. Dashing after passerines before moving north, this was the first for the year. Merlin have been seen again on both the 20th and 21st. We have also had some nice corvid sightings, with a Rook on the 20th being the first since the 5th, and a long-staying Hooded Crow being seen daily in the southern fields since the 16th, often pushed about by the resident groups of Carrion Crow.
Our biggest hirundine passage this year came about on the 17th, with 1082 birds (a mix of Swallow, House Martin and Sand Martin) counted on the 17th. However, it is good to note that this is certainly an undercount, with a very useful 1hr count from 1230hrs conducted from the North End producing 634 birds within this time alone! Passage warblers have been appearing in small pulses. A steady Blackcap movement peaked at 42 ringed in Millcombe on the 17th, 3 Sedge Warbler were ringed on the 17th, 2 on the 20th and others heard singing in the valley, Grasshopper Warbler were heard reeling in Millcombe and St John's Valley on the 16th, 17th and 19th, along with small numbers ringed, single Lesser Whitethroat sightings on the 16th, 17th and 20th, and a predation event of a Common Whitethroat in Middle Park (presumed to be the work of a hungry Kestrel) coincided with a mini arrival of 7 around the Island on the 20th.
Grasshopper Warbler in the hand, 21 Apr. Paul Holt
There have been few other nice movements to note about the Island this week. The Pondsbury Teal count peaked at 2 pairs. Daily Stock Dove sightings, centralised around Barton's Field, were recorded, and a second individual added to this on the 20th. A single Collared Dove in the Village on the 16th. A maximum count of 32 Goldfinch, also in the Village, was wonderful to see, and ever-growing flocks of Linnet have been an enjoyable highlight of the sunny evenings as the migrants gather up in flocks for roost. Bullfinch in Millcombe peaked at 2 males and 1 female on the 17th and have been logged daily since. A single Goldcrest at St Helen's Copse on the 19th was the first since the 11th. After a busy early spring passage of Ring Ouzel sightings are now slowing, with the 3 logged on the 16th much lower than the 7 on the 12th. Interestingly, this higher number in fact equalled the highest spring count of the 21st Century, matching the count on the 8th April 2015; it did not quite however reach the heights of the 23 seen on the 7th April 1966! Singles were also seen on the 17th and 20th. One Spotted Flycatcher, the first observation of the year, was seen on 16th at Quarter Wall Copse. A second for the year was female Whinchat along the Lower Eastside Path on the 20th. A female Common Redstart was spotted at the Quarries on the 19th, frustratingly inside the Heligoland trap but not caught! Single Tree Pipits were noted over the Lodge on the 18th and 19th. And finally, the Wheatear passage continues, with a few Greenland candidates appearing here and there.