By Thomas Weston
A day off on Lundy never really goes the way you thought it would! A cosy, relaxing lie in before a nice stroll to the Landing Bay was the initial idea when we went to sleep last night, but we awoke early and looked at the rain radar which looked cloudy and not wet. We knew a storm was coming, but we thought why not undertake census and then take a trip to the Landing Bay in the afternoon.
We got up and started census. The wind even between our house and Millcombe Valley started increasing but we persevered. A singing Dunnock was nice to hear from the Ugly, and out in the Landing Bay, a single Great Northern Diver, a couple of passing Gannets and 3 Oystercatchers were the best. Moving on round to St John’s Valley, we almost thought about forfeiting census and treating ourselves to that day off, but we chose to continue despite the weather. Amazingly, 7 Razorbills and 3 Shag were off Benjamin’s Chair, having not been present here recently due to the swell, and the now resident pair of Mallards were on Rocket Pole Pond.
Caspian Gull in Lower Lighthouse. ©Thomas Weston
However, this is when the wind increased even more, the cloud base dropped to less than 50m above the island and the drizzle started. A female Merlin zipped past us as walked SW Field and in the distance, we could see gulls. We decided to walk to Old Light and then view the flocks from a distance. It worked well, and we worked our way through the flock with binoculars. The usual Herring Gulls, Lesser Black Backed Gulls, and Great Black-Backed Gulls were seen until one gull stuck out from the flock. Our initial thought was a 2nd calendar year Caspian Gull, if it was it would be the first for the island. The plumage looked great, and we have both seen this species in Skagen, Denmark previously. But we thought it cannot be! So we took some photos and sent to a few people who could provide a second opinion. Firstly, Liam Langley, a seabird researcher who has a passion for gulls and IDing them too, we thought he would be the first best shout and hopefully could look at the message in good time. Second, Simon SC, the head of Skagen Fuglestation who had seen hundreds, if not thousands of this species, and finally Simon Kiese, a birder from Germany of which the species breed. Between the Watertanks and Quarter Wall, we had responses from all three saying that they agreed it is a 2nd calendar year Caspian Gull – a first for the island! Amazing, and worth the drenching that occurred after on our way back to the village having completed census.
After some respite from the weather and some lunch we headed to South Light to have a look around the lighthouse. The front had passed, and the weather cleared from the west, so we were treated to some sunlight. It was great to have a look around the lighthouse and nice to see some species on the way too. This including a Red-necked Grebe in the Landing Bay, a flock of migrant Meadow Pipits arrived from the East and a Red-throated Diver to the south of South Light. As the afternoon was getting on, we made the decision to head back to the Village and enjoy a more relaxed evening. What a day, and what a day off!