Bird Sightings

A bit of raptor movement has been the highlight of the past three days, on top of an ever growing hirundine passage.

One Sparrowhawk was seen on both the 24th and 25th, both sightings around Millcombe and the Landing Bay. These were the first seen since the 26th of March! A maximum of 4 different Kestrel were seen across the Island throughout the past three days, one Merlin was spotted chasing past the Earthquake on the 26th, and on each day 5 Peregrine Falcon were seen.

The unwavering efforts of visiting birder Paul Holt, with his clicker and thumb combo, produced some stupendous hirundine counts. The largest counts for both Sand Martin (153 birds) and House Martin (172 birds) were gained on the 26th, Paul counting 139 of the former and 145 of the latter, both from 1015-1215hrs. On both the 24th an 26th c.950 Barn Swallow passed over the Island, and on the 25th we had the best count for the year, again Paul putting in an incredible survey with 1,260 at the North End from 1230-1600hrs. Thank you Paul!

Common Swift are finally passing through in more reasonable numbers, with 8 on 25th and 7 on 26th. It is so good to see their characteristic flight amongst other migrants once again.

Wader movements are still a feature of each day, and night too! A single Snipe (first since the 19th), Dunlin and Ringed Plover (first since the 12th) were heard in flight over Ackland's Moor during a nocturnal survey on the night of the 24th. A Ringed Plover was also seen during the day on the 26th on the main track near Pondsbury. Another Dunlin was heard on census on the 26th too. Passing Whimbrel continue to grace the Island, with 4 on the 25th and 6 on the 26th! One visitor caught a beautiful photo of three Common Sandpiper flying over Pondsbury on the 25th.

Common Sandpiper flying over Pondsbury, April 25. C MacDonald.

The total count of Guillemot around the Island on 24th was a tremendous 2747, with 2700 being seen at Jenny's Cove, this being the biggest count at Jenny's Cove for the year! The 24th also produced some great Razorbill and Puffin counts, 494 and 225. On the night of the 25th, the Bird Observatory team worked hard into the early hours of the next morning and successfully caught 123 Manx Shearwater. This consisted of 63 retraps, including one bird that was ringed in 2007 and could therefore very possibly be around 20 years old!

A Cormorant flew north over the Village on the 24th, and on the 25th good coverage of both the East and West Sidelands found the biggest count of Shag for the year with 59 birds.

Carrion Crow number have crept up recently and we saw 22 on the 25th followed by 26 on the 26th. Sadly no sightings of the recent Hooded Crow confirm our suspicions that the bird has indeed departed the Island.

Stonechat pairs are frequently being seen with nesting material. Another interesting observation that continues to baffle the team is a male Stonechat in lower Millcombe who appears to have incorporated the call of Common Sandpiper into his song. Very confusing, especially when he sings from on top of The Ugly! A Starling continues the train, heard mimicking Stonechat calls at Old Light on the 24th!

On the warbler front, the first confirmed Wood Warbler of the year, a lovely bright individual, was seen in Millcombe on 24th. A Reed Warbler was also in Millcombe, this on the 25th and heard by a visiting ringer. Other highlights from the ringing sessions include a Lesser Whitethroat and a control Sedge Warbler bearing a French ring! More lovely findings from Millcombe include a female Common Redstart and a Siskin heard in flight, the first record since the 9th.

A French control Sedge Warbler caught in Millcombe, April 25. F Turner.

The moth trap was run in Millcombe again on the night of the 23rd and produced 7 moths of 5 species when opened on the morning of the 24th: 3 Marbled Coronet, 1 Brimstone, 1 Bright-line Brown-eye, 1 Early Thorn and 1 Twin-spot Carpet sp.

Over the past two days, we have seen a wonderful increase in the seabirds piling onto the Island's cliff and slopes. Seabird surveys have produced super counts of Kittiwake in Jenny's Cove and Aztec Bay in particular, with 172 seen on the 22nd and 149 on the 23rd. 2566 Guillimot were counted on the cliffs at Jenny's Cove on the 22nd, all bar 116 of these crowding on the ledges! Also on the 22nd, 699 Razorbill were seen, thanks to brilliant Island coverage from Benjamin's Chair to the North Light. Puffin numbers are gradually increasing, with a count of 268 on the 22nd, 134 of these on land at Jenny's Cove. Some very muddy individuals have clearly been busy excavating their earthy burrows! The biggest Fulmar count of the year appeared on the 23rd, this a total of 134 birds, 87 of which were on the Gannet's Rock colony. The Bird Observatory team have enjoyed watching courtiship behaviour between seabird pairs at their nests, such as gentle preening and billing rituals.

First Manx Shearwater Egg of the year, 22 April. J ParkerDuring a check of the Manx Shearwater nest boxes at the Old Light Colony on the 22nd, the first egg of the season was found! In addition to this, a fantastic effort was put into catching Manx Shearwater that night, and into the early hours of the next morning! The team processed 111 birds, 67 of which were retraps, the three oldest originally ringed as adults between 2010 and 2012.

The wader passage theme continues with another 4 Whimbrel sighted on the 22nd, matching the count on the 21st. The largest Oystercatcher count of the year has reached 30 individuals, this on the 23rd.

Whimbrel in flight, 22 April. P Holt

Another big Swallow passage day arrived on the 23rd. Thanks to timed counts by visiting birders, 925 were recorded in total, the 2nd biggest count of the year! Willow Warbler and Chiffchaff are still not quite piling into the Island in as high numbers as expected for this season, so we are anticipating a big push any day now. Sedge Warbler are slowly increasing, with 7 ringed in Millcombe on the 22nd. A cheerful sound about Millcombe both mornings has been supplied by reeling Grasshopper Warbler.

Spots of exciting migrants include a single Yellow Wagtail at Quarter Wall Copse on the 22nd, one Redwing heard in flight Millcombe on the 23rd (the first since the 14th), and two more Greenland Wheatear candidates on the Airfield on the 23rd. Sightings of the Hooded Crow were noted again on both days. The evening roosts of Linnet around the Tavern were counted at around 40 birds on both evenings and are such a beautiful sight in the warm, dimming sun.

Finally having a rain-free, warm, moonless night on 21st, we were able to put out the moth trap in Millcombe. This reaped a small but lovely catch (on the morning of the 22nd) of 10 moths of 6 species. Early Grey, Early Thorn, Angle Shades, Marbled Coronet, Clouded Drab, Brown Silver-lines. Small numbers of Red Admiral and Large White butterflies are being spotted Island wide.

This past week of decent island coverage has produced a notable increase in breeding behaviour and pulses of passage migrants.

Brief encounters of various wader species have been a highlight, including a Northern Lapwing spotted flying west while ringing Goldfinch in the Lodge Garden, a single Golden Plover on the 17th and 19th, sightings of single Whimbrel on the 17th, 18th, 20th and 21st, one Common Sandpiper in Landing Bay on the 19th, Common Snipe in small numbers around Pondsbury and Quarter Wall, and a stunning Dunlin nearly in full summer plumage on the 20th, seeming to hesitate at the North End before imminent departure northwards.

Some well-needed rain along with gusty winds buffeting along the western slopes provided the perfect conditions for some decent night time Manx Shearwater catches. We had two very good sessions, catching just under 100 birds in each, and gained incredible retrap data, such as birds ringed here on Lundy in 2009 and 2010! Other seabird news from the cliffs around the Island includes Guillemot piling endlessly onto their ledges, Puffin busily gathering up tufts of dry grass to nestle into their burrows, and observations of copulation in both Guillemot and Razorbill. Shag have also been hard at work, many seen transporting large piles of vegetation to their developing nests around the Island. Between the 17th and 19th, a run of summer plumage Cormorant have been sighted. A single Mediterranean Gull was seen on the 20th, far out from the North End amongst Kittiwake while a pod of c.50 Common Dolphin breached below.

In terms of raptors, an exciting find was a fleeting Hobby on the 19th. Dashing after passerines before moving north, this was the first for the year. Merlin have been seen again on both the 20th and 21st. We have also had some nice corvid sightings, with a Rook on the 20th being the first since the 5th, and a long-staying Hooded Crow being seen daily in the southern fields since the 16th, often pushed about by the resident groups of Carrion Crow.

Our biggest hirundine passage this year came about on the 17th, with 1082 birds (a mix of Swallow, House Martin and Sand Martin) counted on the 17th. However, it is good to note that this is certainly an undercount, with a very useful 1hr count from 1230hrs conducted from the North End producing 634 birds within this time alone! Passage warblers have been appearing in small pulses. A steady Blackcap movement peaked at 42 ringed in Millcombe on the 17th, 3 Sedge Warbler were ringed on the 17th, 2 on the 20th and others heard singing in the valley, Grasshopper Warbler were heard reeling in Millcombe and St John's Valley on the 16th, 17th and 19th, along with small numbers ringed, single Lesser Whitethroat sightings on the 16th, 17th and 20th, and a predation event of a Common Whitethroat in Middle Park (presumed to be the work of a hungry Kestrel) coincided with a mini arrival of 7 around the Island on the 20th.

Grasshopper Warbler in the hand, 21 Apr. Paul Holt

There have been few other nice movements to note about the Island this week. The Pondsbury Teal count peaked at 2 pairs. Daily Stock Dove sightings, centralised around Barton's Field, were recorded, and a second individual added to this on the 20th. A single Collared Dove in the Village on the 16th. A maximum count of 32 Goldfinch, also in the Village, was wonderful to see, and ever-growing flocks of Linnet have been an enjoyable highlight of the sunny evenings as the migrants gather up in flocks for roost. Bullfinch in Millcombe peaked at 2 males and 1 female on the 17th and have been logged daily since. A single Goldcrest at St Helen's Copse on the 19th was the first since the 11th. After a busy early spring passage of Ring Ouzel sightings are now slowing, with the 3 logged on the 16th much lower than the 7 on the 12th. Interestingly, this higher number in fact equalled the highest spring count of the 21st Century, matching the count on the 8th April 2015; it did not quite however reach the heights of the 23 seen on the 7th April 1966! Singles were also seen on the 17th and 20th. One Spotted Flycatcher, the first  observation of the year, was seen on 16th at Quarter Wall Copse. A second for the year was female Whinchat along the Lower Eastside Path on the 20th. A female Common Redstart was spotted at the Quarries on the 19th, frustratingly inside the Heligoland trap but not caught! Single Tree Pipits were noted over the Lodge on the 18th and 19th. And finally, the Wheatear passage continues, with a few Greenland candidates appearing here and there.

A Hawfinch graced Millcombe on 12th, followed by a male and female Bullfinch the next day. Goldfinch passage resulted in 30 logged on 12th, supported by news of a recent North Devon ringing recovery. A Sedge Warbler ringed on 12th was quickly followed by the first Reed and Grasshopper Warbler records the following day. Blackcap continue to dominate on the passerine front, with 49 and 29 individuals logged respectively over the two days. Two Common Whitethroat were seen in Millcombe on the 12th, including a singing bird at the top of the valley. A small arrival of Ring Ouzel enjoyed up to seven birds across the east and west coasts while a Black Redstart frequented the North End on 13th and light hirundine passage trickling through day. 

The Stock Dove and Collared Dove continue there stay around St Helen's Field and the Village. A single Teal pair reside at Pondsbury while Jenny's Cove featured 148 Kittiwake on the sea and another on 65 ledges on 13th. The Ringed Plover was still present at South West Point on 12th, but no further sign since. East coast boasted a Common Sandpiper on 12th, followed by a Great Northern Diver off the Terrace and 5 Cormorant high across the Landing Bay on 13th.

Reeling Grashopper Warbler, 13 Apr. N Barnes