Bird Sightings

By Simon Parker

June is here! That means sunshine, calm seas and heatwaves, except this is the UK and on Lundy none of those things are guaranteed.  Today would be described as dank, thick fog and constant steady rain awaited as I headed out to do the morning Census.  Millcombe did have a little activity, a pair of Whitethroat were hiding up in the canopies along with a few Goldfinch, Chiffchaff, Chaffinch and Willow Warbler.  A brief view of the landing area as the fog cleared saw ten Shag in a close group feeding just off the shore.  Passing past brambles villa, a young Stonechat starting getting quite vocal and a Robin popped out briefly before shooting back into the gorse bushes.

The top of the island was where the thickest fog lingered and visibility was below 20m, Rocket Pole Pond area yielded a few Linnet before I moved up past the Old Light and onto Ackland's Moor.  At this point it became a little disorientating, but heading in a general direction I managed to somehow stay on track.  A lone Skylark and several Meadow Pipit were scuttling along the ground. The rest of Census followed the same story and by the time I'd arrived back I was absolutely soaked.

No one had a clue where we were

A badly needed recharge from the Marisco Tavern before getting into some admin and meeting up with the Biosphere team online. I was quite glad the rest of the day was spent inside as the weather became gradually worse.  The good news is that the island needed some rain, everything was starting to look a little dry and the water supply a little shaky, still no bath plugs in the properties if you're wondering..

by Greg Lee

Census today and technically the final patrol of the spring season, as we are expected to only do coverage until the end of May. However, since early June can provide some interesting records some years, we will be continuing to do a bit more until the middle of the next month. Census itself was pretty quiet, with little of major note and the general quietening down that can be expected of migrants at this time of year with a solitary Spotted Flycatcher at Millcombe being most obvious. The Golden Oriole remained in the same trees above the Casbah continuing my hot streak of familiarity with this particular bird.

A Spotted Flycatcher at Old Light was a nice record in the always attractive garden at Stoneycroft. Over the spring I’ve had various Warblers, Redstart etc. in this small area, I’m interested to see what may turn up in autumn in the bushes.

Spotted Flycatcher by G.Lee

This week, my parents are visiting the island so later on, I connected with them for a walk up northward to North Light. Naturally, birding wasn’t the aim of the trip, but it would’ve been most remiss of me to not bring my camera and binoculars. Passing Quarter Wall, an Emperor Dragonfly cruised by, whilst Small Heath butterflies dance and skipped over the short turf. As we passed Quarter Wall Pond on the main path, I saw something small and brown run into the grass on my left-hand side. Perplexed, I walked towards the clump of where I flushed a small, compact and streaked bird up from the ground, giving a short, sharp “meep” call as it flew. It was a Quail! The first I’d ever flushed and actually seen in the UK (having come across a few singing from deep cover in various locations), the bird didn’t fly very far but it did go quick and low over the ground with whirring wings before diving into the rushes near Quarter Wall. Not a bad start. An impressive Orchid in flower opposite Pondsbury also caught my eye though I wasn’t entirely sure on the species.  The rest of the walk north was less high-octane but the Thrift display at North Light was excellent, with Puffins also performing nicely on the waters off the Lighthouse and the Guillemots piling together on the cliffs.

The final act of the day was a cutthroat game of Snakes and Ladders with my parents in the Tavern before doing battle with a game of Wingspan against my fellow Lodge mates. Having taught them how to play, it was only right that I came out on top with a respectable haul of 86 points. The others have much to learn...

By Thomas Weston

Starling with food in the Village. Thomas Weston

Today started with me awaking just before 5am. I got up and ready and headed on down to Millcombe to open some nets and start some ringing. The first couple of birds seen from the house to the ringing site included one of our Channel Wagtail pair and a Siskin along with the local House Sparrows and Starlings. The weather was sunny and extremely calm, not a breeze or a gust at all and it was looking like another glorious day on the island.

Golden Oriole ringed Millcombe by Thomas Weston

Opening the lower Millcombe nets was the plan as I was on my own. The session was extremely slow to begin. A single new Chiffchaff made up the 1 bird per hour (05:30-06:30), followed by a new(!) female Blackbird keeping up the 1 bird per hour (06:30-07:30). There were flocks of passing Auks, 100+ Manx Shearwaters and a 6 Gannets too. Our male Golden Oriole was singing in the trees but remained stubbornly elusive as they do. There was passing fog too, but nothing on the island yet! This all changed when Maddie came down to the site. We opened a net near the Casbah and went back down to the bottom to extract any birds. Success came in the form of 2 new Chiffchaffs showing breeding evidence, almost certainly a pair, and a retrap Linnet. The fog started to close in now and it was feeling rather eerie and cool. Greg made an arrival, and we checked again. Nothing on this round but we were not going to call it quits yet. Two juvenile Blackbirds were a welcome sign of fledged juveniles, and we could see parents of a lot of the locals collecting food for their young too.

The next net round was very special and memorable, we approached the Casbah net, and we had caught a retrap Blackbird from two years ago, a new Goldfinch and the Golden Oriole! A very big surprise given that none of us had seen it this morning, just heard it. There were a pair of retrap Linnets in the lower Millcombe nets, and we proceeded to process all birds bar the Oriole in the Valley. Only a couple of minutes later we went to ring the bird at the top of the valley so those who were around could see. A small gathering formed, and the Golden Oriole was ringed. A smart 2^nd calendar year type male. On release he flew back into Millcombe, where he was seen and heard again up to the time of our departure, 10am. A successful, and good morning, especially for all those retraps we caught today!

Making my way into the Village I undertook some washing of Bird Obs bags, met with a new researcher on the island, Jayden, who is looking into the temperatures of the cliffs where our colony/cliff nesting species are currently holding territory, and helped Lucile with a brood of House Sparrows that needed some assistance. There was one fledged Starling today, though crashing into the Vestry was never the best idea and so we popped it in the closest nest of similar size young, an adopted family.

An evening of chill and relaxing is the plan tonight.  

By Greg Lee

Moths again to start the morning and I was joined by Chloe and Emma to take a gander at the goodies. With the colder breeze, it wasn’t as busy as the previous night but there were still some new moths for the year such as Yellow Belle, Shoulder-striped Wainscot and Ruby Tiger. Migrant totals were lower than expected but the westerly breeze may have pushed them further towards the mainland.

Chloe, Emma and a Cream-spot Tiger

Next, after some needed coffee, it was census, where I reported a low number of arrivals, although two Spotted Flycatchers and a Reed Warbler were in Millcombe. Of course, the Golden Oriole made an appearance, though this time, perched up quite nicely in the big trees allowing for my best photos, despite the number of times I’ve seen these birds this month. Near the Quarries, a pair of Blue-tailed Damselflies were my first for the year. Once finished, it was time to make use of the sun and grabbed our new pheromone lure to head to Pilot’s Quay, where I was joined by Emma. Sitting at the platform of Thrift at Pilot’s Quay, we put the lure down and were immediately set upon by Thrift Clearwings with 10+ surrounding us. Being the smallest UK clearwing species, it was quite amazing to see so many around the place.

Golden Oriole by Greg Lee

Thrift Clearwing by Greg Lee

Later on, I joined Thomas to check the last brood of Starlings near the Vehicle shed, unfortunately, the cavity was quite deep but mercifully two birds jumped into the hands of Thomas, allowing for them both to be ringed.

The main excitement was to come later in the night though. Early last week, on a late-night walk over Ackland’s Moor, I heard a strange, repetitive noise coming from Quarter Wall direction, but on the wind, I couldn’t tell what distance it was and I didn’t investigate further. However, the LFS also heard this noise too on a different night and took a recording. Initially, we thought it may be a Water Rail or even a Moorhen, but something didn’t quite add up. So, last night, Thomas had a listen and expressed his belief that it was certainly not a Water Rail. Then, the penny dropped, the sound appeared to match the call of a female Corncrake! So, I went out to listen with my shotgun microphone in hand. Within just walking up the track on the still night, I could hear the sound blasting way further ahead, a consistent and distinctive noise. It immediately was obvious, it was very crake-like, with the sound continuous for the whole duration of the stakeout. Taking some recordings, I then headed closer to Quarter Wall, with Brick Field having a fantastic area of juncus and lush vegetation, the perfect amount for a Crake. Fortunately, I brought my thermal imager too, which would prove to be useful. Once activated, I had a look at the field, eventually walking the wall. I then picked out a small thermal spike in the vegetation which obviously was the head of the Crake, where it was stood calling proudly from its spot and rotating its head to project its call. Once having collected sufficient recordings, I headed back to the Village. This is the first live record of a Corncrake on Lundy since 2004, with remains of two dead birds being found in the autumns of 2006 and 2011.