Bird Sightings

One of two Redwing in South Aerogenerator this morning. ©Thomas Weston

With today being a travel day, census was split, and sightings were a bit few and far between with the team doing other jobs. A noticeable arrival of Redwing occurred yesterday and this morning with this species not being noted for at least a week. The majority, if not all the birds seen, were of the Icelandic subspecies coburni with varying shades of brown bellies noted on the birds. The calmer wind also encouraged 142 Razorbills back to their breeding grounds off Benjamin’s Chair this morning. Other sightings from census will be added in the coming days.

In the meantime, we are really grateful for sightings and photographs collected from members of the public/guests who are spotting birds on our behalf. All reports have been added to the logbook, but a few of the notable sightings included here:

• ‘Hundreds’ of Puffins off Jenny’s Cove.
• Ring Ouzel male near Tibbets.
• Hirundines passing through the island and heading out the North end.
• A Collared Dove at North Light – The first of the year and an odd location!

In addition, the Terraces saw 8 Redwing, a male Blackcap, 4 Wren, 2 Dunnocks, 2 Meadow Pipits, 8 Herring Gulls, 41 Razorbills, 2 Skylarks, 2 Lesser Black-backed Gulls, 2 Shag, 2 Gannet, a pair of Stonechat and a Willow Warbler. The activity in this area varies throughout the day but it is worth checking as migrant species seem to pass through regardless.

Ringing

The weather allowed a short ringing session in Millcombe this afternoon with ~20 birds caught, ringed or processed. This included a nice selection of new Chiffchaff and Willow Warbler showing another smaller arrival this afternoon. There were a couple of recaptures from earlier this week associated with the fall, and a Robin and Dunnock retrap from last year.  

White Wagtail along the Main Track/Brick Field. ©Thomas Weston

A walk to Jenny’s Cove in the morning from the Tavern resulted in a very smart looking adult male White Wagtail (scarce here) feeding on the muddy main track before showing well in Brick Field; a small flock of ducks including 4 Mallards and 5 Eurasian Teal at Pondsbury; 11 Skylark and 8 Meadow Pipits noted on the main track between ¼ Wall and ½ Wall; roughly 120+ Puffins, 34 Kittiwakes and 17 Fulmar off Jenny’s Cove; 3 Wrens and 8 Wheatears (2 colour ringed birds paired together and ringed together last year) between Jenny’s Cove and ¼ Wall; a female Merlin hunting passerines near The Earthquake; a female Peregrine distantly flying around Tibbets; 129 Herring Gulls, 30 Lesser Black-Backed Gulls and 3 Great Black-Backed Gulls on the flooded fields around the Watertanks; and 7 Pied Wagtails on the Airfield/Highstreet Field demonstrating a small but noticeable arrival of this species.  

The afternoon was a lot more relaxed and the team were not out birding.

A windy, rainy, cold day resulted in few birds seen today. This included 3 Mallard, 4 Eurasian Teal, 2 Woodpigeons, single Oystercatchers, 32 Puffin, 4 Guillemots, 2 Kittiwakes, 79 Herring Gulls, 12 Great Black-backed gulls, 80 Lesser Black-backed Gulls, 3 Fulmar, 136 Manx Shearwaters, 38 Gannets, 15 Shag, female Kestrel, female Merlin, 25 Carrion Crows, 4 Ravens, 8 Skylarks, 7 Chiffchaff, 3 Blackcap, 5 Goldcrest, 4 Wrens, 70 Starlings, 3 Blackbirds, 4 Robins, 2 Stonechats, 3 Wheatears, 4 Dunnocks, 14 House Sparrows, 5 Pied Wagtails, 2 ‘alba Wagtails’, 27 Meadow Pipits, 4 Chaffinches, 3 Linnets and 2 Goldfinches.

Ring Ouzel male at Halfway Wall. ©Liz Gouldson

After yesterday’s excitement, we introduce our newest member to the team, Lucy Pécasse who will be completing our seabird productivity work this year! The first full day of work included checking out the study sites and climbing up and down the cliffs in search of seabirds – even if it was super windy. Welcome to the team.

 A big drop in migrants today as the weather changed to a strong south-westerly with frequent rain showers. The standout highlights of the day:

• A Ring Ouzel spotted at ½ Wall and photographed by our guests.
• The highest Manx Shearwater (1455) count of the year from the Ugly.
• The highest Wheatear (36) count of the year with a good mix of migrants and breeding birds.
• Single Greenfinch in Millcombe (scarce here).
• A female Bullfinch in St Helen’s Copse (scarce here).

 Other sightings from today included 6 Mallard, 4 Eurasian Teal, 14 Woodpigeons, 8 Oystercatchers, 122 Puffin, 87 Razorbills, 17 Guillemots, 162 Auk spp, 104 Kittiwakes, 84 Herring Gulls, 12 Great Black-backed gulls, 5 Lesser Black-backed Gulls, single Red-throated Diver, single Great Northern Diver, 8 Fulmar, 58 Gannets, single Cormorant,  19 Shag, female Sparrowhawk, male Kestrel, single Peregrine, 19 Carrion Crows, 12 Ravens, 10 Skylarks, single Swallow, 2 Willow Warblers, 3 Chiffchaff, 15 Blackcap, 8 Goldcrest, 7 Wrens, 122 Starlings, 3 Blackbirds, Song Thrush, 4 Robins, 12 Stonechats, 36 Wheatears, 6 Dunnocks, 8 House Sparrows, 2 Pied Wagtails, 72 Meadow Pipits, single Rock Pipit, 4 Chaffinches, 6 Linnets, 5 Goldfinches and a Lesser Redpoll.