Bird Sightings

A calm day with a slight South East wind. This, combined with cloud cover resulted in another big arrival of ~100 Willow Warblers this morning that trickled through Millcombe from 06:30 - 10:30. A bit of ringing resulted in 53 more Willow Warblers caught and ringed in this time period. There was a bit of wader passage this morning with a Curlew heard distantly out in the Bristol Channel calling as it presumably migrated Southeast whilst the calls of our breeding Oystercatchers were heard in the Landing Bay. This was closely followed by a Redshank that arrived from the Southeast, circled around the Landing Bay before heading back out East. This was the first of the year and a pleasant surprise during census and ringing. The last notable wader of the day was at Quarter Wall where a Ringed Plover was heard and seen briefly as it flew from the West cutting across the island and heading out East. The seabird surveys were undertaken today for our remaining productivity survey species: Kittiwake and Fulmar with both species doing okay considering a pretty turbulent season so far. A fun evening at the Battery, resulted in a Rock Pipit, a mix of Herring and Lesser-Black Backed Gulls as well as a singular Fulmar seen whilst down by the Cannons.

Ringing

Willow Warbler caught and ringed in Millcombe. ©Lucy Pécasse

Millcombe Willow Warblers.

The seabird surveys were the main task of this morning with the Kittiwakes, Herring Gull and Fulmar productivity sites being covered. Starting with the Fulmars, the chicks are growing well, and the adults are not necessary at the breeding colony so only 2 adults were seen. Moving round to the Kittiwakes and it seems a bit more positive with more fledged chicks being seen in their nests and flying around – not a complete disaster for this colony. The Herring Gulls are a big success this year with a, what seems to be, a higher productivity than last year. All chicks have now fledged so we will be calculating the success of this year’s attempts.

A hot afternoon with not many birds seen apart from the adult female Blue-headed Wagtail with at least 1 of the Flava x Flavissma Wagtail hybrids. Oh, and a Green Sandpiper briefly alighted twice in Barton’s Field before flying off SE. 

A Battery Sunset. ©Thomas Weston

An evening walk resulted in a lovely sunset from the Battery.

Ringing

Quieter on the Willow Warbler front but we have now ringed just under 100 birds in Millcombe in the last five days which is very impressive and a sign of migrants to come. This species is one of the earliest to move and it is a good start to the autumn ringing efforts. Whilst in Millcombe, 2 Kestrels, 2 Woodpigeons, a couple of Blackcaps and the family party of Chiffchaffs were seen. Moving to the Manx Shearwater colony, we ringed the penultimate chick in the artificial boxes which is growing well. From this view, we saw a pod of Common Dolphins, roughly 24 Gannets, the breeding colony of Lesser-Black Backed Gulls and Herring Gulls and some of the local Linnets. Census was then finished and a nice mix of species were recorded including 2 Swift and small flocks of Wheatears. Whilst this was being undertaken, a Robin was caught and ringed in St Helen’s Field and the Blue-headed Wagtail female continued to associate herself with her two hybrid juveniles. The heat increased to midday and the team took an afternoon of data inputting whilst trying to help with the Sparrow Project.    

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Millcombe at sunrise. ©ThomasWeston

A hot day with ringing and seabird surveys undertaken throughout the morning. Ringing started at dawn and continued until midday. Numbers from the valley included high numbers of warblers including ~150 Willow Warblers amongst a small selection of Sedge Warblers and a single Reed Warbler. Breeding finches continued in the valley with both Goldfinches, Linnets and a couple of Chaffinches present and juveniles noted throughout.

Meanwhile, at the seabird surveys, there has been an increase in Kittiwake fledglings from our productivity site with 7 chicks fully flying around the site. The Fulmars chicks have reached an age where they can be left at the productivity site alone, and they are doing really well.

An afternoon of data input and enjoying the sun was necessary for the team. The first summer weather we have had this year and hopefully the birds respond positively.

Ringing

A big day for Willow Warblers today with 52 caught and ringed amongst a good selection of migrants and residents.