Bird Sightings

Intermittent showers and high humidity lead to several soakings but then warm patches leading to some nice sunshine.

Census started with a new in singing Garden Warbler near the Tavern, followed by a wander through Millcombe Pines. Millcombe was alive with bird song with singing birds consisting of a Collared Dove (2 in total today), 2 Robins, a Goldfinch (5 seen today), 4 Chiffchaffs, 8 Wrens (12 seen/heard today), the single Song Thrush, single Whitethroat (2 seen today) and 3 Dunnocks (5 seen today). Also, in Millcombe, a new in Lesser Redpoll, 3 Chaffinches, 5 Blackbirds (7 seen in total), 6 Spotted Flycatchers, single Woodpigeon, 3 House Sparrows (10 seen today) and a small flock of Starlings (70 seen today). In the Landing Bay, a new in Cruise ship must have had amazing views of the close passing Manx Shearwaters today – a new seawatching spot me thinks! Plus, a flock of Oystercatchers, pair of Great-Black Backed Gulls, and 5 Shags and the weirdest moment of today, a Feral Pigeon in off the sea and North. Along the south coast, 29 auk spp were associated with 96 Guillemots, 3 Puffins, and 26 Razorbills. On the top of the cliffs, a Wheatear male was busy feeding, a Ringed Plover came in off the sea and flew North. In the fields, 9 Meadow Pipits, 5 Skylarks, male Kestrel, and a male Mallard, 347 Herring Gulls and 26 Lesser-Black Backed Gulls were additional species seen.

Outside of census, a walk to Gannets Rock along the main track resulted in the Grey Heron being seen on Pondsbury, a Fulmar productivity survey resulted in 51 birds recorded including some incubating eggs. Walking back along the West Coast is one of the most fulfilling seabird adventures with over 3000+ Guillemot, 500+ Razorbills, 300+ Puffins and 200+ Kittiwakes recorded from some of the main colonies. Signs of breeding were in full swing for our Meadow Pipits, Wheatears, and Skylarks with all species seen carrying food for nests. A Manx Shearwater box check resulted in another returning individual from previous years ringing.

Puffins on the West Coast. ©Thomas Weston

We are currently experiencing large numbers of immature/non-breeding seabirds arriving back to the island for the first time to try and find a home for next year when they may think about breeding. To ensure the success of our seabirds colonising new areas of the island, where possible please limit the amount of disturbance by providing distance and sticking to the main tracks especially on the West Coast.

The morning began warm with a light southerly wind. Exciting! However, jobs had to be completed and the number of hours in the field was severely restricted to census counts.

However, there were a few migrants arriving in off the sea all morning with a Swift seen high over Castles; a pair of Whimbrel flew North past Rat Island and then turned as if they were heading to Devon; a Ringed Plover flew inoff at Millcombe and was heard circling over Government House; 29 Swalows and 22 House Martins flew North; and 4 Spotted Flycatchers in Millcombe (an arrival of 10+ were seen this afternoon). Collared Doves are a passage migrant here, so one singing in front of Millcombe House was nice, but a flock of 7 seen around the Lambing Shed this evening was the highest count of the year. Woodpigeons remain stealthy with at least 5 in Millcombe including a single bird singing. In the Landing Bay, 2 Oystercatchers were roosting on the Jetty with an additional bird near Benjamin’s Chair. In addition, 2 Shags were feeding in the Bay, a decrease from the 33 seen yesterday evening. Gull numbers were severely reduced with 6 Great Black Backed Gulls, 40 Herring Gulls and 11 Lesser-Black Backed Gulls noted. Benjamin’s chair was the place for auks again with 16 Guillemot and 150 Razorbill this morning. A single Peregrine was recorded in the census as were 5 Carrion Crows and 11 Ravens including 2 juveniles of the latter. Singing warblers are still thin on the ground so 4 Whitethroats and 5 Chiffchaff were nice. Breeding residents included 17 House Sparrows, 11 Wrens, 53 Starlings, 5 Blackbirds, our lone male Song Thrush, 3 Robins and a single Dunnock. With the young Wheatears growing bigger by the day in the nest, birds start to begin feeding on the plateau. As a result, 4 female Wheatears were seen this morning including one colour ringed bird. Another chat species seen today were three male Stonechats, but no females or fledged young were heard! A Pied Wagtail remained prospecting in the Village, are they breeding or not?? Whilst on the other hand, Meadow Pipits and our finches are in the full swing of breeding with Chaffinches feeding young, Linnets in the Gorse Bushes and singing Goldfinches in Millcombe.

Spotted Flycatcher along the Upper East Path. ©ThomasWeston

Today we have seen a large push of hirundines again, with several hundred House Martins and Swallows heading North towards Wales, as well as a couple of Spotted Flycatchers in Millcombe. The counts of Spotted Flycatcher were particularly high again for the third day in a row, with a nice count of 8 seen along the Upper East Path alone. A high count of 33 Shag in the Landing Bay and Manx Shearwaters returning from their feeding journeys this evening summed up a really nice day on the island.

An unringed female Wheatear with food at OldLight. ©Thomas Weston

Other jobs the team were doing involved helping out with the Wheatear researchers currently on the island. The Wheatear RAS Project has been running since 2012 with the aim to further our understanding of the survival of Lundy’s Wheatears. Through catching and ringing the known breeding adults with individually colour marked rings in a combination of colours and striped rings, we can monitor the lives of individuals through resighting colour ringed birds. The researchers have a standardised process of montioring the island’s birds through a resighting trip in April when birds have arrived back and settling down on their territories, and a subsequent trip in May to catch any unringed birds and resight those missed at the start of the season. A whole island census of the Wheatears is also undertaken during the researchers stay to try and get an accurate number of pairs/individuals by undertaking a 6-8hr walk along the whole island. Just to put it in context, for a bird that winters south of the Sahara Desert and breeds on the island, the thousands of miles these birds are flying each year is phenomenal! We absolutely love them.

If you see a colour ringed Wheatear on your stay/visit to the island, please report it to the Bird Observatory team through the Tavern/Conservation team staff. Photos, or a note of the specific colours on both legs, will enable a successful resighting to be made – thank you!

Winds remained NW for the second day in a row, but migrants are moving through again which was nice to see on census.

A mix of large gulls on Highstreet Field. ©ThomasWeston

Census resulted in 13 Mallard with a brood in Lower Lighthouse, a brood in Quarters Pond, and adults in Bartons/St Helen’s Field. The pair of Collared Doves who have been hanging around the Lambing Shed remained along the main track and frequented the shed environs. A large arrival of ‘large’ gulls has been noted the last few days with Herring Gulls dominating the counts. Today, 347 Herring Gulls were in the fields with 17 Great-Black Backed Gulls and an incredible 76 Lesser-Black Backed Gulls joining the flocks. The latter had the largest variation in ages, with the majority being 2–3-year-old birds and some showed signs of being of the ‘intermedius’ subspecies who breed in Scandanvia. Flocks of seabirds off the Landing Bay resulted in 5 Manx Shearwaters and 6 Shags seen swimming. Moving around the coast, Auks off Benjamin’s Chair resulted in 16 Guillemot and 145 Razorbills seen. In the fields, only 3 Carrion Crows, 5 Meadow Pipit, a single Wheatear, 32 Linnets, and 4 Ravens were noted. Singing Skylarks were seen and recorded alongside, presumably, females on the ground resulting in 7 birds in total. A small passage of hirundines moved through with 20 Swallows and 17 House Martins hinting today maybe another good day for both of these species. This did not seem to transpire through our other work today. However, in Millcombe, 2 Whitethroats and 2 Chiffchaffs were the only warblers seen today, with 4 ‘new in’ Spotted Flycatchers the best on the migrant passerines. Resident birds were seen throughout census with 9 Wrens, 4 Dunnocks and 21 House Sparrows noted. Our lone single Song Thrush remains in Millcombe singing away near Millcombe House as were a flock of 9 Goldfinches. The breeding season has been in full swing for a while for both seabirds and passerines, but it is certainly nice to see that 1 out of the 5 Robins and 1 out of the 6 Blackbird seen today were juveniles. Two pairs of Chaffinches are almost certainly nesting in Millcombe, a Pied Wagtail was checking out one of the walls around Tillage Field, and the Rocket Pole Pair of Stonechats remain defending at least one juvenile. Starling juveniles have been out in force for the last week and counting all the flocks in the area 88 Starlings were seen today.

At Pondsbury, the 26^th record of Tufted Duck remains, as does a Moorhen (less than 50 records), a Grey Heron, and a pair of Golden Plover with one bird singing and displaying over the pool to another individual.