Bird Sightings

May on Lundy started with quite a surprise visitor to the East Coast! At 14.24hrs on the 1st, an Eastern Subalpine Warbler was spotted foraging in the brambles just south of the Terrace Heligoland Trap. The bird was continually noted amongst flycatchers and an array of other warblers in the nearby willows until 16.08hrs when it was last seen. Richard Campey saw the bird again on the 2nd, this time in Millcombe in the late afternoon, however it vanished again and hasn't been noted since. St Helen's Copse also came up trumps with some lovely warblers on the 1st, including a Lesser Whitethroat and a Wood Warbler.

Eastern Subalpine Warbler, sculking in the brambles, May 1. R Campey.

Another photo of the beautiful Eastern Subalpine Warbler, May 1. R Campey.

A further surprise, or perhaps more apt Lundy weather than the glorious sunshine we've recently been blessed with, was a thick blanket of fog shrouding the Island on the morning of the 2nd. This led to some slightly lower census counts than usual, with birds having to be prodominently recognised by sound alone! As the fog finally lifted in the afternoon, an incredible sight of 200+ Common Dolphin in 13 pods was seen off the North End. The day before, from the incoming Oldenburg, 7 Porpoise and 22 Common Dolphin were seen, in addition to a super count of 310 Manx Shearwater!

The first Cuckoo of the year also joined us to welcome in May, this being seen by Halfway Wall on the 1st and at the Terraces on the 2nd. 

Our Whimbrel passage appears to be steady, one bird spotted on the 1st and 3 on the 2nd. An evening kayak on the still waters around Landing Bay and Devil's Kitchen on the 1st inevitably turned into a wader survey, and we gained a good species count! 2 Dunlin, 1 Turnstone (first for the year, a male in gorgeous summer plumage), 3 pairs of Oystercatcher, 2 Common Sandpiper and the Whimbrel mentioned above. Another 2 Dunlin were also seen on the 1st, these around Kistvaen Pond, and 2 were spotted through the fog on the 2nd.

A Dunlin, peering through the fog, May 2. K Power.

Redstart sightings have been a lovely highlight of the past two days. A male Common Redstart was on the Terraces on the 1st, and a female at North Light on the 2nd. Both a male and female Black Redstart were seen near Belle View Ruins on the 1st, and just a female the next day. Flycatchers have also been a bit of a theme, with 10 Spotted Flycatcher noted on the 1st, 7 Pied Flycatcher on the 1st, and a further 2 Pied Flycatcher on the 2nd.

The 2 Blue-headed Wagtail were present again in Barton's field on both days. Having looked more closely at the ringed bird from photographs, we are getting suspicious that it may in fact be a Channel Wagtail, and possibly one of the chicks hatched here last year from a pair made up of a female Blue-headed and a male Yellow wagtail! We are continuing to investigate this...

A single Tree Pipit on the 1st and 2 on the 2nd were heard overhead. Whinchat also continue to be noted, with 3 on both days. Another constant is the Hooded Crow which continues to be seen with Carrion Crow among the southern fields. Swift continue to pass through in small numbers, 4 dashing by on the 2nd.

A female Mallard was seen with 9 young in the Village Beer Garden, the first brood seen this year! Other breeding activity of note includes several pairs of Linnet seen nest building, 2 Stonechat pairs carrying food, and a Blackbird pair, also carrying food - described, by one visiting birder, as having a beak so full of grubs it looked unlikely the bird would be able to take off! To help out our breeding seabirds, the Conservation Team assisted some visiting RSPB researchers with the installation of some new Storm Petrel boxes. We'll be monitoring these over the next few months and we hope to bring you some good news of successful breeding!

Storm Petrel nest box installation! May 2. F Turner.

On the 29th of April 2025, a first for Lundy appeared over the Island... First spotted by Jimmy Hair at 1201hrs, a puzzling raptor flying over Barton's Field was eventually identified, with great excitement, as Booted Eagle! The unbelievable bird was observed throughout the afternoon, thermalling over the Village, Barton's Field and the Castle until 1700hrs, harassed repeatedly by Peregrine Falcon and Kestrel all the while. The big question on everyone's mind was "will it roost??!" The eagle appeared very reluctant to leave the Island, despite what seemed to be several attempts to fly southwards. Unbelievably, the bird did in fact remain on the Island overnight (though the roosting location was never discovered) and was spotted, again first by Jimmy, just S of Quarry Pond at 0935hrs, and not long after by Bird Obs Warden Joe Parker from his bedroom window! The bird was last observed aroun 1200hrs, presumed to have departed Lundy once the morning sea mist had cleared. 

Booted Eagle over the Village, 29 Apr. J Parker

Another Booted Eagle flight shot, 29 Apr. J Parker

Before the excitement of the eagle, a female Golden Oriole was seen in Millcombe during census on the 29th by volunteer Assistant Bird Obs Warden Flo Turner at 0841hrs. This was observed later in the morning by others in the conservation team as it flew up the valley, but not noted again in the afternoon.

The yellow theme of the 29th continued, with 4 Blue-headed Wagtail and 3 Yellow Wagtail seen in Barton's Field and Highstreet Field. 2 White Wagtail were also about in Barton's. One Blue-headed Wagtail was seen again in Barton's Field on the 30th. Lundy Cabbage has started to come into flower in Millcombe too, another cheerful yellow sight!

If things couldn't get any better, on the 30th, Assistant Bird Obs Warden Ezra Sherwell located a stunning male Woodchat Shrike at 1320hrs, just S of Quarry Cottages. It was seen well throughout the afternoon, enjoying several tasty beetles on the gorse. A male Black Redstart was also a nice spot, lingering about Belle Vue ruins throught the afternoon. Quarter Wall was the place to be it would seem, as a male and female Whinchat were also recorded!

A sprinkling of waders were also about the Island on the 29th, with 2 Whimbrel, one Dunlin and 2 Common Sandpiper seen. On the 30th, 5 Common Sandpiper were spotted, matching the month's high count. 4 flew up from a wet flush near Halfway Wall West, and one was spotted from the back of a Landy in Landing Bay!

In contrast to all the wonderful sightings of the day, the 29th was sadly the first day since the 18th where no Sand Martin were recorded. However, the 1st Spotted Flycatcher of the year were found on the 29th, with 2 in Millcombe, one of which was ringed alongside a lovely female Pied Flycatcher. A new Hooded Crow was seen in Brick Field on the morning of the 30th, however this was not spotted again. A single Collared Dove was found right at the top of the South Light headland at 1900hrs, looking a little confused before flying towards Millcombe.

Numbers of Red Admiral butterflies appear to be steadily rising, with c.20 seen about the Island on the 30th. Another intriguing lepitopteran encounter was an Emperor Moth being predated by a Stonechat near Quarry Pond.

What a fantastic couple of days on Lundy!

On the 27th, the Conservation Team undertook a whole Island survey of the seals on land and at sea around Lundy's coastline. The census was a great success and we ended up on a total of 181 Grey Seal, the majority found along the Eastern coastline. Thanks to such great coverage, we gained high counts of several bird species...
Grey Seal sleeping in the sun, counted on the Seal Census, April 27. A Homersham

12 Mallard (highest count for the year), 27 Oystercatcher, 250 Kittiwake, 27 Great Black-backed Gull (highest for the month), 480 Herring Gull (highest of the month), 79 Lesser Black-backed Gull, 2462 Guillemot, 384 Razorbill, 106 Puffin, 132 Fulmar, 71 Shag (a new highest for the year), 45 Skylark (highest for the year), 29 Wren, 86 Wheatear (highest for the year), and lastly a usually very under-observed species, 17 Rock Pipit (highest for the month).

Good counts of Manx Shearwater were recorded over the past two days, with 48 seen off the NW Point on the 27th, and 47 offshore on the SE on the 28th. Much time has been spent observing the beautiful flight action of the shearwater in the dimming afternoon light of the warm days we've been having.

Our wader luck continues. One Ringed Plover was noted at Belle Vue ruins on the 27th, 2 Whimbrel were found on both days, and volunteer Assistant Bird Obs Warden Ezra Sherwell located the second Green Sandpiper for the year, hearing it calling along Beach Road on the 28th.

Hirundine counts were high on the 27th, with 153 Sand Martin (highest for the year), 964 Swallow and 172 House Martin (another highest for the year)! One Swift was seen on the 27th.

Other highlights include a Goldcrest (first since the 19th) in Millcombe and two Tree Pipit over Barton's Field on the 27th, a Sparrowhawk recorded flying over Millcombe by visiting ringers on the 28th, and a high count of 13 Raven, also on the 28th, including one bird carrying a gull egg. We are repeatedly noting this behaviour, with eggs of an increasing number of species being recorded.

While Millcombe bird ringing counts were low on the 27th, things picked up a bit on the 28th, with some nice warbler ringing completed: 9 Sedge Warbler, 5 Chiffchaff, 8 Willow Warbler, 1 Grasshopper Warbler, and 7 Blackcap, including 1 female control, originally ringed in Helgoland Germany! 1 Garden Warbler was seen in Millcombe on 27th, the first confirmed sighting of the year, a lovely sight indicating at the steadily increasing passage of migrating warblers.

A few other wildlife encounters to note include 5 Oak Eggar caterpillars about Castle Hill, a couple of small Common Dolphin pods off Mouse Island and Long Roost, and 3 more Emperor Moths, all on the 27th.Common Dolphin and Manx Shearwater, viewed from the departing Oldenburg, April 26. P Holt.

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.