Bird Sightings

By Emma Abel

Today's census was a good showcase of what autumn is about to bring us. Greg headed out on yet another clear sunny day, and was treated to the first few Willow Warblers to stop by Lundy on their passage returning south, with 13 birds seen hopping around the foliage of Milcombe feeding themselves up. These birds are looking especially lovely at this time of year, fresh and lemon yellow.

Willow Warbler by Greg Lee

A fresh lemon yellow Willow Warbler by Greg Lee

Willow Warblers were not the only migrant on their way past. A Sedge Warbler was seen near Brambles followed by another flushed out of the bracken near Pointless Wall. Excitingly, two Grasshopper Warblers also were hiding among the bracken. A third Grasshopper Warbler joined a Willow Warbler in the garden of Stoneycroft, taking cover in the only tree in the local area and sitting still for long enough for a speedy picture. 

Elusive Grasshopper Warbler at Stoneycroft by Greg Lee

Higher in the sky were more migrants passing by Lundy for a service station snack on their long journeys. Two Swifts and a Sand Martin were wheeling over Tillage Field in the acrobatic display of collecting their dinner.

Our resident birds were also out and about making the most of the continuing clear weather. Three Kestrels were out hunting across the island and four Peregrine Falcons were seen, including juveniles, pestering some Ravens.

I had a Puffin filled day, starting with productivity monitoring at Jenny's Cove, where quite a few pairs seem to have stopped coming back with Sand Eels. As it has been over 40 days since the first adults were seen bringing fish back to feed their chicks, we can assume that some of these earlier breeders have successfully fledged chicks and headed out to sea with their young. Despite the quietening cliffs, with just over 1000 Guillemots and only 15 Razorbills seen, the remaining Puffins are still busy ferrying Sand Eels back and forth to fatten up their chicks before their big jump down into the sea. The non-breeding adults that have been wandering around the cliffs, popping in and out of burrows and prospecting for next year, have stopped visiting the cliffs at Jenny's and are choosing to raft out on the water. As I headed to the Battery this afternoon to set up for Seabird Station, I wondered if there would be much to show people. However, I was pleasantly surprised to find 346 Puffins rafting on the water, bobbing around and showing well in the scope. The views improved as the afternoon wore on, with many birds flying up, circling close by and landing along the cliff, putting on a good show for those who braved the Battery steps hoping for a glimpse of these beloved birds despite the prospect of a sweaty ascent.

Puffins spied through a scope by Emma Abel

By Thomas Weston

The day started last night, out walking the Village looking for Wheatears for ringing. The aim was to catch and ring as many Wheatears as possible to see how many come back to the island in future years where they can be caught and colour ringed as part of the Lundy Wheatear Retrapping Adults for Survival (RAS) Project. The night was successful with an hour and a half session in very very calm conditions resulting in 6 new birds out of 12 birds seen - a positive 50% catch rate.

Wheatear metal ringed in the Village. Pic by Chloe

A few hours later and the sun was in the sky and a strong wind again! The wind seems super strong during the morning before dying off by the evening. However, this didn’t deter me from undertaking census this morning, and the sun was nice and bright encouraging some butterflies to emerge from the undergrowth – Painted Lady, Meadow Browns, and Green-veined White. Bird wise, it was quiet but rewarding. There were mixed finch flocks including Goldfinch and Linnets, as well as a nice feeding frenzy off Rat Island again with Gannets, Manx Shearwaters, and Kittiwakes all in the flocks again. The gulls were diverse this morning but were only the larger trio – Great Black-Backed, Herring and Lesser Black Backed, despite hopes the easterly wind woud push some more of the smaller scarcer ones across. In Millcombe, a Willow Warbler and a Chiffchaff were both present, with a flyby Kestrel and Peregrine the most notable overhead. Moving round the fields there were a few suspect Meadow Pipits around the census route showing signs of second broods, and we hope to find another couple of nests before the season finishes.  After a few late nights recently out catching Wheatear, it was amazing we did not see any ringed birds on my travels – especially as we went out last night! We shall see if some start to appear, or whether there is a larger movement around the island then we imagine!  Moving onwards, the highlight of this morning was a Grasshopper Warbler that was flushed underfoot near Old Light. The long grassy coloured warbler flew over the wall and dived into cover in the graveyard. It was not seen again, but the wind did not help in this location. The rest of the day was based in the office inputting data, writing rarity descriptions, and making sure our nest records for the BTO Nest Recording Scheme were up to date.

By Thomas Weston

Today was a windy travel day. A day which was uncertain for many reasons – was the boat coming? Would it land? Would people have to stay another night? However, for me the day started quite early and before the power came on. I put the washing on just as the power was switched on and had a rather chill start to the day watching passing Swallows, Starlings, and House Sparrows from the house.

Around 8am I started census. It was blustery and Millcombe was quite windy. A couple of Swallows flew over and charms of Goldfinches made it on to the list. Linnets were scattered across the area in loose groups of 4-10. The Wrens were calling quite a bit today, with both juveniles and adults noted. Whilst Wheatear adults moult, the juveniles were the showiest today. However I did see an adult male and female in known breeding areas. Before leaving the upper section of Millcombe, two Chaffinches completed the current finch set on the island with anticipation for other finches to come soon!

Lundy-born Chiffchaff by Thomas

A feeding frenzy near Rat Island/Benjamin’s Chair yielded 20 Manx Shearwaters, 4 Gannets, 6 Great Black-Backed Gulls, 70 Herring Gulls, 8 Lesser Black Backed Gulls, and 3 auk spp just too far away to see. Five Shags joined the party as I was heading away from the Landing Bay, where a few Meadow Pipits carrying food were noted along the banks – perhaps some late second broods yet to fledge? A Pied Wagtail in the vicinity of Brambles has been around for a while, but great to see! In the bushes a pair of Stonechat, a Willow Warbler, a Chiffchaff, and a Woodpigeon were the best in the wind. Small birds were really challenging to find up to Government but did include a Whitethroat and a Blackbird. Carrion Crows have bred around the island successfully this year with 9 adults and 3 juveniles noted on the way out of Millcombe and on the south coast.

Looking towards the Castle, there were 2 Ravens in the sky being mobbed by crows. On the South Coast a calmer feel prevailed. A Swift flew by, and small flocks of passerines hid in bushes and flew out of the grass when I was passing. A nice range of butterflies were seen with Painted Lady, Red Admirals and Meadow Browns all being noted. Birdwise, the Starling flocks must have been hiding, as only a few were seen today. Thee best of the bunch included 2 Sand Martins – a sure sign that Bird Autumn is here! A Mallard in front of the house and a small proportion of the island's House Sparrows were the last couple of species noted.

Off to the Tavern for me.  The boat was weather delayed, and stayers didn't arrive until 2pm by which point my break had almost started. There were no bird reports from visiting guests, but we shall see later as they settle in, and my break comes to an end. However, there was an unusual report of a Hedgehog. These adorable, spiny, garden visitors are much loved, but they are a biosecurity hazard on the island (due to the predation risk they pose to the eggs and young of ground-nesting birds, from Skylarks to shearwaters) and luckily for our breeding birds, it was not alive on arrival. Nevertheless, a fascinating find – and extremely bonkers record!

We shall see how the rest of the day goes…

by Greg Lee

Today saw a marked shift in the calendar, the return of the daily Observatory Census as we gear up for autumn. Admittedly, it has only been a month since we stopped the spring migration census, however it signals the starting of that busy and anticipated time in the British birding year. This season, we shall be doing census right up until November so lets hope that it can be as productive as spring for some varied and busy days! 

It perhaps wasn't the most auspicious start today, with a very strong easterly breeze that swayed the trees and drowned out any avian sounds coming from the bushes. In a couple of months, a similar direction to the breeze could potentially be quite exciting but it is a little early at the moment. Millcombe itself was quite quiet but as I reached the top of St John's Valley, I came across a real pocket of activity with a group of young sparrows being joined by a Pied Wagtail, some Stonechats, a Dunnock and two Willow Warblers. The latter were certainly local progeny but by the end of the month, we should expect to see migrants from elsewhere passing through, perhaps even in considerable numbers. For now though, it was enjoyable watching the lemon-yellow juveniles working through the bushes and trees. Heading up to Old Light, I then spotted two Sand Martins somehow flying against the wind and heading southwest towards the village, with a Swift also spotted distantly over the Airfield indicating there was some migration afoot in spite of the windy conditions. 

Willow Warbler by G.Lee

The rest of census saw birds generally lying low with a few Meadow Pipits squeaking in the areas of long grass and another Collared Dove also appearing in the Village.  On the other hand, it was surprisingly good for Red Admirals, with an influx clearly underway of these migratory butterflies. The rest of the morning and early afternoon saw some data input and also collating the various descriptions of Golden Orioles collected during the spring, with at least nine different individuals thought to have occurred on the island! 

A windblown Sand Martin by G.Lee

Thomas and Eleanor undertook a seawatch from the Ugly in the late afternoon and were rewarded with some good gull activity including five Black-headed Gulls, which so far this year have been quite scarce on the island.