Bird Sightings

A very warm, humid census that resulted in 5 Mallard, 12 Swifts, 5 Feral Pigeons, 4 Woodpigeon, 6 Collared Dove, 4 Oystercatcher, 4 Great-Black Backed Gulls, 204 Herring Gulls, 5 Lesser-Black Backed Gull, 29 Guillemots, 42 Razorbills, single Shag, 8 Carrion Crows, 3 Ravens, 6 Skylark, 7 Swallow, 3 Whitethroats, 3 Willow Warblers (2 singing males, one of which was chasing a female), 18 Wrens, 62 Starlings, 7 Blackbirds, single Song Thrush, 4 Robin, 6 Wheatears, 3 Stonechats, 6 Dunnock, 28 House Sparrows, 5 Pied Wagtails, 15 Meadow Pipits, single Chaffinch, 15 Linnets and 6 Goldfinches were seen.

Seabird surveys were productive with all but 6 of the Kittiwakes nest outcomes being recorded; the first PUFFLING of the year was seen with the scope looking at the Puffin productivity site; there were signs that the first Guillemot may have fledged the rocks and taken the leap; our Herring Gulls are still doing well with at least 23 chicks seen in our productivity colony; and we had another couple of Manx Shearwaters hatch from the boxes! A successful and rewarding seabird day for the team.

Ringing

Our seabird assistant Lucy and our bird observatory assistant Thomas at the Manx Shearwater Colony. ©Thomas Weston

Some more Starlings, a few House Sparrows and retrap Manxies in the artificial boxes.

Compared to recent census counts, Millcombe was on the quiet side with 3 singing Whitethroats, 7 Blackbirds, 2 Dunnock, 3 Woodpigeon, single Song Thrush, 4 Robin, a few of the 15 Wrens, a single Chaffinch, 5 Goldfinches and a flyover Swallow. Walking along the south coast resulted in 3 Swifts that came inoff; 14 Guillemots, 41 Razorbills, 3 Puffin and 3 Rock Pipit from Benjamin’s Chair; 4 Skylarks heard singing; 14 Wheatears and 4 Stonechats hopping along the walls; 15 Meadow Pipits in the fields; a Grey heron flew inoff the sea before spiralling high and flying North. There was a second that did the same near Quarter Wall and was seen to be a different individual based on plumage features. The flocks of non-breeding/failed breeding gulls resulted in a single Great-Black Backed Gull, 174 Herring Gulls and 14 Lesser-Black Backed Gull. Feeding with the sheep included 16 Carrion Crows, 4 Ravens, 2 Pied Wagtails, 15 Linnets and 62 Starlings. In the Village, 4 Feral Pigeons, 7 Collared Dove and 16 House Sparrows were seen.

Another foggy start to the day, delaying surveys and not clearing for most of the day. However, a report in the evening of a possible American Robin seen earlier in the day was very interesting and so we just had to check it out. However, there was no sign since the initial sighting.

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Starling caught and ringed in the Village. ©Thomas Weston

A day of Starling and House Sparrow ringing was successful again with new breeding adults colour ringed, retrap breeding adults from previous years, a few of our fully fledged juveniles we ringed in the nests earlier this year as chicks and new juveniles almost certainly from wild/inaccessible nests. They keep coming!

A foggy start to the day with drizzle during seabird surveys. However, the number of Kittiwake and Guillemot chicks keep increasing every time we monitor them, and the ones who are a week or so old are now looking very smart. Due to the breeding ecology of the auks, the Guillemots will be jumping the cliffs soon!

Sticking with the seabird theme, an afternoon check of our Manx Shearwater boxes resulted in a freshly hatched chick, a pipping chick and two expected to hatch today but have not yet! A great success for this ongoing project and our work to monitor the boxes so systematically has resulted in us knowing the hatch days within a couple of days.

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Pied Wagtail caught in the Lodge Garden. ©Thomas Weston

An evening Starling and House Sparrow session was successful with new breeding adults colour ringed, retrap breeding adults from previous years, a few of our fully fledged juveniles we ringed in the nests earlier this year as chicks and new juveniles almost certainly from wild/inaccessible nests. Two Pied Wagtails were a pleasant surprise with one recently ringed in Millcombe and the other a new bird.