Bird Sightings

Remaining with a southernly wind resulted in another little arrival of migrants to the island that were nicely picked up on census today.

New in migrants:

• A Short-eared Owl flew over Millcombe being mobbed by Herring Gulls as it slowly went North up the island but was unfortunately lost behind the Ugly around 08:45.
• A White Wagtail was feeding with the sheep in St Helen’s Field and was sometimes associating with the Redwing flock that has been hanging out in this area too.
• A Black-headed Gull was found in the Herring Gull flocks on Tillage Field and looked very stunning in its summer plumage – all other species are stunning too, but they really do look special here on the island possibly due to their scarcity.

Other species seen on census included 67 Starlings mostly in the Village; 19 Carrion Crows with the sheep around Old Light; 23 Redwings split into their two flocks still with the largest just outside the Tavern; our singing male Song Thrush; 19 Linnets arriving back to their breeding grounds; 10 Robins filling Millcombe with song; 2 Woodpigeon above Smelly Gully; our four main migrant passerines consisting of 9 Goldcrests, 2 Willow Warblers, female Blackcap and 6 Chiffchaffs; 5 Blackbirds in the valley; 10 Dunnocks with one bird found outside Millcombe at ¼ Wall Copse; 5 Chaffinches with a pair feeding in the Village; 8 Ravens including the rowdy Village mob; 13 Wrens mostly in Millcombe; a high count of 248 Razorbills off Benjamin’s Chair/Ugly associated with 6 Guillemots and 9 Shags; 10 Meadow Pipits and 12 Skylarks mostly in the Airfield; 3 Great Black-backed Gulls, 22 Lesser Black-backed Gulls, ‘alba wagtail’ and 3 Pied Wagtails feeding in Highstreet Field; single male Kestrel around ¼ Wall; a single Goldfinch and 2 Swallows flew North; 3 Oystercatchers were in the Landing Bay; 3 Stonechats and a Rock pipit were on territory; a single Gannet flew South; a juvenile female Peregrine was hunting Southwest Field; and a good count of 37 House Sparrows were in the Village.

Meadow Pipit on a Gorse Bush around Pondsbury. ©Thomas Weston

Sightings north of ¼ Wall included a single Blackbird, Stonechats, Meadow pipits, Skylarks, Linnets, migrant Goldcrests, 2 Eurasian Teal and a pair of Ravens.

Ringing

A short session in Millcombe resulted in a small catch of warblers this afternoon.

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A shift in wind direction to the south is always interesting and it seems most of the time brings new migrants to the island from the mainland.

Most unusual species on census:

• A single Rook came in off the sea at the South Coast and circled the Church twice calling around 08:15 before it headed North up the island and was not seen again. Amazingly this bird was seen flying off of Bull Point, Devon around 07:30 by a local birder and was seen heading to Lundy meaning it took about 45mins for the bird to cross the Bristol Channel.
• A Cormorant came in off the sea at Benjamin’s Chair around 08:30, circled the Southwest Fields and headed high North up the island.

The Redwing flocks remain in their two locations today with a flock of 19 in St Helen’s Field and a separate flock of 3 around ¼ Wall. These birds are presumably fattening up and waiting for the weather to be in their favour before heading North to Iceland as the numbers have remained consistent for the past two days. Finch movement was apparent today with 6 Goldfinches, 5 Linnet and 3 Chaffinches noted flying North. Our resident breeding species were out in force today with 10 Blackbirds (6M+4F), 9 Robins, 16 Wrens, 8 Dunnocks, 77 Starlings, the singing male Song Thrush, 23 House Sparrows, 8 Ravens and 15 Carrion Crows. Migrants noted in Millcombe in particularly included 9 Goldcrest, 7 Blackcaps, 9 Chiffchaffs and a single Willow Warbler. Out on our rocky coasts sightings included 2 Great Black-backed gulls, 2 Oystercatchers, 135 Razorbills, 3 Guillemots, 3 Rock Pipits, 2 Shags, Gannet, and single Kittiwake. In the fields, 4 Stonechats, 9 Skylarks, 4 Pied Wagtails and 18 Meadow Pipits.

At the Terraces a Firecrest was found in the willows before moving up to Quarry Pond where a Blackcap, 2 Willow Warblers and a Redwing were seen. On the slopes, 6 Meadow Pipits were flushed by a female Sparrowhawk flew South whilst a Dunnock, 3 Wrens, Blackbird and 2 Robins were spotted, and 104 Razorbills were offshore.

Lucy had a great count of Puffins, Guillemots, and Razorbills off Jenny’s Cove.

Ringing

A check of the heligoland trap resulted in two birds being caught this morning. Totals here:

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A strong east wind came across the island today making the Landing Bay very rough and difficult to watch well. However, census was completed successfully meaning we achieved 100% of census counts throughout March, very exciting news and great data too!

An 'icelandic' Redwing at Quarter Wall. ©Thomas Weston

Counts from census included a low number of Chiffchaff sticking to Millcombe; 23 Redwing of the Icelandic race in two distinct flocks of 11 (St Helen’s Copse) and 12 (1/4 Wall); 6 Robins with a total of two heard singing, the most were sticking low in Millcombe; 2 Pied Wagtails on the Airfield; 11 Wrens; 5 Goldcrest in Millcombe; 5 Goldfinches, potentially a mix of potential breeders and migrants; 5 Blackbirds mostly in Millcombe; 14 Meadow Pipits in SouthWest Field/Airfield; single Chaffinch; 3 Shag battling the waves in the Landing Bay; 43 Herring Gulls; 161 Razorbills split between the Landing Bay and Benjamin’s Chair; 21 Guillemots mixed in the auk flocks; 5 Woodpigeons in Smelly Gully; single Dunnock; single Gannet off the South Coast; 12 Linnets mostly flying North; a surprise Collared Dove in off the sea at Smelly Gully; 9 Skylark with 5 heard singing across Southwest Field/Airfield; the singing male Song Thrush in Millcombe; single male Blackcap; 2 Rock Pipits and a male Peregrine off Benjamin’s Chair; pair of Mallard on Rocket Pole Pond; 19 Carrion Crows; 2 ‘alba’ Wagtails North; 48 Starlings with the majority in the Village; single Willow Warbler at ¼ Wall; and 8 Ravens in the Village.

Additional sightings from the Terraces resulted in a pair of Wheatear, Raven, 3 Wren, Chiffchaff, 2 Redwing, single Meadow Pipit, 2 Linnet, 66 Razorbills, single Shag and a single Fulmar.  

Some of the Puffins as viewed from our Seabird Station at Jennys Cove. ©Thomas Weston

We have started out Jenny’s Cove Seabird Stations today with one of our team stationed around The Cheeses to enable people to see some of our breeding seabirds. The direction of the wind enabled us to shelter quite nicely on the cliffs and count the birds in the area. Highlights included 269 Puffins, 260 Guillemots, 57 Razorbills, 7 Herring Gulls and 12 Fulmars were on the cliffs; 37 Kittiwakes were offshore in a feeding flock; 12 Gannets were feeding above a pod of 5 Porpoise; a pair of Wheatear, 3 Rock Pipits, 19 Linnets, 3 Wrens and 2 Pied Wagtail were on the plateau feeding; 4 Oystercatchers and a Peregrine flew low past the cove; and 24 Swallows, House Martin and 2 Sand Martins flew low North heading towards the North End.  

A Wheatear wander resulted in 4 colour ringed birds found.

Wheatear RW mYN2 photographed in SouthWest Fields. Ringed in May 2023. ©Joe Parker

One of two Redwing in South Aerogenerator this morning. ©Thomas Weston

With today being a travel day, census was split, and sightings were a bit few and far between with the team doing other jobs. A noticeable arrival of Redwing occurred yesterday and this morning with this species not being noted for at least a week. The majority, if not all the birds seen, were of the Icelandic subspecies coburni with varying shades of brown bellies noted on the birds. The calmer wind also encouraged 142 Razorbills back to their breeding grounds off Benjamin’s Chair this morning. Other sightings from census will be added in the coming days.

In the meantime, we are really grateful for sightings and photographs collected from members of the public/guests who are spotting birds on our behalf. All reports have been added to the logbook, but a few of the notable sightings included here:

• ‘Hundreds’ of Puffins off Jenny’s Cove.
• Ring Ouzel male near Tibbets.
• Hirundines passing through the island and heading out the North end.
• A Collared Dove at North Light – The first of the year and an odd location!

In addition, the Terraces saw 8 Redwing, a male Blackcap, 4 Wren, 2 Dunnocks, 2 Meadow Pipits, 8 Herring Gulls, 41 Razorbills, 2 Skylarks, 2 Lesser Black-backed Gulls, 2 Shag, 2 Gannet, a pair of Stonechat and a Willow Warbler. The activity in this area varies throughout the day but it is worth checking as migrant species seem to pass through regardless.

Ringing

The weather allowed a short ringing session in Millcombe this afternoon with ~20 birds caught, ringed or processed. This included a nice selection of new Chiffchaff and Willow Warbler showing another smaller arrival this afternoon. There were a couple of recaptures from earlier this week associated with the fall, and a Robin and Dunnock retrap from last year.