Bird Sightings

By Thomas Weston

Another breezy day from the east, though clearing to become another sunny day before some cloud and threatening weather arrived in the evening.

Bearded House Sparrow in the Village by Thomas Weston

I started census this morning with a bearded House Sparrow and a soundscape full of birds. The ‘residents’ were in full song with Robins, Dunnocks, Wrens, and our Song Thrush, all in fine voice. The migrants were also rather active too with Whitethroat, Chiffchaff, and Willow Warbler in full voice across the Millcombe area. Our finches have started nest building now and will soon be sat on eggs, so numbers of Linnets, Goldfinches and Chaffinches were down on previous days. A surprise Sedge Warbler in front of Government House was the best from the top, whilst a few Shags and the usual mix of gulls at the Landing Bay was the best from the bottom of Millcombe.

Walking to Benjamin’s Chair was breezy and a little chill in the air. A Whimbrel spiralled over the Church before drifting NE was apparently flushed near Quarter Wall on the main track. The Razorbills off the Chair were showing nicely and a passing Gannet was the best out to sea. Along the cliffs, our pair of Wheatears were singing whilst the 2^nd calander year Peregrine spent the whole duration flushing gulls and harassing the fledged Raven family – one of three successfully fledged broods this year so far! There was a more predominate chill now, which halted the Skylark and Meadow Pipit activity, though they too are nesting now so activity is a lot lower than a month ago.

The Lighthouse Fields and the Airfield were rather quiet; butterflies were found on the ground keeping warm and a few odd Chiffchaffs, plus some singing Wrens were the highlight. Large flocks of Herring Gulls and Lesser Black-Backed Gulls are now roosting in High Street Field, so they required some extra scrutiny in case anything else was hidden in amongst them. The Quarter Wall/Belle Vue Cottages were not massively active today though a Whitethroat male in the brambles was nice, and a few Swallows headed North past this spot. Brick, Tillage and Barton Fields remained quiet in the breeze – the Channel Wagtail was the best bird in these areas.

Male Kestrel in the Village by Thomas Weston

An afternoon of admin was good. A quick break saw our male Kestrel on the Church. However, our Manx Shearwater box checks went really well – we now have an increase in the number of pairs breeding since last week, and we even got to see a feeding frenzy of seabirds under impressive crepuscular clouds – mainly Herring Gulls, Lesser Black-backed Gulls, Great Black-backed Gulls, Shags, Kittiwakes and Manx Shearwaters offshore. Without seeing any signs of cetaceans to begin with, it is highly likely something was under the water causing fish to rise to the surface. Greg did however spot some distant Dolphins, and we recorded a Rock Pipit singing too – very nice, whilst visiting bird researchers in Millcombe saw a Golden Oriole who has been around for four days now!

By Emma Abel

The day started out grey and wet, and yet an Osprey had already been spotted before I even had my breakfast! It was heading North along the East coast, being chased off by all the gulls in the area.

Over on the West I headed out to Aztec to monitor Guillemots and Kittiwakes. It was good to see birds back on the cliffs and looking more settled. Kittiwakes were gathering nesting material from the grassy slopes together and some pairs have made good progress in constructing their nests on the precarious cliff shelves. Guillemots were also back in highest numbers I have seen at Aztec, with 323 in my plot (compared to a big fat zero last week!). My monitoring was accompanied by the soundtrack of singing Grey Seals, as there were three hauled out in a cave with their mournful calls echoing around the bay.

Aztec Bay by Emma Abel

Then just as the sun emerged, I headed to Jenny's Cove for a warm afternoon of seabird station and chatting to visitors. I met up with Greg to walk back and two minutes later we saw a female Black Redstart flitting around the rocks. She was very fidgety, not sitting still for long periods and hiding behind every rock between us and her, but it did mean we got a nice show of her beautiful rufous tail feathers. As we continued our walk back we saw many Painted Lady butterflies with the total over the island reaching 30 for today.

Female Black Redstart by Emma Abel

In other Bird News, Greg spotted Sunday's Golden Oriole which is hanging around and popping up in various locations around the island. Another returning rarity was the Tufted Duck that was diving on Pondsbury again today. A male Whinchat and a Redstart were also highlights hiding in the Heather. Four showy Golden Plovers were also in Barton Field. On the insect front, at least two Green Tiger Beetles and 38 Painted Ladies were counted. 

Golden Plover by Greg Lee

by Greg Lee

Census again this morning, but this time with less of a threat of rain but instead a low hanging fog making observations a bit more challenging. The Cuckoo was again present in Millcombe and even started singing, the first one I had heard sing this year. There appeared to be a few Sedge Warblers around and the Garden Warbler was bubbling away in the Secret Garden with two Spotted Flycatchers in close proximity. At the Quarries, a female flavissima Yellow Wagtail was amongst the ponies, occasionally vocalising. Back in the village, the sight of two Feral Pigeons enjoying the seed provided by the Sparrow project caused some amusement, although the two researchers didn’t quite share the cheer. That being said, a Garden Warbler also caught in the sparrow nets was a bit of a bonus.

Garden Warbler by Thomas Weston

After census, the Conservation Team had a quick meetup including new Volunteer Maddie Kirby who joins us for this month helping out with Observatory tasks. We have a busy couple of months so watch this space! 

Conservation Team 2026 (L-R) Eleanor, Thomas, Tara, Emma, Greg, Maddie, Tolly, Roger and Simon

Other observers had a successful morning with the Golden Oriole being relocated by one observer near Quarter Wall Copse. Then, they managed to pull out a very nice island-rarity in the form of a Tufted Duck at Pondsbury and a nice drake at that. Only the 28^th record for the island for this diving duck species. Later on, a male Pied Flycatcher was in Millcombe Pines, three Whimbrels on the West Coast, two Dunlins over Middle Park and a Firecrest above Quarry Beach. However, bird of the day was again an evening discovery with a mixed flock of Yellow Wagtails including our now familiar Channel male, the British female, a female Blue-headed Wagtail and a very smart Grey-headed Wagtail, the latter just the 8^th record for Lundy.

Tufted Duck by Neil Barnes

Grey-headed Wagtail by Thomas Weston

Interesting flags flying on May 4th....

By Greg Lee

A close feeling in the air on census this morning was my first impression of the day with a rolling band of rain clearly threatening on the horizon. A Cuckoo singing in Millcombe and St Helen’s Copse was a nice surprise, though I was unsure if this was the bird I had photographed the previous day. A Garden Warbler singing too could feasibly have been the same bird, but a charming female Redstart was new in as she worked her way up the valley. By the time I had reached the Rocket Pole area, the fog and rain had descended, and this section of census was quiet and very damp, though the island was very much in need of some good rainfall. At Pointless Wall, a few Willow Warblers were hiding in the Gorse bushes but as I approached Quarter Wall gate, I spied a very soggy-looking Whitethroat, that clearly wasn’t a big fan of the rain either but was still feeding along the wall. Another five were also working the scrub along Quarter Wall, with a Sedge Warbler also in the general area. As I headed back to the Village, things started to clear and I was surprised to see two Spotted Flycatchers along the Wall, with another three on the various fencelines along the East, indicating that they may have just arrived with the rain. As I started to encounter other warblers in the village I pondered whether a mid-morning arrival was about to occur, with a British flavissima Yellow Wagtail feeding up on the floor. Two Whimbrels associating with the gull flock near Barton Field were also bonuses to the census and seemed to be quite happy in the area.

A rather soggy Whitethroat by Greg Lee

Whilst the birds were arriving, we also welcomed a boatload of Devon Bird Club members onto the island, who immediately set about birding the various corners and hotspots. With so much coverage, it seemed inevitable that something would turn up. Since I had a KP shift in the evening, I decided to take it easy after lunch and spend some time back in the Lodge. Since I don’t appear to get mobile signal at all in the Lodge, I said to Emma (who does get mobile signal at the Lodge) if a message came through about anything that seemed unusual, she had permission to knock/pound/kick down my door. Within five minutes of me going into my room, I heard the door to the accommodation swinging open and rapid footsteps approaching my door with Emma exclaiming that an alert had just gone out of a Golden Oriole found along the fenceline in the field behind the church! So, with optics and camera armed we rushed out to the area where a small crowd of appreciative birders were gathered including Tara and Lundy Island cargo co-ordinator Steve. The bird was showing very well, particularly for a species that is more than adept at hiding in the canopy of mature trees, even the luminous adult males, and on Lundy, often favours hiding in Millcombe or one of the East Side Copses.

Golden Oriole by Greg Lee

Golden Oriole meets Goldfinches by Greg Lee

Elsewhere around the island, another two Whinchats and Tree Pipits were discovered, and commoner migrant totals included 13 Spotted Flycatchers, 20 Whitethroats and 13 Sedge Warblers. Late evening, with low cloud and forming and a late moon rise, it was decided that conditions were sufficient enough for some night-catching, with two Meadow Pipits caught. However, the whole time it was clear that there had been a big return of Manx Shearwaters with a cacophony of noise all around the island. Perhaps unsurprising as late evening, large rafts of approximately 2500 birds were seen on the flat waters off the Tavern by staff. With a small team over the two hours, 44 birds were processed, with a few new birds and several subsequent encounters.