Bird Sightings

A busy seabird productivity day resulting in good coverage across the island. Lots of the passerines are heading into moult, so our resident species are a little lower than expected as they head for cover to replace their feathers.

Guillemot chick at our productivity colony. ©Thomas Weston

Totals from across the island included a single Mallard, 6 Feral Pigeons, a single Woodpigeon, 8 Collared Dove, 7 Oystercatcher, single Curlew heard over the Landing Bay, 476 Puffins, 3352 Guillemots, 833 Razorbills, 200 Auk sp.., 72 Herring Gulls, 10 Great-Black Backed Gulls, 13 Lesser-Black Backed Gull, 38 Fulmar, 60 Manx Shearwaters, 2 Gannets, 29 Shag, single Kestrel, single Peregrine, 15 Carrion Crows, 7 Raven, 12 Skylark, 4 Swallow, 4 Whitethroats, single Chiffchaff, 4 Blackcaps, 9 Wrens, 56 Starlings, 2 Blackbirds, single Song Thrush, 2 Robin, 26 Wheatears, 5 Stonechat, single Dunnock, 36 House Sparrows, 3 Pied Wagtails, 28 Meadow Pipits, 4 Rock Pipits, 5 Chaffinch, 47 Linnets and 7 Goldfinches were seen.

A quiet period for the island with the breeding season in full swing for most of the seabirds and passerines. Our seabird productivity surveys were not undertaken today resulting in observations for auks coming from census counts only hence the low numbers.

Totals from across the island included a single Mallard, 4 Feral Pigeons, a single Woodpigeon, 9 Collared Dove, 2 Oystercatcher, 3 Puffins, 57 Guillemots, 61 Razorbills, 35 Herring Gulls, 5 Great-Black Backed Gulls, 13 Lesser-Black Backed Gull, single Fulmar, Manx Shearwaters, 3 Shag, 3 Carrion Crows, 3 Raven, single Skylark, single Swallow, 2 Whitethroats, single Chiffchaff, 2 Blackcaps, 4 Wrens, 42 Starlings, 2 Blackbirds, single Song Thrush, 2 Robin, 3 Wheatears, single Stonechat, 2 Dunnock, 22 House Sparrows, 2 Pied Wagtails, 3 Meadow Pipits, single Rock Pipits, single Chaffinch, 6 Linnets and 2 Goldfinches were seen.

Fulmar on an egg at Jennys Cove. ©Thomas Weston

Totals from across the island included 17 Mallard, 7 Feral Pigeons, 2 Woodpigeon, 3 Collared Dove, a single Cuckoo in Millcombe, 3 Oystercatcher, 182 Herring Gulls, 7 Great-Black Backed Gulls, 18 Lesser-Black Backed Gull, 213 Puffins, 2587 Guillemots, 668 Razorbills, 74 Kittiwakes, 38 Fulmar, Manx Shearwaters, 21 Gannets, 34 Shag, Kestrel, 5 Peregrines, 9 Carrion Crows, 5 Raven, 29 Skylark, 4 Swallow, 3 Whitethroats, 2 Willow Warbler, 2 Chiffchaffs, 11 Wrens, 68 Starlings, 6 Blackbirds, single Song Thrush, 3 Robin, 17 Wheatears, 2 Stonechats, 2 Dunnock, 31 House Sparrows, 4 Pied Wagtails, 11 Meadow Pipits, 3 Rock Pipits, 2 Chaffinch, 11 Linnets and 16 Goldfinches were seen.

A breezy but cool day. Cool for multiple reasons because census was good and productive, but also cool because we gained permissions, gathered a team together and managed to pilot a Herring Gull project. More on this below…

But first. Census results included 6 Mallard, 2 Woodpigeon, 3 Collared Dove, 2 Oystercatcher, 71 Herring Gulls, 5 Great-Black Backed Gulls, 11 Lesser-Black Backed Gull, 42 Guillemots, 21 Razorbills, 5 Manx Shearwaters, 6 Shag, 5 Carrion Crows, 2 Raven, 4 Skylark, 2 Swallow, 3 Whitethroats, 2 Willow Warbler, 2 Chiffchaffs, 18 Wrens, 24 Starlings, 6 Blackbirds, single Song Thrush, 3 Robin, 9 Wheatears, 3 Stonechats, 4 Dunnock, 28 House Sparrows, 2 Pied Wagtails, 13 Meadow Pipits, single Chaffinch, 33 Linnets and 6 Goldfinches were seen.

A female Eurasian Teal with a single big duckling was on Quarter Wall Pond.

Ringing

Herring Gull chicks from our productivity site. ©Thomas Weston

Our productivity site for Herring Gull was accessed today with a total of 23 chicks ringed. Broods of 1 and 2 were most frequently encountered, with a single brood of 3 being the most noteworthy. The birds were only metal ringed this year, but it is hoped that we can colour ring this colony in the future years to understand the lives of our breeding gulls better. In recent years, the numbers have crashed on the island for large gulls, possibly due to low breeding success and potentially poor adult survival with Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) not helping the numbers.