May on Lundy started with quite a surprise visitor to the East Coast! At 14.24hrs on the 1st, an Eastern Subalpine Warbler was spotted foraging in the brambles just south of the Terrace Heligoland Trap. The bird was continually noted amongst flycatchers and an array of other warblers in the nearby willows until 16.08hrs when it was last seen. Richard Campey saw the bird again on the 2nd, this time in Millcombe in the late afternoon, however it vanished again and hasn't been noted since. St Helen's Copse also came up trumps with some lovely warblers on the 1st, including a Lesser Whitethroat and a Wood Warbler.
Eastern Subalpine Warbler, sculking in the brambles, May 1. R Campey.
Another photo of the beautiful Eastern Subalpine Warbler, May 1. R Campey.
A further surprise, or perhaps more apt Lundy weather than the glorious sunshine we've recently been blessed with, was a thick blanket of fog shrouding the Island on the morning of the 2nd. This led to some slightly lower census counts than usual, with birds having to be prodominently recognised by sound alone! As the fog finally lifted in the afternoon, an incredible sight of 200+ Common Dolphin in 13 pods was seen off the North End. The day before, from the incoming Oldenburg, 7 Porpoise and 22 Common Dolphin were seen, in addition to a super count of 310 Manx Shearwater!
The first Cuckoo of the year also joined us to welcome in May, this being seen by Halfway Wall on the 1st and at the Terraces on the 2nd.
Our Whimbrel passage appears to be steady, one bird spotted on the 1st and 3 on the 2nd. An evening kayak on the still waters around Landing Bay and Devil's Kitchen on the 1st inevitably turned into a wader survey, and we gained a good species count! 2 Dunlin, 1 Turnstone (first for the year, a male in gorgeous summer plumage), 3 pairs of Oystercatcher, 2 Common Sandpiper and the Whimbrel mentioned above. Another 2 Dunlin were also seen on the 1st, these around Kistvaen Pond, and 2 were spotted through the fog on the 2nd.
A Dunlin, peering through the fog, May 2. K Power.
Redstart sightings have been a lovely highlight of the past two days. A male Common Redstart was on the Terraces on the 1st, and a female at North Light on the 2nd. Both a male and female Black Redstart were seen near Belle View Ruins on the 1st, and just a female the next day. Flycatchers have also been a bit of a theme, with 10 Spotted Flycatcher noted on the 1st, 7 Pied Flycatcher on the 1st, and a further 2 Pied Flycatcher on the 2nd.
The 2 Blue-headed Wagtail were present again in Barton's field on both days. Having looked more closely at the ringed bird from photographs, we are getting suspicious that it may in fact be a Channel Wagtail, and possibly one of the chicks hatched here last year from a pair made up of a female Blue-headed and a male Yellow wagtail! We are continuing to investigate this...
A single Tree Pipit on the 1st and 2 on the 2nd were heard overhead. Whinchat also continue to be noted, with 3 on both days. Another constant is the Hooded Crow which continues to be seen with Carrion Crow among the southern fields. Swift continue to pass through in small numbers, 4 dashing by on the 2nd.
A female Mallard was seen with 9 young in the Village Beer Garden, the first brood seen this year! Other breeding activity of note includes several pairs of Linnet seen nest building, 2 Stonechat pairs carrying food, and a Blackbird pair, also carrying food - described, by one visiting birder, as having a beak so full of grubs it looked unlikely the bird would be able to take off! To help out our breeding seabirds, the Conservation Team assisted some visiting RSPB researchers with the installation of some new Storm Petrel boxes. We'll be monitoring these over the next few months and we hope to bring you some good news of successful breeding!
Storm Petrel nest box installation! May 2. F Turner.