Bird Sightings

By Simon Parker

Today was a day reminiscent of my life as Warden on that other Island that shall not be named.  As Warden, it's important to be flexible to the jobs that come your way and everyday is different, today was an excellent example.  It all started at 5.30am, I'm currently helping Tristan the Islands engineer with his morning pre power checks.  For those unfamiliar with Lundy, the power comes on automatically at 6:15am everyday.  Prior to that, Tristan checks the generators for serviceability and tops up oils/coolant.  All things I'm familiar with from previous jobs and all was well this morning, everyone had enough power for their morning kettle and nothing set on fire.

 I had enough time to go and clean out the church ready for the visiting Landmark Trust luminaries to explore it later in the day, possibly for some stained glass window spotting or to soak up the divine favour, that's not for me to say.  But, I'm told by Thomas that some of them may read this blog now, welcome! I hope the church was clean..

 After that, I still had time for breakfast before grabbing the "posh" land rover and picking up the team to go up the island planting trees.  Me and the conservation team have been battling the inclement weather to plant over 100 trees along the lower East path between Gannets Combe and Brazen Ward.  I've also been press ganging visitors into helping out, so if you're visiting soon, I have about 45 left to plant so bring a shovel!

Roger (Ranger) Dina (visiting ex vol and local hero) Tara( Assistant Warden)

 These trees have some strong Deer protection and are 2-3 year old to give them more chance, our hope is that this could be the beginning of more trees along the East coast in the future.  Be sure to check them out when you're next over. 

A quick drive back to meet Tom the farmer in the tavern where we gave a presentation to the Landmark team on the future of stewardship on the island, much chin scratching was had.  But time was flying by though and soon Thomas and Eleanor arrived for out pre-planned check on the Manx Shearwater boxes.  Some of them needed some interior design alterations but overall things were looking good, there were even signs of some cheeky early prospectors.

 Back to the village to get a quick bite to eat before heading to the tavern for the Southwest Marine Ecosystem Seminar where I talked a bit about Lundys seabirds with the help of Paul St Pierre from the RSPB.  That just about wrapped up and finished around 10pm, a pretty varied day.

 Somewhere in of all that, a Grey Heron was spotted over the quarry, the lone Jackdaw is still around the village and plenty of parachuting Meadow pipits are around.  Thomas and Eleanor were much more successful and spotted 10 Sand Martin at the North end of the island along with a Green Sandpiper in Pondsbury with a group of Teal.  Not a huge birding day, just an average day for a Warden.

By Thomas Weston

Monday is a travel day, so morning meeting started the day.  Eleanor was on a Housekeeping Day today, so her plan for the rest of the day was cleaning properties and making sure they looked extremely presentable ahead of the new guests that were going to arrive later in the day. Tara was on helicopter duties so was based around the Village throughout the day.

Red Throated Diver in the Landing Bay. Thomas Weston

Simon and I decided to undertake census together. The weather was west and windy so not ideal for opening nets in Millcombe Valley so we thought a joint census would be good. A new in Song Thrush and some nice signs of Spring with breeding birds and the start of the Blackthorn blossom was great to see. The Landing Bay was a hive of activity and continued our great run of divers with three Red-throated Divers and two Great Northern Divers who have been overwintering individually but occasionally seen together. We had some good numbers of Shag and Gannets with a unusual species for our census being a Fulmar. This species breeds around the island, but are somewhat unrecorded generally when undertaking census, odd. Moving on round to Benjamin’s Chair and the wind brought the swell up again. South West Field held very few birds apart from a few hardy Meadow Pipits. No sign of the Caspian Gull today in the gull flocks, but nice flyby views of the female Merlin again who is now residing up to Quarter Wall from the South. She has her favourite places too!  The Airfield held a couple of singing Skylark and a couple of singing Meadow Pipits with females of the latter seen too. Over at Quarry Cottages, a single Grey Wagtail flew over and passed heading South. The Landing Bay was glistening in the hazy sun and heading back to the Village saw flocks of Starlings and Meadow Pipits in Tillage and Brick, plus our female Merlin again.

Jackdaw in Tillage by Thomas Weston

After a break, my task was to complete a ring stock check of all the bird ringing rings we have on the island. The task took most of the day to complete and included counting our main store, walking into Millcombe and walking to the Heligoland Trap on the Terraces. On my journey to count rings and record ring strings a Jackdaw was an undoubtable highlight, as well as more flocks of Meadow Pipits and three Chaffinches in Millcombe Valley. The sun was out and the wind was calming a bit, a good sign for the next few days.  

By Thomas Weston

A day off on Lundy never really goes the way you thought it would! A cosy, relaxing lie in before a nice stroll to the Landing Bay was the initial idea when we went to sleep last night, but we awoke early and looked at the rain radar which looked cloudy and not wet. We knew a storm was coming, but we thought why not undertake census and then take a trip to the Landing Bay in the afternoon.

We got up and started census. The wind even between our house and Millcombe Valley started increasing but we persevered. A singing Dunnock was nice to hear from the Ugly, and out in the Landing Bay, a single Great Northern Diver, a couple of passing Gannets and 3 Oystercatchers were the best. Moving on round to St John’s Valley, we almost thought about forfeiting census and treating ourselves to that day off, but we chose to continue despite the weather. Amazingly, 7 Razorbills and 3 Shag were off Benjamin’s Chair, having not been present here recently due to the swell, and the now resident pair of Mallards were on Rocket Pole Pond.

Caspian Gull in Lower Lighthouse. ©Thomas Weston

However, this is when the wind increased even more, the cloud base dropped to less than 50m above the island and the drizzle started. A female Merlin zipped past us as walked SW Field and in the distance, we could see gulls. We decided to walk to Old Light and then view the flocks from a distance. It worked well, and we worked our way through the flock with binoculars. The usual Herring Gulls, Lesser Black Backed Gulls, and Great Black-Backed Gulls were seen until one gull stuck out from the flock. Our initial thought was a 2^nd calendar year Caspian Gull, if it was it would be the first for the island. The plumage looked great, and we have both seen this species in Skagen, Denmark previously. But we thought it cannot be! So we took some photos and sent to a few people who could provide a second opinion. Firstly, Liam Langley, a seabird researcher who has a passion for gulls and IDing them too, we thought he would be the first best shout and hopefully could look at the message in good time. Second, Simon SC, the head of Skagen Fuglestation who had seen hundreds, if not thousands of this species, and finally Simon Kiese, a birder from Germany of which the species breed. Between the Watertanks and Quarter Wall, we had responses from all three saying that they agreed it is a 2^nd calendar year Caspian Gull – a first for the island! Amazing, and worth the drenching that occurred after on our way back to the village having completed census.

After some respite from the weather and some lunch we headed to South Light to have a look around the lighthouse. The front had passed, and the weather cleared from the west, so we were treated to some sunlight. It was great to have a look around the lighthouse and nice to see some species on the way too. This including a Red-necked Grebe in the Landing Bay, a flock of migrant Meadow Pipits arrived from the East and a Red-throated Diver to the south of South Light. As the afternoon was getting on, we made the decision to head back to the Village and enjoy a more relaxed evening. What a day, and what a day off!

By Eleanor Harris

Today really feels like the first day that spring has sprung on the island since we arrived with warm and mild weather after the cold from the storm. A real and noticeable change has come with many signs around of what is going come. It was a beautiful morning to be out and about for sure. On my walk to work in Housekeeping I had a few Starlings showing well and some rather friendly House Sparrows outside the laundry a nice start to the day. 

Whilst I was Housekeeping this morning Thomas headed off to complete census with some of the highlights being a Female Sparrowhawk, Jackdaw, Male Kestrel on Quarry Cottages and 18 Pied Wagtails. Signs of spring are all around the island with birds starting to think about breading so some exiting few months ahead of us, but we will keep you all posted on this so watch this space!!

Meanwhile, Simon and the team headed up North to Gannets Combe to continue tree planting with the help of some of our guests. A very successful time was had, and we look forward to you seeing the efforts of their hard work when you visit next.

Landing Bay View ©EleanorHarris

At my tea and toast break I decided to head for a short walk to see what I could find in Millcombe.  It was great to be out and about on such a clear day with views of the mainland, the first for many days. I headed to the Ugly and on my way saw a Robin and a few Dunnocks. The highlight came with a Red Throated Diver hanging out in the Landing Bay, lovely to see in full summer plumage!

Before heading back to work it was great to have some outside time and feel the warm sun after the cold and grey days. Signs of spring are around with a Peacock and a Large White Butterfly seen in Millcombe and the Village which are some of the first of the new season.

Whilst working we had reports of a Basking Shark in the Landing Bay from two staff members and their guests, this was a rather exciting as they are rarely seen from Lundy. Tara rushed down to the bay but was unable to catch a glimpse of this elusive creature. After work both me and Thomas went to have a look from the Castle but sadly it had moved on before we reached the area. On the way though we did have some excellent views of a female Merlin looking rather dramatic against the clear open Lundy skies. It was not a wasted trip as we had some incredible views of a Gannet feeding in the bay with three Shags. It is rare to see then this close, so it was super cool and a great finish to the working day.

Camping Field View. ©Eleanor Harris

The plan for the evening is to relax and do some Night Catching the first of the season. Overall, it has been a great day with signs of spring surrounding the island and beautiful clear skies. We will see what the weather brings in the next day or so and how spring progresses on the island.

Snipe in the hand and ringed under licence. ©Eleanor Harris

A little update on our Night Catching was that it was a great evening overall with a Common Snipe and a Skylark ringed and processed on a calm and clear night. We will keep you posted throughout the upcoming season on our nighttime adventures!!