Bird Sightings

Female Merlin near the Old Stone Crusher Site. ©Thomas Weston

Today was a good day for birding. The low hazy fog that hung over the Devon and Welsh coasts remained for most of the morning, but the visibility on the island was good and compared to the last few days we could see quite a distance. Census counts were split due to our annual feral stcok counts being undertaken this weekend, but combined counts showed a nice arrival of migrants. The higher coverage of the island also led to some really nice counts across the whole are.

To begin, some notable sightings:

• Two female Merlin were seen with one along the Southwest Field boundary and one at the North End.
• Our first Swallow of the year flew south from ¼ Wall towards the Village.
• An arrival of 6 Wheatear with the first female seen.
• An arrival of Chiffchaff along the East coast with birds noted from Millcombe to ¼ Wall.
• 2 Puffins off Jenny’s Cove

Our resident pair of Mallard remained on Rocket Pole scrape where a pair of Stonechat were seen gathering nesting material. The pair along Quarter Wall were seen but not showing signs of breeding yet. Waders are always few and far between on census, but a pair of Oystercatchers were in the Landing Bay and a Snipe was flushed from the Airfield. Out on the coast, a pair of Great Black-backed Gulls, 77 Herring Gulls, 16 Lesser Black-backed Gulls, single Guillemot, 240 Razorbills, 2 Gannet, 6 Shag and our lovely duo of divers (Red-throated and Great Northern) were both in the Landing Bay first thing. A surprise sighting of 4 Cormorants first seen over Millcombe and then over ¼ Wall heading North were the first of the year and a nice migrant species for the island. With the weather being more favourable than recent, birds of prey were using this opportunity to show well. The female Merlin pictured above was a welcome sight as well as a female Sparrowhawk and a Peregrine too.    

 Down in Millcombe, our small population of 5 Woodpigeons were spotted, a Water Rail was heard charming at the bottom of Smelly Gully, 2 Chiffchaffs were a good precursor to the others who arrived later, 5 Goldcrest were in the trees, 17 Wren were either heard singing or spotted coming out of the gorse bushes, 6 Blackbirds of both sexes were seen, a singing male Song Thrush, 2 Robin, 7 Dunnocks and the singing male Goldfinch were all seen. In the fields, 31 Carrion Crow were mostly in Brick Field, 8 Skylark were noted with some displaying 138 Starlings commuted between the Village and Tillage, 4 Stonechat with one pair nest building, 33 Meadow Pipits potentially included some migrants, and a Pied Wagtail were spotted. In the Village, 27 House Sparrows and 7 Ravens were seen.    

Today started off cloudy, dry, but threatening to be another damp day as a slight south-westerly wind blew across the island. The census was split due to it being a travel/changeover day. However, it was quite lively with birds singing for the first time in the last couple days and some ‘appearing from the bushes’.

Red-throated Diver in the Landing Bay. ©Thomas Weston

In Millcombe, the residents were out in force. Whilst on census we record any signs of breeding, so it was great to record 12 Wrens (10 singing), 8 Dunnocks (6 singing), 4 Carrion Crows (1 pair prospecting the pines), 6 Blackbirds (3 pairs), the singing Song Thrush, 3 Ravens (1 pair prospecting the pines), a charming Water Rail, and 3 Robins (2 singing). Other bits and bobs included 4 Goldcrests with at least ½ bearing rings, a Woodpigeon, a single Chaffinch, an Icelandic ‘illicus’ Redwing, and 3 flyover Meadow Pipits were spotted. Views from the Ugly were good to begin and the Landing Bay was quite sheltered from the wind. As a result, the continued flock of 14 Shag, 23 Auk spp were spotted with at least 3 Razorbills included, 3 Gannet flew south, 2 Great Black-backed Gulls, 3 Lesser Black-backed Gulls and 12 Herring Gulls were seen. However, the standout highlights were 2 Great-northern Divers (both adult winters) and a single Red-throated Diver (scarce here). We have only recorded one adult winter Great northern so to get two in the same view is very good and to have the additional Red throat is even better!

On the other half of the census, Benjamin’s Chair remained too windy to see any auks but there was a pair of Ravens here who we think are now incubating. There were two little flocks of Mallard at Rocket Pole Pond and in Tillage resulting in 6 Mallards. Rocket Pole Pond also had a showy pair of Stonechats in the gorse which is always nice to see. Between here and Halfway wall, 8 Skylarks, 21 Meadow Pipits and 4 Wrens were recorded. At Brick Field, the morning gathering of gulls resulted in 124 Herring Gulls, 3 Lesser Black-backed Gulls, 31 Carrion Crows, 144 Starlings and 8 Pied Wagtails. In The Village, a single Blackbird, 13 House Sparrows, and a single Chaffinch were seen.    

As with previous days, the cloud base dropped, the fog rolled in, and all flights were postponed until the late afternoon when it cleared for a couple of hours. Tibbets was where Thomas was working for a little bit and once the fog cleared the Skylarks and Meadow Pipits were out in force singing across Middle Park.

Purple Sandpiper at Brazen Ward. ©Thomas Weston

Island life can be a challenge for both the birds and the staff here, but we still got out, even if that led to us being very damp. Today's sightings show there was a little movement but we are really hoping the weather brightens a little soon.

Census resulted in low numbers of seabirds due to the cloud base being so low. This included, 2 Kittiwake, 4 Great Black-backed Gulls, 68 Herring Gulls, 6 Lesser Black-backed Gulls, 2 auk spp, 6 Gannet and 12 Shag. In Millcombe 8 Woodpigeons, 22 Carrion Crow, 4 Raven, 4 Goldcrest, 10 Wren, 7 Blackbirds, Redwing, Song Thrush, 5 Robin, 3 Dunnock, 3 Chaffinches and a Goldfinch. Out in the fields, the female Kestrel, 7 Skylark, 53 Starlings, a ‘new in’ male Wheatear, Stonechat, 6 Pied Wagtails, alba sp, 23 Meadow Pipits, Rock Pipit, Linnet and 5 Mallard were seen. The Village flock of 12 House Sparrows were noted today, though many will be hunkered down.

A walk to Brazen Ward and onto North Light via Pondsbury resulted in 44 Meadow Pipits (lots in song flight and displaying), 48 Herring Gulls, 36 Lesser Black-backed Gulls, 6 Great Black-backed Gulls, 8 Gannet, 13 Shag, 2 Skylark, 8 Wren, a Goldcrest hidden amongst the braken and moving southeast, a 1^st winter/2^nd Calander year Common Gull (scarce here) dip feeding off Brazen Ward before drifting south, 3 Stonechat, 18 Oystercatchers including a migrant flock of 12 on Brazen Ward in the high tide roost with 5 Purple Sandpipers (see photo above), 2 Blackbirds, 3 Peregrine, 32 Fulmar sat on ledges at North Light, 100 Auks (~40% Guillemot/ ~60 Razorbills), 32 Kittiwakes feeding off North Light, a pair of Eurasian Teal on Pondsbury, 2 female Mallard on Pondsbury, a Robin and 3 Rock Pipits.

Today was yet again another damp day with low cloud cover and strong gusts throughout. The census was quiet again but there were signs of movement out there, you just had to look a little harder than normal.

Millcombe was quite quiet with a Song Thrush, 2 Dunnock, 3 Robin, 3 Blackbird, the 2 Goldfinches, 3 Goldcrests, 8 Wren, and 3 Woodpigeon seen. Passing Gannet and Kittiwake were the best from Ugly. A little along the Beach Road resulted in nice views of a flock of 12 Shag and the overwintering Great-northern Diver all pretty close due to the weather. Further out on the water 2 Red-throated Divers were nice to see, they are an unusual species around the island so good to get on census especially. Benjamin’s chair was very difficult to view, the wind and rain came up the cliffs with only the breeding Herring Gulls seen. Rocket Pole Pond had the pair of resident Mallards, and the nearby Southwest Fields had a couple of Meadow Pipits. Walking across the Airfield resulted in 3 Skylark seen but that was about it.

Green-winged Teal on Pondsbury ©Thomas Weston

A quick detour down to The Terraces resulted in small flocks of large gulls and a female Mallard prospecting Quarry Pond to potentially breed. Walking the cliff route to view Pondsbury was worthwhile with loafing large gulls and the American Green-winged Teal seen again. It is certainly a nervous bird, so views were kept distant and brief to avoid too much disturbance.

Back on the census route for the stretch between Quarter Wall and the Village resulted in 31 Carrion Crow, 145 Herring Gulls, 25 Lesser-black Backed Gulls, a Pied Wagtail and a small flock of ~60 Starlings. In the Village itself, 8 House Sparrows were noted and 3 Ravens.