Lundy Bird Observatory - Recent sightings

House Sparrow in the Village © Thomas Weston

By Thomas Weston

Census was a success, even in strong east winds. The Tims were one of the first seen people whilst Eleanor and I walked into Millcombe. Migrant wise, a single House Martin, 7 Swallows, 2 Sand Martins, 2 Common Redstarts – one in Millcombe and one at Benjamin’s Chair, 4 Willow Warblers, a Chiffchaff, single Blackcap, 3 ‘Greenland’ Wheatear, 3 nominate Wheatear, and a Cormorant passed by and were recorded. The wind was tough going but we found nice flocks of Linnets, Goldfinches, and the ‘normal’ pair of Chaffinches all in and around the area. A Manx Shearwater, Kittiwake, and feeding parties of Herring Gulls and Lesser-Black Backed Gulls were noted. However, the most unusual species was a Rock Pipit, a species we have been a bit concerned about due its absence around the island during census, or on walks. The only pic was this House Sparrow in the wind.

We let the wind die down and went to check the Manx Shearwater boxes on the West Coast. We checked all boxes and discovered a new bird for the year, a bird carrying a GLS tag which is super exciting. We also heard a possible Dotterel flying around, but unfortunately, we could not see the bird, as well as 2 Swifts on our way back.

Common Redstart at Dead Cow Point © Thomas Weston

After some admin tasks, I went to show Greg the Seabird Station and the Puffin Survey Site. We could not find any waders along the west, but we found a new male Common Redstart, a Willow Warbler, a Chiffchaff, and a Whitethroat, and a range of nominate and Greenland Wheatears. The best came in the form of a pod of Common Dolphins and a couple of very close Harbour Porpoise both attracting Gannets, Manx Shearwater and even a few Puffins.

A successful day!

By Emma Abel

Osprey over the Airfield © Thomas Weston

Today Lundy was hit by strong easterly winds bringing some exciting visitors to the island. An Osprey was seen flying over the Airfield towards the Village and then again along the North West coast heading in the direction of North Light.

Marsh Harrier male over the Airfield © Thomas Weston

A couple of minutes behind the Osprey, a young male Marsh Harrier was spotted over Pondsbury and flying north-west off North Light an hour later.

Blue Tit in Millcombe © Tim Jones

Not everyone left in a hurry, a Cuckoo was seen hanging around in Tillage Field most of the day. And a Blue Tit was near Brambles and later in Upper Millcombe, close to the start of the Upper East Path – the first spring record since 2015!

A Lesser Whitethroat and a female Common Redstart were also seen in the morning.

Black Redstart male at North Light © Tim Jones

North Light was a great spot for sightings too, including a Sandwich Tern heading east offshore, and a female Common Redstart and male Black Redstart feeding on the sunny, sheltered, west-facing sidelands.

On the other hand, the cliffs were very quiet today. I did my Puffin census and there were only about 9 Puffins popping in and out of burrows and a maximum of 8 Guillemots huddling together. Most auks were rafting far out to sea, away from the windy cliffs.

By Tara McEvoy-Wilding

An early start this morning to check the moth trap! We got a total of 28 moths including; 1 Angle Shades, 5 Marbled Coronet, 8 Common Quaker, 5 Brown Silver Lines, 7 Early Grey, 1 Silver Y and 1 Oak Tree Pug.

Marbled Coronets looking fresh! Photo by Emma Abel

I spent the morning in the office until midday when we set off on a whole island seal survey for the Seal Research Trust’s Spring seal census. We split the island into 5 sections and walked along the coast path looking for seals hauled out on the rocks and swimming in the sea. I had the southeast section, which had a grand total of….. 0 seals! This was most likely due to the strong easterly winds! Others had more success and 82 seals were recorded in total. However, this is significantly less than the 184 that were spotted at this time in 2025.

No seals on the south east!

Although the seals didn’t like the easterly winds, the migrating birds didn’t seem to mind them! The Terrace was busy with 6 Willow Warblers, 5 Chiffchaff, 5 Blackcap, 3 Whitethroat and a Garden Warbler in the Willow trees. Millcombe was also busy with Sedge Warbler, a male Pied Flycatcher and a Spotted Flycatcher sighted.

Pied Flycatcher Photo taken by Greg Lee

Other exciting sightings included a Yellow Wagtail flying past the Tavern toilets, a Ringed Plover in Middle Park, 1 Jackdaw in Tillage field and a Collared Dove on Quarters' roof! Lots of Wheatears arrived today, causing chaos on the west coast as they bothered the birds that had already arrived and set up their territories.

Wheatear photo taken by Greg Lee

In the late afternoon I went to check the Manx Shearwater boxes on the west coast. All were unoccupied apart from one box which contained a bird sat on an egg! The first of the season! In the evening, bats were spotted flying around the village. Simon got out his bat detector and identified them as Common Pipistrelles! Overall a busy day with lots of wildlife action!

By Anna Helberg

Today was the first day of the 2026 Lundy Field Society (LFS) conservation working parties on the island.

After Roger had given us a short overview over the tasks for the day, we grabbed spades and our packed lunch and headed down Millcombe Valley towards the Lower East Side Path. We met Greg and got briefly distracted by his update about the bird ringing he was doing with Chris Dee down in Millcombe.

It was hard to tear ourselves away but the Rhododendron was waiting for us. We all lined up, up and down the slope, roughly two meters apart, and started walking slowly towards the North. A Rhododendron is easily missed between all the bracken and brambles so we made sure that we stayed close together to minimise the risk of not seeing what we were looking for. It's no easy task but everybody was very committed. Every "Rhodi!" find was celebrated, with several people coming to help dig it out and – of course – a winner's photo of the lucky finder with the Rhododendron plant as a trophy. The soil was then removed from the roots and the plant was left upside-down for the roots to dry so nothing grows back. A technique that has proven successful over the years.

We made good progress thanks to the highly motivated team and could even allow ourselves the luxury of a second-breakfast-break at our halfway point – all the while enjoying the view, the weather and Lundy's wildlife: from butterflies to bumblebees, from seals to birds, every sighting was announced and appreciated. The beginning of the Lundy Quarry Railway Path marked the end of our Rhododendron quest for the day and after having finished lunch with lots of shared life stories, travel tips and laughter as an add-on we headed back to the village to swap tools: Spanish Bluebells, an invasive species on the island, and path upgrades in Millcombe Valley were supposed to have our full attention in the afternoon.

We split up in several groups, each tackling either a patch of Spanish Bluebells or a stretch of the path - digging, pulling, clearing gullies, levelling, widening. Again thanks to the great work of the whole LFS team we made good progress and came back to the village earlier than expected, treating ourselves to ice cream from the shop and/or a shower.

Sidenote: A huge shout-out to the LFS team: you were absolutely amazing! Good job and thank you for making the day so easy for Roger and me.

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Bird Sightings

22/04/2026 – A real taste of drift migration

21/04/2026 – Blustery Easterlies

20/04/26 – Moths, Manxies and Migration

19/04/26 – LFS Week

Bird sightings archive