By Greg Lee
The first still day for a while and an indicator of what should be an upturn in the fortune of the weather over the next couple of days.
Today, Thomas, Eleanor, Maddie and I joined Tony and Ann Taylor who are currently here adding to the Wheatear colour-ringing project on Lundy. We concentrated mainly on the Castles area in the morning where a couple of unringed birds were present along with already colour-marked individuals. It was quite the success today with three new birds added to the project along with a previously known individual which found the temptation of a Waxworm all too strong. Since many birds now have hungry mouths to feed, any good food source is worth taking. Whilst waiting patiently, it was also apparent that a large movement of House Martins was going on with large flocks of birds pushing through in the low cloud along with the occasional Swift racing over. Meanwhile, there was also a significant arrival of insects with Painted Ladies beginning to stream through. Looking at Benjamin’s Chair, we also noted some Puffins now amongst the Razorbills rafting offshore, over the next couple of months they should become a regular feature of census on this part of the route. An attempt to catch more Wheatears further up on the West Coast in the afternoon wasn’t quite as successful, but the settled weather over the next few days should provide further opportunities.
Spotted Flycatcher
Elsewhere on the island, it was a good day for birds with two new Golden Orioles found on the East Side near Quarter Wall Copse and the amazing sight of three Cuckoos perched along the fenceline near Quarter Wall. More additions in what has been a good spring for both these species on Lundy. A Tree Pipit overhead was another good record, two Reed Warblers were logged and Spotted Flycatchers totalled 14 across the island. Perhaps the highlight of the day was a smart male Red-veined Darter, just the third record of this migrant dragonfly species to Lundy.
Red-veined Darter by T.Weston