Bird Sightings

The last two days of September have been full of surprises with an American passerine, the Grey-cheeked Thrush ringed in Millcombe on the 29th, only the second for the island.

Grey-cheeked Thrush A. Croudace

Other ringing highlights included the first autumn passage Yellow-browed Warbler, Redstart and Treecreeper. A second Yellow-browed Warbler was also found in Quarter Wall Copse. Large numbers of Blackcap, Goldcrest and Meadow Pipit were present on the island with 102, 60 and 254 counted respectively. Other species recorded within Millcombe included 4 Firecrest, 3 Willow Warbler, 2 Spotted Flycatcher, 4 Greenfinch and a Song Thrush. A variety of passerine species were noted passing over the Island with 4 Grey Wagtail, 1 Yellow Wagtail, 1 Redpoll and 18 Siskin the highlights among more common species including Swallow and Meadow Pipit. A Whinchat was also recorded. Other notable non-passerine species included a Water Rail in Millcombe, and a single Grey Heron, Ringed Plover and Sparrowhawk.

Yellow-browed Warbler A. Croudace

There were no sightings of the Grey-cheeked Thrush on 30th, however, a single Yellow-browed Warbler and 3 Firecrest remained in Millcombe. Greenfinch numbers were back up to 11 with a single Redpoll, 7 Siskin, 1 Grey Wagtail and a Song Thrush observed in Millcombe. The Water Rail and Grey Heron were still present and a single Golden Plover was seen briefly circling above the Village during the afternoon. 

Visual migration or “vismig” was the theme of the week with high numbers of hirundines passing. There was 6200 Swallow, 286 Sand Martin and 139 House Martin on the 22nd, with 3000, 66 and 98 of the same species respectively recorded on the 23rd. 2 Yellow Wagtail were seen passing on the 23rd and 26th, along with Grey Wagtails recorded every day at counts of up to 7, 3 White Wagtails every day from the 22nd-24th and passage of up to 20 “alba” wagtails. Skylark passage peaked at 48 this week, Meadow Pipit numbers increased to 363 on the 28th, with all day of the week above 100. 3 Tree Pipit were recorded on the 25th, a Lapland Bunting seen flying over the Airfield on the 26th, 2 Redpoll on the 28th, Siskin passage every day, with daily counts up to 11 and 2 Chaffinch seen migrating off the Island from Benjamin’s Chair.

Warbler numbers were at some of the highest for the Autumn with 114 Chiffchaff on the 22nd and 90 on the 23rd, and 225 Blackcap on the 22nd and 81 on the 23rd. Other warblers present included a Sedge Warbler on the 22nd and 25th, a Reed Warbler on the 24th, 26th and 28th, a Grasshopper Warbler on the 23rd, up to 2 Garden Warbler on the 22nd, 24th, 26th and 28th, a Whitethroat on the 22nd and 28th and up to 6 Willow Warbler gradually declining in number throughout the week. Firecrest numbers were up, with high counts of 15 on the 25th and 28th, with Goldcrest numbers also high, rising to 74 on the 28th.

The initial signs of thrush passage was evident this week with the first Redwing of the Autumn recorded on the 25th with 5 birds present. A single Redwing was also recorded on the 26th, with a Ring Ouzel spotted on the 22nd and a Song Thrush on the 28th. 

Other notable passerine sightings this week included a Treecreeper spotted in St Helen’s Copse on the 28th, a Wryneck ringed in Millcombe on the 22nd, with a single bird also seen on the Terrace on the 22nd, 23rd and 25th. Redstart were observed on the 23rd, 25th and 26th, with 1, 3 and 2 seen on these dates respectively. Whinchat were also present this week with individuals seen on the 22nd, 23rd, 26th and 27th, with the highest count of 3 on the 22nd. A single Reed Bunting was seen on the 23rd and 27th, and Greenfinch noted every day from 23rd-28th, with the highest recorded count at 11. A Red-breasted Flycatcher was spotted on the Terrace on the 26th, being harassed by the Robin and Pied Flycatcher in the area. Low numbers of both Spotted and Pied Flyactcher were also present. The highest ever single day count of Rock Pipit on the island was recorded on the 26th, with 64 birds noted from a full island count.

Red-breasted Flycatcher P. Holt

The first Osprey of the year was recorded flying out over Rat Island on the 26th, and a Hobby was seen on the 22nd flying over Millcombe, likely following the high numbers of hirundines. The number of Sparrowhawk on the island is now up to 4. 

Hobby A. Croudace

Wader passage was lower this week, although still produced a nice selection of species including Snipe every day and Ringed Plover every day except the 27th, with counts of up to 7 and 4 respectively, a Green Sandpiper and Golden Plover on the 22nd, a Curlew on the 24th and a Lapwing on the 25th. The highlight was a Curlew Sandpiper heading south around 0920 on the 28th, heard from the track by the Lambing Shed and glimpsed in flight. The same bird was also flushed from a puddle on the track above St John's around 2100 on the same day in the dark, but has not been seen again. This is the first record since 2004, with very little suitable habitat on Lundy. In a year with a notable national autumn influx, presumably as a result of a successful breeding season for this species, it certainly felt like the best chance in a while Lundy was going to have of recording this lovely wader again, and so it is pleasing to see this come through.

Strong passage of Kittiwake and Auk was observed between the 22nd and 26th, with high counts of 846 Kittiwake and 501 Auk noted on the 25th.  7 Razorbill were seen off the North End as well as a Pomarine Skua on the 25th, as well as single Skua Sp. passing distantly on the 24th and 25th.

Other notable species included a Teal on the 27th, up to 3 Water Rail back on the Island encountered every day, Grey Heron every day, with a high of 8 on the 24th, including a passing flock of 7, and Cormorant flyovers every day from the 22nd-26th, culminating in the passage of 21 birds on the 26th.

Wader sightings started early in the week with 2 Sanderling and 3 Dunlin spotted passing the Battery on the 15th. Wader passage continued with up to 6 Snipe recorded on the 16th, 18th 20th and 21st, a Whimbrel on the 17th-19th, up to 5 Golden Plover flyovers a day between 18th and 21st,as many as 5 Ringed Plover on each of the 18th, 20th and 21st and a Common Sandpiper on the 20th. The highlight of the week however, came on the 18th when a Buff-breasted Sandpiper was found at the North End on the 18th. This bird quickly moved down the island where it provided nice views in Brick Field during the afternoon. It was subsequently seen on multiple occasions on the 19th and 21st around the Southern end of the island, although it seemed to favour the Stoneycroft Paddock field. 

Buff-breasted Sandpiper A. Croudace

Seabird sightings continued this week with a single Sandwich Tern and 3 “comic” Terns spotted out beyond South Light on the 18th. Single sightings of Great Skua were also recorded on the 15th at North Light and the 18th off the South Light. A single Balearic Shearwater was observed from the Oldenburg near the Terrace on the 16th. High passage of Auk was also noted between the 15th and 20th with a high count of 631 Auk sp. Passing on the 19th. 

A Swan sp. was first observed flying south along the west coast before briefly dropping into the Landing Bay. Unfortunately it flew off before a species-level identification could be reached. Other waterfowl observed included a single Teal on the 16th, 18th and 19th. 

Strong passerine sightings continued throughout this week with the Western Bonelli’s Warbler recorded in Millcombe every day between the 16th and 20th. Blackcap numbers were on the rise this week with numbers peaking at 52 on the 21st. A single Garden Warbler was observed on the 20th, followed by 2 on the 21st. Up to 3 Whitethroat were seen this week. Firecrest were sighted every day with the maximum count of 3 on the Island. A weekly high count of 5 Whinchat was recorded on the 21st.

Daytime bird passage was good this week with 3 Grey Wagtail on the 16th and 21st, 1 White Wagtail on the 16th and 20th, and 5 on the 21st, a Tree Pipit on the 20th and 21st and moving numbers of Swallow rising to 1160 on the 21st. 3 Cormorant were also observed passing on the 16th and 21st.

Other notable species this week included a Wryneck in Millcombe from the 19th-20th, and at Tibbets on the 21st, presumed to be the same bird, up to 2 Great-spotted Woodpecker between Millcombe and the Terrace from 16th-29th, 1 Turtle Dove at North End on the 18th, a Chough at North End on the 19th and a Merlin at Old Light at the 18th. An Ortolan Bunting calling on the terrace briefly before migrating south on morning of 19th was confidently ID'd from sound recordings after a very unsatisfactory encounter!

Sea watching was productive this week with sightings of a Leach’s Storm Petrel off from the Castle on the 14th, 2 dark morph Arctic Skua seen from the Ugly on the 9th and 2 Common Tern spotted from North Light on the 11th. An interesting selection of shorebirds were also observed this week with 34 Dunlin seen passing the Battery in two groups on the 14th, a Ruff on Pondsbury on the 13th and 14th, and a single Common Sandpiper sighting. The Grey Heron was present for most of the week and the first Teal of autumn was seen in Quarry Pond on the 14th.

The Millcombe Western Bonelli’s Warbler is still foraging around Millcombe, although proving quite elusive with sightings on the 12th and 14th. Other Warblers on the island currently include a Reed Warbler spotted on the 10th and Whitethroat on the 14th.  Both Spotted and Pied Flycatchers can still be seen with up to 4 and 9 respectively seen on the island each day. A Great-spotted Woodpecker was observed on the 14th sitting on a fence post in Brick field before flying down the sidelands to Quarter Wall Copse. Other notable species included a Whinchat on the 14th, as well as passage of a Swift on the 9th, 2 Yellow Wagtail on the 14th and a White Wagtail on the 8th, 11th and 13th.