Bird Sightings

Puffins in Jenny's Cove, K Power

As Lundy’s seabirds get even busier feeding hungry offspring, and Millcombe throngs with young Passerines, especially Starlings, we notice the absence of passing non-resident birds. However, there is plenty of breeding activity to occupy us. On 7th during Manx Shearwater nest box checks, the team observed that the first egg laid this season had begun to hatch. We await sightings of the first chick of the year during the next checks! Guillemot productivity monitoring on 6th resulted in 17 chicks observed within 2 hours, and Razorbill young have been spotted around the island. St Phillips Stone buttress, which homed 4 Puffins in 2003, held 150 proud birds standing on the cliffs on 6th June. 

Several Oystercatcher chicks have been spotted around the Landing Bay and pairs are active all around Lundy’s coast. Shag offspring are craning their heads out of nests now, with over 27 known nests on the East Coast.

Blue-Headed Wagtail and Peregrine sightings remain strong, and Wren, Wheatear and Goldfinch juveniles have been seen. 

Wren fledgelings, E Sherwell

Absences of Teal and Water Rail on Pondsbury are notable for this time of year. 

A Ringed Plover passed on the East on 2nd, and Collared Dove was recorded on 3rd and 8th. The 8th also provided sightings of a likely Jackdaw close to the village, an infrequent visitor to Lundy.

A North End sea watch on 8th produced a Mediterranean Gull passing close to the island, and at least 450 Manx Shearwater dancing above the waves.

The last three days of May brought a few late passage birds including Golden Plover on 31st, and continued light passage of Hirundines and Swift. Chiffchaff, Blackcap and Willow Warblers continue to be seen in small numbers, and a few have remained to breed. A Spotted Flycatcher was seen on 30th and 31st, in Millcombe. Fledglings of Robin, Blackbird, Starling, Sparrow and Stonechat have been seen harassing their parents for food. Interestingly, our ringed Blue-Headed Wagtail pair have been seen again after a short hiatus, collecting nesting material around the village. 

Thankfully, Peregrine Falcon sightings have increased again (5 birds recorded on 29th) and birds appear to be busy, mostly active along the East Coast, with a sub-adult male frequenting the West, including Jenny’s Cove.

Lundy’s first Guillemot chick of 2025 was spotted at Jenny’s Cove on 30th, and a few of the Kittiwake nests which suffered storm damage have been rapidly and diligently rebuilt! Several of the loafing Kittiwakes on the West are first year birds, with striking patterning. Thousands of Manx Shearwater were recorded flying over the North End at night (29th) using thermal imaging cameras, and Storm Petrels have been detected by the same means, near the Battery and North.

Finally the winds have swung round and we’ve been met with Westerlies once again, bringing some considerably more unsettled weather than the past few months! Hirundine and Swift passage has continued but at a slower rate, now that we are late in May, and a couple of Greenland Wheatears have been seen: 22nd and 25th. 

We had another flurry of Golden Oriole activity between 22nd and 24th, with males seen each day (Millcombe) and a male and female together on 23rd. Millcombe also produced a singing Garden Warbler on 25th, and small numbers of Spotted Flycatchers almost every day. Siskin were only recorded on 20th at the Terrace. The Terrace continued its Subalpine Warbler streak with another bird, female this time, on 20th.Subalpine female on Terrace, 20th May, R Bower Redpoll have been seen on 4 days, either on the East coast or around the Tavern/church, and a Turtle Dove, which didn’t appear to stick around, was seen on 22nd at the top of St John’s Valley.

The last confirmed sighting of our Blue-Headed Wagtails was on 20th, so we wonder if the individuals that have been around since late April have finally departed.

The 20th brought several sightings of a Marsh Harrier, and the female-type bird was seen again on 21st. Following this, the next notable raptor sighting was a Hobby on 27th, a day which brought a Force 9 gale to Lundy. A 1h15min seawatch at the end of this day produced 1039 Manx Shearwater, including a raft of c500. It is lovely to see good numbers of our 25,000 birds rafting at sea. In further Manx Shearwater news, we now have 14 eggs in our 30 monitored Manx nest boxes, a great start to their breeding season. 

The seabird season appears to be off to a great start, and all Lundy’s cliff-nesting seabirds are being counted week of 26th May by a dedicated RSPB team. RSPB team in actionDuring surveys (26th May especially), several Shag chicks have been spotted in the North of the island, some only hours old. On 26th one of the team flushed a Storm Petrel from the entrance of its burrow at the North End.

However, unfortunately the recent stormy weather has had its impacts. Small numbers of the monitored Kittiwake nests have been washed off by the high waves. Thankfully there is still time for a second brood: fingers crossed.

Good land Puffin counts came from the Battery on 21st, 35 birds present, and 50 were seen on the St Phillips Stone buttress on 25th. We have now noticed a few birds coming into burrows with sand eels at Jenny’s Cove, which suggests chicks have begun to hatch!

Lundy has seen minimal Teal activity at Pondsbury, 2 males spotted on 21st, followed by a female on both 23rd and 25th. Waders continue to visit the island in passing: 2 Whimbrel North End on 22nd, a Dunlin on Middle Park Pond 20th and 28th.

Two Raven family groups continue to be seen, likely broods from Long Roost and Benjamin’s Chair.Raven family, Aztec Bay, K Power A Peregrine pair has also been recorded around Gannet’s Combe.

Despite the winds, we have sighted Painted Ladies, Red Admirals, Green Veined, Large and Small Whites, Common Blue and Peacock butterflies. 95 Small Heaths were seen on 21st, a bumper count for the species. Several Brown Silver-Lines have been seen throughout, and a nice Cream-Spot Tiger in a trap moth trap this week. 

Visitors viewed 7 Common Dolphin from the Oldenburg crossing on 20th, and the same day 3 Harbour Porpoises were seen during a seawatch at South Light.

The continued spell of very fine weather has led to another shining week on Lundy!

Millcombe’s wooded slopes have produced a variety of notable species including Hawfinch (15th-17th), Grey Wagtail (13th) and Reed Warbler (15th & 18th), as well as a flyover Hobby on the 13th. Two year high counts for Spotted Flycatcher were achieved on the 13th and 18th, producing 18 and 25 birds respectively, with the majority of sightings coming from the valley. The 18th in particular proved to be an exciting day in Millcombe with sightings of a female Golden Oriole and Crossbill, as well as Cuckoo and Redpoll all coming in around midday.

Female Crossbill feeding in Millcombe Pines, 18 May. Carol BaillieCrossbill silhouette, Carol Baillie

Further afield notable species included the second Eastern Subalpine Warbler of the year spotted on the Terrace on the 17th, and a Grey Heron seen first at Pondsbury on the 15th. Continued sightings of Blue-headed Wagtail, Yellow Wagtail, Tree Pipit, White Wagtail and Siskin were logged throughout the week. Lundy has seen a further trickle of waders: Whimbrel (maximum count of 3 on 14th and 18th), Ringed Plover and Dunlin (both achieving highs of 3 on 17th). Sightings of a Harbour Porpoise and a distant Great Skua were had off the North End on the 14th. Elsewhere on the island, frantic Kittiwakes continue to snatch huge bill-fulls of nesting material, including directly outside Puffin burrows at Jenny’s Cove. The first Kittiwake egg of the year was spotted on the 19th, heralding the beginning of the breeding season for this species.