Bird Sightings

By Jessie Dermody

I began my morning with a speedy walk up to the northeast of the Island, taking advantage of the cooler morning air. I got a lovely veiw of a  Clouded Yellow butterfly flying past on my way. I was heading to Gannets' Bay, to take photos of the Fulmar colony there. We monitor specific sections of Gannets' Rock, so that we can caculate a standardised productivity level for the colony. This is based on how many nests are present and succsesful throughout the breeding season. Today there were only four birds on the rock, but there were also four quite large chicks! Gannets' Rock is also a home to several Peregrines - there is often one nearby, and today was no exception! An adult watched me complete the survey from ita perch on the rock. Once I had finished, I made my way back as quickly as I could - we had big plans for the rest of the day.

A Fulmar chick on a ledge - Photo by Jessie Dermody

I was - of course - running a little late, so I grabbed some fish from the freezer and sped down to the landing bay. I was meeting Tara, Kirsty, Eleanor and Thomas to deploy the BRUV from the RIB! We had one small issue though - we needed a new camera for the BRUV. Tara had a clever idea, putting an old GoPro in a waterproof casing, which we attached to the setup with zip-ties. Once that was sorted, I crushed up the bait, and we carried the BRUV to the jetty. It was a very low tide, and a litle choppy on the water, so boarding the RIB turned out to be quite difficult. But, with a lot of teamwork, we managed! Once we were all on board, we headed for the south of the island, where the water was a little calmer. Whilst we were scouting possible deployment sites, Thomas spotted a Grey Heron feeding beneath Benjamin's Chair. We deployed the BRUV, and I  jumped in to make sure that the setup was facing the right way and pointed towards the seabed. 

Grey Heron beneath Benjamin's Chair - Photo by Thomas Weston

We continued round the west of the island in the boat, towards Jenny's Cove. Thomas counted 9 Fulmar, 6 Raven, 8 Gannet, 91 Shag and 90+ Kittiwake on our journey. A highlight was two passing Turnstone near Devils slide.  There was too much swell to head around the North End of the island, so we returned to Benjamin's Chair. In the bay, we were surrounded by five seals, with a possible pup calling from a nearby cave! Kirsty, Tara and I jumped in for a quick swim. The water was very clear, so we had a lovely veiw of the kelp park below us on the seabed. There were lots of bryozonans (sea mat) on the kelp, and a wealth of beautiful seaweeds. Once we emerged from the water, we retreived the BRUV and returned to shore. The tide was still very low, so it was another ordeal getting everyone out of the boat and up onto the slipway.

Shags on a rock - Photo by Thomas Weston

After our excursion, I headed back up the hill to grab some lunch and have a quick rest before my Tavern kitchen porter shift that evening. Whilst I was in the kitchen, the rest of the Conservation Team had a great evening of sightings.  Emma spotted a Curlew on the Airfield, while Greg saw another Grey Heron, a Yellow Wagtail (of the British race), and two Water Rail at Pondsbury. Meanwhile, Kirsty saw a pod of 8 Common Dolphins from the Battery. Down on the southwest of the island Thomas saw one of our juvenile Channel Wagtails, as well as 12 Wheatear and a Sedge Warbler in the bracken. 

By Thomas Weston

Post Birders Week led to my natural body clock waking up at 5am again! Doh. However, I was not complaining too much as it led me to Millcombe where I was joined by Greg. A two-hour session resulted in 25 new Willow Warblers, though there could have been double if we had stayed for longer. There was a few nice species seen, all new, including Chaffinch, Wren, Chiffchaff, Garden Warbler, and a juvenile Blackbird. There was no sign today of the Melodious Warbler, though with the wind changing direction again – in fact no wind at all this morning – it was likely it had fattened up and headed off back south.

House Martin at Old light by ThomasWeston

Eleanor and I undertook census and it was really productive. The lack of wind led to some nice migrants heading on by. There were an additional 59 Willow Warblers, 20 Wrens, 30 Swallows, 28 Lesser-Black Backed Gulls, 14 Herring Gulls, 2 Robins, 6 Oystercatchers, 5 Blackbirds, single Whitethroat, 2 Great Black-Backed Gulls, 9 Goldfinches, 4 Dunnocks, single Woodpigeon, 14 Shags, 226 Linnets, single Chiffchaff, 3 Stonechats, 2 Gannets, 13 Carrion Crows, 3 Ravens, single Spotted Flycatcher, 23 Sand Martins, 24 Meadow Pipits, 31 Wheatears including a colour ringed bird and two metal only ringed birds, 4 Manx Shearwaters, 8 Skylarks, 33 Starlings, single juvenile Kestrel, 76 House Martins all whirling around Old Light, 2 Cormorants – island scarcities and definite migrants, 16 Swifts, 2 Rock Pipits, single Pied Wagtail, 9 House Sparrows, and a Peregrine too.

Hot and sticky indeed and showers definitely needed before the Tavern shift. A post-work garden party this evening celebrating a staff member's birthday resulted in listening to Manx Shearwaters coming back to the island in the night. Other reports from today included yet another Grey Heron on the island.

By Thomas Weston

Birders Week participants by Eleanor Harris

The final day of the Birders Week 2026

Eleanor and I were on Housekeeping, with most of the conservation team doing other island bits.

The Melodious Warbler was seen for the second day but only by Greg on census.

Birders Week entry into the Barn logbook

The team took a lovely photo with the remaining Birders Week participants, and we took great joy reading the stories in the accommodation log which is for all to see too!

Birders Week log

The second story was rather entertaining to be honest.

And a post-work walk to try and find my water bottle found Eleanor and I relocating the Reed Warbler at the bottom of Millcombe in the pond looking for some food.

By Thomas Weston

Another early morning for the Birders Week brigade. This time the wind was yet again NW and from observations on Ventusky, it was due to a high-pressure system coming up from the Bay of Biscay. The past few days the high pressure was quite low and so most overshoots as a result were arriving in the extreme SW of the UK, including a notable sighting of a Melodious Warbler in Cornwall. With this in mind, and the high-pressure not situated so any wind was coming off the north coast of France, out into the Atlantic and then hitting into Lundy. Some rain, producing a stunning rainbow to the west of the island was noteworthy. Having not had rain for a while, it was looking like an interesting day! Even if the rain did not hit the island as such, its close presence was good enough.

Melodious Warbler in Millcombe by ThomasWeston

However, Millcombe mist netting started at 6am and was another Willow Warbler migration day. Now these days do not start busy. We do not get down there and the rush is on; it takes time to emerge. However, yet again, between 7am and 8am, a rush of Willow Warblers came down and up the valley feeding in the bushes. Meanwhile, Greg was on census and ‘checked in’ with the ringing. It was going well and he continued having quite a quiet one today. Until Greg reached Smelly Gully where he found a Melodious Warbler in the bushes with the Willow Warblers. The bird was super elusive and spent most time hanging around at the bottom of a bush. Fresh in and a bit tired, it spent the time feeding up and gaining energy. Greg continued census and found a nice range of species on the route. The bird was actively feeding and as do most warblers, the bird gained more energy and headed up the valley where it ended up in one of the nets. As a result, some of the Birders Week participants got to see a new species, many had never seen a rare bird in the hand, and some had seen the species a while ago.

Around 11am we packed up in Millcombe whereby the ringing totals included 1 new Linnet, 1 new Stonechat, 2 new Sedge Warblers, a new Blackcap, the Melodious, a new Blackbird, a retrap House Sparrow, a new and retrap Wren, a new Chiffchaff, and 51 Willow Warblers too. Everyone was a bit tired today and it was the last full day for the Birders Week. Some of the team headed along the east coast looking for birds; another checked Pondsbury and found a Red-veined and a Common Darter hawking over the lake; whilst others took it steady.

The evening talks were seabird talks focusing on seabird research on the island. I am grateful for the time and effort put into the talks this week, focusing on a broad range of subjects. I think the wealth of knowledge we have on the island has been summed up and this evening was no different. Emma this evening provided information on the breeding seabirds this year focusing on the productivity site data. It seems to have been a mixed year for the seabirds, with some doing well, others OK, and some quite poor! With most of the seabirds now gone, we hope that they can have a great overwinter period ahead of next year’s breeding season.

Log followed before an evening Wheatear dazzling session. We ended up seeing 6 different birds but due to the sky being so bright with stars, and many of our Wheatears already heading off on migration, the birds seen were all super jumpy and quite flighty. Migration ready!