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Earliest and latest since 2006 (last year covered in full by The Birds of Lundy): Earliest 21 Apr 2016 (one); Latest 30 Aug 2013 (one, juv).
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2008 |
Summary of new records
26 Apr to 4 Jun – Single adults on eight dates, plus two mobbed by Meadow Pipits on 1 Jun. A juvenile was seen on 8 Aug – the first confirmation of breeding since 1999.
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2009 |
Summary of new records
23 Apr to 26 Jun – Single adults on eight dates, plus two adults on 4 May.
2 Jun – Successful breeding confirmed; juvenile being fed by Meadow Pipits near the Terrace Heligoland Trap.
25 & 26 Jun – A juvenile, perhaps the same as on 2 Jun, was seen in Millcombe; there was no indication that this bird was still being fed by its host parents.
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2010 |
Summary of new records
9 May to 11 Jun – Single adults on four dates, plus two on 11 & 12 May. No indication of breeding.
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2011 |
Summary of new records
3 to 30 May – Singles recorded on nine dates, plus two on 4th & 5th (including an exhausted female on the latter date). No indication of breeding.
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2012 |
Summary of new records
1 May to 13 Jun – Single adults on ten dates.
9 to 11 Jul – Breeding was confirmed for only the third time this century when a juvenile accompanied by its host parent, a Meadow Pipit, was seen at Tibbetts on 9th and below the Upper East Side Path between the stile in Halfway Wall and the northern end of the Terrace on 11th (R. Charlwood).
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2013 |
Summary of new records
16 May to 20 Jun – Adults recorded on nine dates.
23 Jul – One (age not given) reported at Halfway Wall.
30 Aug – A fully grown juvenile, thought more likely to be a passage migrant than a Lundy-hatched bird, below the Terrace.
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2014 |
Summary of new records
Apr to Jun: Two on 21 Apr (one calling at the Cheeses; one in North Quarry), one on 13 May (calling near Quarter Wall, in flight over Millcombe and at South End) and one on 20–22 Jun (Millcombe).
Jul/Aug: Singles were reported on 31 Jul and 21, 23 & 29 Aug.
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2015 |
Summary of new records
23 Apr to 16 Jun – There were spring and early summer records on 13 dates between 23 Apr (one calling and perched on gate post by Blue Bung) and 16 Jun. Most involved single birds, but two were in St Helen’s Copse on 30 Apr and there were two calling males (Millcombe/St John’s Valley area) on 15 & 16 Jun. Observation of plumage suggested that these were second-year birds.
24 Aug – The only autumn record, of a juvenile in Millcombe. It seems likely that this was a passage migrant fledged elsewhere.
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2016 |
Summary of new records
21 Apr to 20 Jun – Recorded on 11 dates from 21 Apr to 20 Jun, but there was no evidence of breeding. After one or two males in Millcombe on 21 Apr, there were no further reports until 30 May, when one or two were seen at different times north of St Helen’s Copse, above Benjamin’s Chair and in Millcombe. Single birds were seen daily for the next five days, up to and including 4 Jun, all in the vicinity of Millcombe. One was on the Terrace on 8 Jun, whilst the final three records of the year were on 13th, 18th and 20th Jun, when one flew from Millcombe to St Helen’s Copse, mobbed by Meadow Pipits and Carrion Crows.
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2017 |
Summary of new records
28 Apr to 24 Jul – Singles on 28–30 Apr, two on 5 May, one on 29 May and singles on 23 & 24 Jul were the only records in what appears to have been a very poor year for this species.
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2018 |
Summary of new records
21 May to 26 Jul – A male calling in Millcombe on 21 May was chased off by territorial Blackbirds (Dean Jones, Tony Taylor). A male calling in St Helen’s Copse on 27 May flew into Millcombe (Rob Andrew). On 6 Jun a female sitting on Quarter Wall and staking out Meadow Pipit nests in the rushes in the north-west corner of Brick Field was seen to fly down to the ground and possibly lay an egg, and what was thought probably to be a second female was at Threequarter Wall (Tim Davis & Tim Jones). One heard calling at the top of Millcombe on 1 Jul (John Hutchinson). One flew over Millcombe on 10 Jul. A rufous-phase female was around the quarries on 20 Jul, at Gannets’ Combe on 21st, in Millcombe on 22nd and on the Terrace on 26th (Tim Davis, Dean Jones, Warren Shipman).
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2019 |
Summary of new records
22 Apr to 11 Aug – In spring, recorded on 25 dates between 22 Apr and 16 Jun. An adult male heard calling outside the Tavern on 22 Apr was the first of the year. Two were flying together from upper Millcombe around to the East Side on 10 May. A male was by the Airfield and a probable female at Halfway Wall on 16 May. A juvenile was seen in Millcombe on 11 Aug but there is no evidence to suggest that it was a Lundy-bred bird.
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2020 |
Summary of new records
18 Apr to 23 Jul – Single birds were recorded on 16 dates, from 18 Apr (along the Terrace) to 23 Jul. Both males and females were seen in May, so it possible that breeding occurred. A juvenile was seen below the Ugly on 15 Jul but nothing hinted at it being a Lundy-reared individual as opposed to a dispersing/passage bird from the mainland.
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2021 |
Summary of new records
20 Apr to 24 Aug – Recorded on a total of 22 days. During spring and early summer, single birds were logged on 16 dates from 20 Apr (a calling male that ranged widely from Quarter Wall Copse to St John’s Valley) to 30 Jun (one on Threequarter Wall mobbed by Meadow Pipits). Later in the summer, a juvenile was present from 25 Jul to 2 Aug, being seen in various locations, but there was no evidence that this was a Lundy-reared individual rather than one dispersing from the mainland. Feathers of a (different) predated Cuckoo were found along the Lower East Side Path on 1 Aug. The last of the year was another juvenile on Brick Field fence on 24 Aug.
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2022 |
Summary of new records
1 May to 12 Aug – Cuckoos were recorded on only 14 dates compared to 22 in 2021. The first of the year was calling by Old Light on 1 May. One or more single males were seen regularly along the East Side and in Millcombe during May. The last was one on 12 Aug.
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2023 |
Summary of new records
18 Apr to 4 Jul – Ones and twos recorded on more than 20 dates. Two were trapped and ringed – the first since 2009 – a female in the Terrace Heligoland on 5 May, and a male in the 'slope net' on the side of the Ugly in Millcombe on 23 May.
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2024 |
Summary of new records
19 Apr to 17 Jul – The first, on 19 Apr, was a clearly tired migrant that flew in and landed in the middle of Brick Field before tucking itself into the lee of Quarter Wall to shelter from a cold northerly wind. Thereafter, recorded on a further 13 dates, up to and including 6 Jun, with two final sightings logged on 28 Jun and 17 Jul. All records were of single birds, apart from two on 22 Apr (calling males in both Millcombe and Quarter Wall Copse), and 13 & 21 May.
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