Bird Sightings
March 14th sightings – An Wet, Windy and Wild Day...
Purple Sandpiper at Brazen Ward. ©Thomas Weston
Island life can be a challenge for both the birds and the staff here, but we still got out, even if that led to us being very damp. Today's sightings show there was a little movement but we are really hoping the weather brightens a little soon.
Census resulted in low numbers of seabirds due to the cloud base being so low. This included, 2 Kittiwake, 4 Great Black-backed Gulls, 68 Herring Gulls, 6 Lesser Black-backed Gulls, 2 auk spp, 6 Gannet and 12 Shag. In Millcombe 8 Woodpigeons, 22 Carrion Crow, 4 Raven, 4 Goldcrest, 10 Wren, 7 Blackbirds, Redwing, Song Thrush, 5 Robin, 3 Dunnock, 3 Chaffinches and a Goldfinch. Out in the fields, the female Kestrel, 7 Skylark, 53 Starlings, a ‘new in’ male Wheatear, Stonechat, 6 Pied Wagtails, alba sp, 23 Meadow Pipits, Rock Pipit, Linnet and 5 Mallard were seen. The Village flock of 12 House Sparrows were noted today, though many will be hunkered down.
A walk to Brazen Ward and onto North Light via Pondsbury resulted in 44 Meadow Pipits (lots in song flight and displaying), 48 Herring Gulls, 36 Lesser Black-backed Gulls, 6 Great Black-backed Gulls, 8 Gannet, 13 Shag, 2 Skylark, 8 Wren, a Goldcrest hidden amongst the braken and moving southeast, a 1st winter/2nd Calander year Common Gull (scarce here) dip feeding off Brazen Ward before drifting south, 3 Stonechat, 18 Oystercatchers including a migrant flock of 12 on Brazen Ward in the high tide roost with 5 Purple Sandpipers (see photo above), 2 Blackbirds, 3 Peregrine, 32 Fulmar sat on ledges at North Light, 100 Auks (~40% Guillemot/ ~60 Razorbills), 32 Kittiwakes feeding off North Light, a pair of Eurasian Teal on Pondsbury, 2 female Mallard on Pondsbury, a Robin and 3 Rock Pipits.
March 13th sightings – Another damp day
Today was yet again another damp day with low cloud cover and strong gusts throughout. The census was quiet again but there were signs of movement out there, you just had to look a little harder than normal.
Millcombe was quite quiet with a Song Thrush, 2 Dunnock, 3 Robin, 3 Blackbird, the 2 Goldfinches, 3 Goldcrests, 8 Wren, and 3 Woodpigeon seen. Passing Gannet and Kittiwake were the best from Ugly. A little along the Beach Road resulted in nice views of a flock of 12 Shag and the overwintering Great-northern Diver all pretty close due to the weather. Further out on the water 2 Red-throated Divers were nice to see, they are an unusual species around the island so good to get on census especially. Benjamin’s chair was very difficult to view, the wind and rain came up the cliffs with only the breeding Herring Gulls seen. Rocket Pole Pond had the pair of resident Mallards, and the nearby Southwest Fields had a couple of Meadow Pipits. Walking across the Airfield resulted in 3 Skylark seen but that was about it.
Green-winged Teal on Pondsbury ©Thomas Weston
A quick detour down to The Terraces resulted in small flocks of large gulls and a female Mallard prospecting Quarry Pond to potentially breed. Walking the cliff route to view Pondsbury was worthwhile with loafing large gulls and the American Green-winged Teal seen again. It is certainly a nervous bird, so views were kept distant and brief to avoid too much disturbance.
Back on the census route for the stretch between Quarter Wall and the Village resulted in 31 Carrion Crow, 145 Herring Gulls, 25 Lesser-black Backed Gulls, a Pied Wagtail and a small flock of ~60 Starlings. In the Village itself, 8 House Sparrows were noted and 3 Ravens.
March 12th sightings - Purple Sandpipers
Today was a damp, windy and dreary day with low cloud shrouding the island for most of the day bringing frequent showers and strong gusts throughout the day.
Morning census was heavily affected by the weather and completed by Joe today. Census resulted in a Water Rail, 2 Chiffchaff, 5 Goldcrest, 2 Song Thrush, 3 Goldfinches and 2 Chaffinch in Millcombe, the Great-northern Diver in the Landing Bay; 82 Razorbills, 2 Rock Pipit and 22 Auk spp seen through the cloud at Benjamin’s Cove; plus 2 Pied Wagtail and small numbers of House Sparrow and Starling in The Village.
Purple Sandpiper flock ©Thomas Weston
An additional walk to Brasen Ward by Thomas resulted in good coverage of the east coast today. However, to begin, a distant check of Pondsbury resulted in 3 male and 2 female Eurasian Teal but no obvious sign of the Green-winged Teal today – it could have been hiding in the vegetation. A very brief patch of lighter cloud resulted in a couple of Skylark and Meadow Pipit singing. Brasen Ward was luckily below the cloud base and the flock of overwintering Purple Sandpiper were picked out quite quickly. There were 9 seen today (see photo above), though the highest count of the winter has been 14. Whilst watching the flock, passing Kittiwake, Gannet and Fulmar were noted and a surprise Common Sandpiper was heard flying along the coast but not seen unfortunately. Scrambling back up the cliff resulted in a wacky record of a Redwing which flew past along the cliffs before perching on a cliff face above a hauled out Grey Seal! A damp trek along the East with the visibility getting worst did not add too much to the counts apart from 4 Stonechat along the cliffs near the quarries.
March 11th sightings - Migration kicking off
Some late news from yesterday by the first 4 Manx Shearwater and the first Wheatear of the year were both seen by members of the public!
Green-winged Teal on Pondsbury this morning. ©Thomas Weston
This morning was lovely and sunny with a little to no wind at all. Millcombe was busy this morning with a noticeable arrival of 7 Chiffchaff and 3 Goldcrest, all unringed, feeding in the trees. The first Siskin of the year flew up and down the valley calling, and a pair of Goldfinches were showing well in the trees. Out in the Landing Bay, a flock of 100 Razorbills, 6 Shag, small flocks of Herring Gull and Lesser-black Backed Gulls, as well as 4 piping Oystercatchers were seen.
Walking round to Benjamin’s Chair, a flock of Ravens were on the Church – these almost certainly The Village flock. At Benjamin’s Chair, it was nice to see a flock of 186 Razorbills and 30+ Guillemot rafting offshore, as well as another pair of Oystercatchers here. Nearby, at Rocket Pole Pond, the usual 4 Mallard were present. This area was particularly good for both Skylark and Meadow Pipits and throughout the whole census, a total of 17 Skylark (8 singing males) and 72 Meadow Pipits (4 singing males) were seen. Moving over the style to Old Light and a small flock of Starlings were defending territories on the building. The numbers of this species have decreased the least few days as overwintering birds leave the island for breeding grounds further afield. Onto Ackland’s Moor and The Airfield, this section was quite birdy, with a pair of Linnet on the fence, a Carrion Crow flew NW out to sea, and a female Kestrel (possibly the overwintering individual) was seen hunting along Quarter Wall.
A non-census check of The Terraces resulted in great views of a pair of male Stonechat chasing a female along the cliffs, a single Oystercatcher and an additional 4 Skylarks singing at the top of the cliffs. Due to the weather, it was decided to check out Pondsbury. It was great to see a flock of 4 Mallard (1M+3F) on the pool as well as 4 Eurasian Teal (1M+3F) and the appearance of the male American Green-winged Teal. The latter has not been seen since March 1st and so this was a very welcome sight (see photo above).
Back to the census and the Highstreet Field, Brick Field and Tillage were all quite quiet today with a small flock of Carrion Crows and Herring Gulls the only birds of note.
Puffin flock off JennysCove. ©Ester Spears
WE HAVE PUFFINS???.... Yes, 4 photographed off Jenny's Cove today!!!
Ringing
Male Goldcrest caught and ringed in Millcombe ©Thomas Weston
An afternoon ringing session in Millcombe resulted in 13 birds being caught. This included 4 new Chiffchaff, 8 new male Goldcrest and a retrap female Goldcrest ringed last Autumn. It was incredible as we have only been catching retrap birds the last couple of weeks. A nocturnal session resulted in a new Snipe, a new Skylark and a retrap Jack Snipe too! Plus, we heard 7 Manx Shearwaters which was a great success, including the first couple calling from burrows.