Bird Sightings

By Thomas Weston

Some good birds were seen this morning. Starting the day in Millcombe, I opened a few nets with Greg and Lucile. There was some nice cloud cover at dawn which led to some new birds being caught. These included a single new adult Whitethroat in full wing moult, multiple Willow Warblers including a retrap from a few weeks ago, 2 new Stonechats, 4 new Wrens, 3 new Linnets, and a single new Blackap too. There were some lovely sunrise views and whilst the sun was gaining, the breeze changed from SW to NW. The change in wind led to a Curlew heading out of the Landing Bay an hour into sunlight, as well as quite a few passing Gannets, a steady but consistent line of Manx Shearwaters, a possible large shearwater seen distantly shearing south, and a pod of closer-in Bottlenose Dolphins which was a good surprise for the three of us. In fact, they were Lucile's first dolphins ever.

We closed the nets just after 08:00, after which Lucile joined me for census this morning. There was a nice range of species seen throughout the route, and many nice views of some of the residents and passage migrants currently on the island. In total, there were 5 Mallards, 5 Woodpigeons, 2 Oystercatchers, 5 Kittiwakes, 6 Great Black-Backed Gulls, 22 Herring Gulls, 17 Lesser Black-Backed Gulls, 8 Gannets, 24 Shags, a single Kestrel, 4 Carrion Crows, 8 Ravens, 18 Swallows, 4 Willow Warblers, single Chiffchaff, Whitethroat and Sedge Warbler, 18 Wrens, 81 Starlings, 8 Blackbirds, one of the breeding Spotted Flycatchers, 4 Stonechats, 10 Wheatears, 27 House Sparrows, 2 Dunnocks, 2 Pied Wagtails, 28 Meadow Pipits, a single Chaffinch, 166 Linnets, and 25 Goldfinches.

The rest of the day was spent organising the plan for the upcoming Young Birders Week, as well as inputting ringing data from the previous few sessions we have undertaken.

Colour ringed House Sparrow juvenile caught in the Village –  by Thomas Weston

Plus as always, a few retrap Starlings and House Sparrows from the traps.

House Sparrow in moult in the Village – by Thomas Weston

This one in some nice primary moult.

By Emma Abel

The conservation team started the morning with a round island boat trip. With clear skies and calmer waters we set out up the East coast, where there were lots of juvenile Herring Gulls bobbing about in the water with their parents greeting us with their high-pitched begging calls. The East slopes were a beautiful gradient of greens into orange, with the pesky Bracken finally starting to die off with an eye-catching demise.

As we got to the North we were greeted by a Cormorant sitting majestically on a rock. it was at this point I realised binoculars plus a rocking boat would not make a happy Emma so I enjoyed the large bird with my eyes, still able to make out its white cheeks. Heading round the West coast, it was an amazing sight to see the island from a different angle, with the cliffs almost split into two, steep rocky faces leading into grassy slopes which stretched up to even more steep rocky buttresses. Jenny's cove was full off Kittiwakes, adults joined by their freshly fledged juveniles learning to fly, swirling around the cove. A couple came over to the boat, checking us out and giving us a nice view of their distinctive black W across their wings. Another curious soul was the Fulmar dipping and weaving low over the waves, passing close by the boat and giving us a good long stare. A few of the last Puffins gave us a speedy fly-by, their frantic flight pattern helping us pick them out whirring past. 

A Round Island Boat Trip by EAbel

Once we got back onto dry land, I headed back to the North to check on the Fulmar chicks, realising how appropriate that turn of phrase is with the grass looking crispier than ever. The lack of rainfall over the last months has taken its toll on the vegetation and the island looks parched. Hopefully there will be some rain soon. At Gannet's Rock I set up my scope and found 9 large fluffy Fulmar chicks tucked in to the cliff face. They still have some developing to go, having some of the longest breeding seasons of the birds on Lundy, with a fledge date of late August.

A Crispy Lundy by EAbel

By Thomas Weston

Today was a Tavern day for me. I had a meeting with Simon and the visiting researchers to the island which went really well and they had exciting plans ahead!

I started my Tavern break at midday and worked through the busy boat day. Simon was out sorting the boat, whilst Tara and Chloë were with a visiting ITV news crew. Jessie was looking for pups, with no success again today, and Emma and Greg were busy out and about in the field. It was exciting times for Tara and Chloë who helped in a seal disturbance piece for the news and after this, Simon helped with a piece about the rat eradication and the positive effects to our island and our wildlife too.

In my Tavern break, I was whisked up the west coast in a Landrover and walked towards the Manx Shearwater colony. I helped with extra material for the rat eradication piece and it went really well. Our now celebrity chick was doing great, and with its parents being part of the 66' North piece a couple of months ago, it was great to get this chick its moment in the spotlight. The ITV piece came out the next day (29th), however, here are some stills.....

Introducing the Lundy Rat eradication piece

Me! Talking about Manx Shearwaters...

Helen talking from an RSPB perspective! A big success for our seabirds :)

Simon talking about the positive affects of the rat eradication for the island.

By Jessie Dermody

Yesterday evening, five brave heros set out to retreive an old abandoned lobster pot, and rescue the crabs trapped inside. It proved to be much more difficult than we thought it would be, as the pot was stuck on the seabed. On the swim out to the pot, I counted a school of 16 Sea Bass. In the end, we dove down to tie ropes to the lobster pot, then used these and a tractor to pull it up onto the jetty. We snapped one rope in the process. Luckily, we and the crabs all made it out alive! We liberated two Brown Crabs, a very sad three-legged Spider Crab, and an army of Spiny Squat Lobsters of varying size. The squat lobsters (coloquially known as squobsters) were very nice to see, as this species is quite elusive - despite their bright colouration. They love to wedge themselves into small crevices in deeper water, and they move very quickly whilst they are in the water. Generally, it is difficult to catch more than a quick glimpse of one unless you are scuba diving. There was a lot more life on the pot, including Dirty Sea Squirts, several Keel Worm species and plenty of Long-clawed Porcelain Crabs. We didn't want to harm or remove the sessile life on the pot from the environment, so we cut out the parts that would trap anything else and returned the frame to the water as an artificial reef. Ideally, the pot would have been found before any bio-fouling had occured, but as it had already happened, we had to compromise.

A large Spiny Squat Lobster after being released from the lobster pot. Photo by Chloë Langmead

Today was a very exciting marine day - we had two snorkel safaris in the morning, followed by our first BRUV deployment from the islands new RHIB! The snorkel safaris went well, we saw a lot of Spiny Starfish, and plenty of Ballan Wrasse as usual! The snorkellers really enjoyed looking at the many Snakelocks Anemones on the seabed.  The underwater scenery in the rocky reef is so beautiful in the sunlight. 

A green Snakelocks Anemone. Photo by Jessie Dermody

After we'd dried off, we loaded the RHIB with the BRUV and its bait. My friend Abi was visiting, filming for her Masters project, so she came along to film and conduct some interviews from the boat.  We headed around the east side of the island, to Quarry Bay. There were no seals hauled out on the rocks, so we carefully approached until we were at 7 meters of depth. Chloë and I dropped the BRUV over the side of the boat, and we left it there for an hour. We had a little trip around the island whilst we waited. There were five Gannets following the thermal streams close to the boat, so we got some lovely veiws of them. There were also lots of Shags and juvenile gulls on the water, and some seals hunting. Abi interviewed Chloe and Tara about the BRUV, then we pulled it up and returned to shore.

 Todays BRUV deployment team! Photo by Chloe Langmead.

This was our first BRUV deployment withinin the No-Take Zone around the island, where no fishing is allowed. Usually we deploy in the Landing Bay, which is more acessible, but is also an area that is fished recreationally. Immediately upon the camera entering the water today, it recorded an unidentified wrasse species. In the first five minutes of footage, an additional four adult Pollack and a female Cuckoo Wrasse were observed! In 35 minutes of footage, I observed six fish species including all five of the common wrasse species: 2 Ballan Wrasse, 1 Corkwing Wrasse, 1 Goldsinny Wrasse and 5 Rock Cook. This is a lot more activity than we have had in our previous deployments, which could be due to a number of factors - e.g. the site being in the centre of a kelp bed, or the lack of fishing here. At the moment, we would need to do more deployments to test this. 

A large female Cuckoo Wrasse as seen by our BRUV