By Tara McEvoy-Wilding
Thursday was yet another sunny day on Lundy. Whilst I did some office work, Thomas did census where he sighted a Ringed Plover at Benjamins Chair and and the pair of Channel Wagtails at Quarter Wall Pond. Before long it was time to head down to the boat. Sadly in the Landing Bay the first seal pup of the year was spotted floating dead near Christies Quay. We don't know what caused it's death but it was only ~3 days old.
Me and Thomas met Roy Dennis and his partner Moira off of the Oldenburg. Roy Dennis was the Assistant Warden on Lundy in 1958 and hadn't returned since so it was an exciting day. After leaving Lundy, he moved to Fair Isle and has played a key part in restoring populations of White-tailed Eagle, Osprey, Red Kite and Goldeneye amongst other species in the UK over the last 60 years! He is currently in the area as he is helping with the reintroduction of White-tailed Eagles to Exmoor!
After doing the landrover lifts up the hill and a quick pasty we set off for Old Light, where Roy and the Warden used to live and we climbed the steps to the top to enjoy the view. Roy pointed out where Heligoland Traps used to be located, as these were the main locations for ringing on the island. As well as the Terrace trap which is still in place today, there were traps at Quarter Wall and in Stoneycroft Paddock. Millcombe was generally out of bounds for birding as it was the Harman family's private area of the island.
We then wandered up the west coast to the site of the Manx Shearwater artifcial nest boxes where we checked on a couple of chicks and told Roy about the project and the success Manx Shearwaters have had on Lundy since the rats were eradicated 20 years ago.
We hopped back in the Landrover and drove up the island towards Tibbetts, stopping along the way. We learnt that Pondsbury used to be smaller and without an island as there wasn't a dam on the westside to hold the water in and Roy told us about going to visit Mr Tibbett when he was assistant warden. By this point we were running out of time so we headed back to the village and Thomas, Roy and Moira walked down through Millcombe while I did the lifts down.
It was great to have Roy visit the island and learn about what life was like on Lundy when he was doing my job! Hopefully we will be seeing White-tailed Eagles visiting Lundy from Exmoor soon!