Bird Sightings

Meadow Pipit by Quarter Wall ©ThomasWeston

Census this morning was good. The migrants of yesterday had moved through with counts and species lower than recent. However, counts from today included 6 Mallards in Barton’s Field; single Feral Pigeon near the Lambing Shed; 25 House Sparrows in the Village; 3 Woodpigeon, 3 Blackbird, 2 Robins, 4 Dunnock, in Millcombe; single Oystercatcher in the Landing Bay; 5 Great-Black Backed Gulls, 2 Lesser-Black Backed Gull and 87 Herring Gulls across the route with breeding birds at Benjamin’s Chair; four flyby auk spp., past Rat Island; 2 Kestrel on the Lower East Path; 8 Carrion Crows, 4 Ravens, 2 Wheatears, 2 Stonechats single Pied Wagtail, 27 Meadow Pipits, 37 Linnets, 17 Goldfinches, and 6 Skylark in the Fields; 2 Swallow visiting a nest behind the Tavern; single Whitethroat and Chiffchaff in Millcombe; 13 Wrens; and 59 Starlings in the Village/Old Light.

Meanwhile, at Jenny’s Cove, a BIG decrease of auks has occurred with roughly ~120 Guillemots in the cove as well as less than 30 Razorbills and a flock of 100 Puffins on the water. There was only a single Puffin pair visiting a burrow, so our productivity surveys for this species has come to an end for another year. It is amazing how quickly the season goes from nothing to crazy busy and then back to nothing again. Jenny’s Cove will continue to decrease in activity as the season progresses. However, Fulmar and Kittiwakes are still breeding and will continue to be present for the next month or so still.

From the Seabird Station, a quick check on Pondsbury resulted in 11 Mallards on the pool. An evening in the Landing Bay resulted in a few Oystercatchers, Manx Shearwaters returning to their colony, Storm Petrels (see below), a surprise Common Sandpiper which is an island scarcity, however, there has been a very slight passage of this species in the last week.

Ringing

Female Mallard caught and ringed at Pondsbury. ©Lucy Pecasse

A planned Mallard catch on Pondsbury resulted in a moulting female caught and ringed on the pool. We then undertook an evening Storm Petrel session on the Jetty and caught a small number. However, even with the low numbers caught, you can find something super interesting everytime. Out of about ~15 birds caught, 12 were new, one was previously ringed only last week at one of the colonies, one had a French ring so we look forward to hearing the ringing data from this bird, and one had a British ring that we do not know where it was ringed just yet – possibly Welsh or Irish but we shall see.   

1st migrant Willow Warbler at Stoney. ©Thomas Weston

The day started quite warm with a slight southernly breeze. Census counts from today included 5 Woodpigeon,10 Wrens, 3 Dunnocks, single Blackbird, in a very quiet Millcombe. The Landing Bay was no busier with a few of the 6 Oystercatchers, a single Kittiwake, 6 Great-Black Backed Gulls, 3 Lesser-Black Backed Gull, 32 Herring Gulls, 4 auk spp., single Gannet and 6 Shags. Once full of auks of three different species, Benjamin’s Chair is a quiet site with 2 Wheatears, single Stonechat, a small flock of 4/16 Meadow Pipits and a single Rock Pipit. The fields were a bit busier with a nice finch flock consisting of 89 Linnets and 6 Goldfinches seen. Old Light was the host to the first dispersing migrants of the ‘post breeding season’ with the first 3 Chiffchaff seen in Stoney Croft Paddock. Including the two seen in Millcombe, this is a really nice count for this species. Moving on, 5 Carrion Crows, 4 Ravens, 3 Skylark and 36 Starlings were spotted in the fields up to Quarter Wall. The Old Quarry Cottages resulted in nice views of 2 Kestrels including a juvenile and an adult. The return leg to the Village resulted in 4 Pied Wagtails with birds in the Village including a single Swallow and 16 House Sparrows.  

An afternoon of productivity surveys resulted in the Kittiwakes continuing to do pretty well and the very last Puffins heading from their burrows with a flock of a couple of hundred out on the water. Fulmar continue to do well, with 7 chicks recorded in the productivity colony. Our Herring Gull colony are seemingly doing really well with the first juveniles fledged and flying around but still quite a few small ones practicing flapping and developing well.  

Ringing

An evening of ringing in Millcombe with the hope of catching some migrants resulted in the first juvenile Willow Warbler of the ‘post breeding season’ and a nice mix of juveniles of Linnet, Robin and Goldfinch.

Blue-headed Wagtail Flava Bartons Field. Thomas Weston

Census counts from today with including 6 Mallards, a single Feral Pigeon, single Woodpigeon, 2 Collared Doves, single Oystercatchers, single Kittiwake, 26 Great-Black Backed Gulls, 15 Lesser-Black Backed Gull, 24 Herring Gulls, single Guillemot, 3 Razorbills, 2 Puffins, single Gannets, 16 Shags, single Kestel, 7 Carrion Crows, 6 Ravens, single Skylark, 3 Chiffchaff, 5 Wrens, 53 Starlings, 2 Blackbird, 3 Robins, 3 Wheatears, 2 Dunnock, 40 House Sparrows, the female Blue-headed Wagtail showing well in Barton’s Field with the Horses, 2 Pied Wagtails, 29 Meadow Pipits, single Chaffinch, 90 Linnets and 21 Goldfinches were seen.

Puffins at Jenny’s Cove continue to reduce in numbers as they finish breeding. The number within the cove was roughly ~150 on the land, however this number fluctuated throughout the morning. The Guillemots and Razorbills continue to decrease here with juveniles fledging and the adults leaving as a result. The Kittiwakes and Fulmars in the cove continue to raise their chicks.

Ringing

Our artificial box checks for Manx Shearwater continue with the first four chicks of a suitable size for ringing. This was followed by a short Village ringing session whereby a few House Sparrows and Starlings were caught and ringed. It is always great to see both species moulting from their juvenile plumages into their adult type plumage that looks almost identical to their parents.

Not many sightings from all-comers today but 5 Mallards, 2 Feral Pigeons, 2 Woodpigeons, 2 Oystercatchers, 20 Herring Gulls, 2 Great-Black Backed Gulls, 10 Lesser-Black Backed Gulls, 2 Shags, 4 Carrion Crows, 4 Ravens, single Swallow, 7 Chiffchaff, 12 Starlings, 3 Blackbirds, single Robin, single Wheatear, 13 House Sparrows, female Flava Blue-headed Wagtail with one of the fully fledged Flava x Flavissma Wagtail hybrids and 5 Pied Wagtails.