Finally the winds have swung round and we’ve been met with Westerlies once again, bringing some considerably more unsettled weather than the past few months! Hirundine and Swift passage has continued but at a slower rate, now that we are late in May, and a couple of Greenland Wheatears have been seen: 22nd and 25th.
We had another flurry of Golden Oriole activity between 22nd and 24th, with males seen each day (Millcombe) and a male and female together on 23rd. Millcombe also produced a singing Garden Warbler on 25th, and small numbers of Spotted Flycatchers almost every day. Siskin were only recorded on 20th at the Terrace. The Terrace continued its Subalpine Warbler streak with another bird, female this time, on 20th.
Subalpine female on Terrace, 20th May, R Bower Redpoll have been seen on 4 days, either on the East coast or around the Tavern/church, and a Turtle Dove, which didn’t appear to stick around, was seen on 22nd at the top of St John’s Valley.
The last confirmed sighting of our Blue-Headed Wagtails was on 20th, so we wonder if the individuals that have been around since late April have finally departed.
The 20th brought several sightings of a Marsh Harrier, and the female-type bird was seen again on 21st. Following this, the next notable raptor sighting was a Hobby on 27th, a day which brought a Force 9 gale to Lundy. A 1h15min seawatch at the end of this day produced 1039 Manx Shearwater, including a raft of c500. It is lovely to see good numbers of our 25,000 birds rafting at sea. In further Manx Shearwater news, we now have 14 eggs in our 30 monitored Manx nest boxes, a great start to their breeding season.
The seabird season appears to be off to a great start, and all Lundy’s cliff-nesting seabirds are being counted week of 26th May by a dedicated RSPB team. 
RSPB team in actionDuring surveys (26th May especially), several Shag chicks have been spotted in the North of the island, some only hours old. On 26th one of the team flushed a Storm Petrel from the entrance of its burrow at the North End.
However, unfortunately the recent stormy weather has had its impacts. Small numbers of the monitored Kittiwake nests have been washed off by the high waves. Thankfully there is still time for a second brood: fingers crossed.
Good land Puffin counts came from the Battery on 21st, 35 birds present, and 50 were seen on the St Phillips Stone buttress on 25th. We have now noticed a few birds coming into burrows with sand eels at Jenny’s Cove, which suggests chicks have begun to hatch!
Lundy has seen minimal Teal activity at Pondsbury, 2 males spotted on 21st, followed by a female on both 23rd and 25th. Waders continue to visit the island in passing: 2 Whimbrel North End on 22nd, a Dunlin on Middle Park Pond 20th and 28th.
Two Raven family groups continue to be seen, likely broods from Long Roost and Benjamin’s Chair.
Raven family, Aztec Bay, K Power A Peregrine pair has also been recorded around Gannet’s Combe.
Despite the winds, we have sighted Painted Ladies, Red Admirals, Green Veined, Large and Small Whites, Common Blue and Peacock butterflies. 95 Small Heaths were seen on 21st, a bumper count for the species. Several Brown Silver-Lines have been seen throughout, and a nice Cream-Spot Tiger in a trap moth trap this week.
Visitors viewed 7 Common Dolphin from the Oldenburg crossing on 20th, and the same day 3 Harbour Porpoises were seen during a seawatch at South Light.