Bird Sightings

By Thomas Weston

A stiff north wind today led to a nice census, though the breeziness on the top of the island was not ideal.

Census counts: 3 Mallards, single Woodpigeon, single Water Rail, 2 Oystercatchers, single Great Black-Backed Gull, 3 Herring Gulls, single Lesser Black Backed Gull, single Gannet, 2 migrant Cormorants south, 25 Shags, 2 Peregrines, 52 Carrion Crows, 7 Ravens, 2 Skylarks, 6 Swallows, single Willow Warbler, 8 Chiffchaffs, 22 Blackcaps, 2 Goldcrest, 12 Wrens, 97 Starlings, 2 Blackbirds, 6 Robins, single Stonechat, single Wheatear, 3 House Sparrows, 7 Dunnocks, single Yellow Wagtail, single Pied Wagtail, single White Wagtail, 4 unidentified alba wagtails, 45 Meadow Pipits, single Rock Pipit, single Chaffinch, 14 Linnets, and 7 Goldfinches.

The rest of the day was spent doing admin.

• Visit Website

By Thomas Weston

The rain had come through last night, not much but enough to clear the sky of fog and mist.

Swapping census with Greg so he could go ringing with the visiting ringers, it was nice be able to see more than 20m ahead. The clearer skies led to the start of the autumn's Meadow Pipit migration with 86 birds seen throughout the census route, as well as the first 81 Linnets. There was a small increase in Goldfinches, and it was presumed some of these were using the skies to migrate through – a lack of records for this species recently has been a tad odd. However, the count of 7 Blackbirds was good for the residents, and the reappearance of a ringed Song Thrush was interesting. Maybe it is not our funky singing male who sings all spring and summer, but the second bird caught post-breeding? The latter, amazingly, was caught again last week still moulting so it could be sticking around still, and perhaps in slightly poor condition having now been moulting for over a month, hidden for sure. Moreover, there were definitely some Robin migrants on the island as the census count of 18 was particularly high for the route. If it remains mild then this count is likely to increase further. True migrant species were low, and so were the numbers in the nets too, though 2 Spotted Flycatchers, 2 Goldcrests, 2 Willow Warblers, 3 Blackcaps, 2 Chiffchaffs and a single Whitethroat were the best in the bushes. The Village Swallows were loitering around the top of Millcombe, though with some migrants coming through already it is not unlikely some of these could be joined by more soon. Looking out from Battlements Corner, 2 Water Rail in Smelly Gully were the best, though 2 flyby Rock Pipits were excellent to see. With most bird species on the island being migratory to some extent, our 'more' resident species resulted in 3 Chaffinches, 2 Woodpigeons, 14 Wrens, 46 Carrion Crows, 6 Ravens, 17 House Sparrows, 106 Starlings, and 10 Mallards. It seemed that seabird numbers were low on the east, with only 14 Shags of note, though with the cold front having come from the west, seabird numbers were higher with a single Gannet, 8 Kittiwakes, and 5 auk spp, noted. On the Plauteau, a single Ringed Plover migrating over south was not too unexpected, as Greg had 3 earlier in the day, though the 2 Dunlin and 2 Grey Herons with at least one of the former coming in off the sea at Old Light were very unexepected. The Airfield was quiet, though 7 Skylarks, and a single (potentially one of our last?) Wheatear was nice to record. Alongside the expected birds in the Village, Kirsty handed me a box. This was the first of 5 Manx Shearwaters ringed/processed just from the Village including a bird we had ringed from outside the Tavern two days ago, released on the cliffs, and then back again outside the Tavern. No clue what this bird was doing.

• Visit Website

Upon leaving the Lodge to start census today, I was greeted with a thick fog, reducing visibility to a mere few metres. As a result, most of the following birding was rather difficult indeed. A small flock of Blackcaps in Lower Millcombe was milling around the area but unfortunately, with the thick fog hanging in the air, the nets couldn't be opened. Before I reached Old Light, all my optics were saturated, as were my waterproof – the very light rain was the perfect type to get you soaked without realising! At the end, I managed just over 20 species, well below the average count for census, although a Pied Flycatcher at Quarry Pond, although not on census, was a nice highlight. 

The rest of the day was spent diving through all the Wryneck rarity descriptions, meaning a bit of creativity needed to write a few different ways to describe a Wryneck. This is not a complaint though, the birding gods are welcome to bring plenty more Wrynecks this way! Of course, once our descriptions are up to date, we'll have to try and find more. Thomas and Eleanor certainly made a start when, in the fog last night, they heard a Stone-curlew flying overhead. The distinctive, mournful, flight-call of this nocturnal and unique wader to Britain is a much more regular occurrence in the south-east, where migrating individuals from the East Anglian breeding population clearly pass over. This far out west, Stone-curlews are a rare occurrence, with just six Lundy records. The nearest breeeding population is presumably in Wiltshire, so perhaps this is where the visting bird hailed from. Although I did make an attempt to find grounded waders in the thick fog later in the afternoon, I was unsuccessful. However, I did get to dry myself out with a busy Sunday KP shift in the evening.

By Eleanor Harris

Today was a bit of a busy one for the whole of the conservation team with Simon seeing the boat in and me, Thomas and Greg Houskeeping. 

The weather was changeable with a dampness in the air foreboding what was predicted to come. We will see if the island gets cloaked in mist for the next few days! 

It started off with Greg conducting a rather quiet census with few birds to be seen. It seems that everything is sheltering from these rather blowy conditions. A few birds were seen including Carrion Crows, Ravens and a few Mallards but nothing crazy to report. Greg headed back to the village to start Houskeeping at 10am. 

During the morning me and Thomas saw few species but this did include some Mallards visiting our pet ducks pond, something that happens daily. As we were both Houskeeping we really did not see much. 

It’s been a very quiet day overall with the weather setting in so we will see what happens in the next few days.