by Thomas Weston
The day started with a walk around the census route with Eleanor as it was our day off.
Willow Warbler by ThomasWeston
We are now seeing migration daily, the lull of summer has lifted and for the couple of weeks or so we have been seeing a nice pulse of Willow Warblers and the first few other migrant species. With the cliffs as bear as rock, census shifts from flocks of Auks to passing Gannets, Manx Shearwaters and today, a large feeding frenzy of over 270 Kittiwakes. A Whale, perhaps, but on this occasion we will never know!
Migration overhead/or birds activelhy moving through the island is what we refer to as 'vismig', quite simply Visible Migration, and it will be a term we use a lot soon! Well we hope anyway.
Unringed juvenile Song Thrush by Thomas Weston
A Yellow Wagtail over Benjamin's Chair was undoubtably a migrant species, as well as the little 'flock(?)' of 6 Migrant Hawker dragonflies circling above the chair in the lee of the wind. In Millcombe, the highlight was indeed 2 Song Thrushes. We had an already ringed male hanging around for months, singing his heart out and not attracting a mate. This male we know has been present for the past two years, leaving the island every late summer/autumn and returning again in spring. The only guesses we have of where it goes is based on the song - mimicing Curlew, Greenshank, Grey Squirrel, Chough, must mean somewhere near the coast? In France, Devon or Cornwall? Any way, we recently caught another male and ringed this one at the bottom of Millcombe. But today, a nice obvious juvenile was seen. Was this born on island but not seen by any of us for months? It can't be, it's still got a bit of a gape! Did census not being undertaken in June lead to a secret brood being born and raised? Either way, this juvenile is a stunner - a classic fresh bird which could have migrated quite a distance or could have been born a lot closer to home! We shall never know.
Moreover, census finished with the flocks of post-breeding Finches, a flock of 5 Stonechats and 11 Skylarks in the Airfield alongside a plethora of other species around.
Painted Lady in the Village by Thomas Weston
The rest of the day was spent admiring our thriving Painted Lady Butterflies, Hummingbird Hawkmoths, and the range of other pollinators visiting the flowers. We checked on a brood of Swallows in Felix Gade who were of ringable stage, and saw the Channel Wagtail pair at nearby Quarter Wall Pond.