Bird Sightings
March 6th sightings – Census Counts
A short post today as our team were feeling particuarly tired today...
Sightings
A male Starling singing in the village today © T Weston
Census counts from today made up the majority of the counts from the island. These included 9 Mallard, 3 Eurasian Teal, 7 Woodpigeon, 4 Oystercatchers, 180 Razorbill, 40 Guillemot, 30 auk spp., 10 Kittiwake, 102 Herring Gulls, 10 Great-black backed gulls, 63 Lesser-black backed gulls (highest spring count so far), a Great-northern diver, 4 Gannet, 3 Shag, pair of Peregrines, 30 Carrion Crow (highest spring count so far), 10 Raven, 11 Skylark, 18 Wren, 133 Starling, single Song thrush, 15 Blackbird, 6 Robin, 7 Stonechat (most on territory now), 6 Dunnock, 18 House Sparrows, 3 Pied Wagtail, 4 ‘alba’ wagtail North, 20 Meadow Pipit, a single Rock Pipit, 6 Chaffinch and 26 Linnet (the highest count of the spring).
Ringing
Nocturnal counts resulted in 14 Snipe, 3 Jack Snipe, a Skylark and a Meadow Pipit seen. The Meadow Pipit was the only bird caught due to the wet and windy conditions which set in just after 21:00.
March 5th sightings – *Iceland Gull*
Another sunny, southernly wind led to some interesting sightings today. The day started with a ‘new in’ Great Northern Diver joining the overwintering adult in South Landing whilst ringing was being undertaken in Millcombe. A visitor reported almost standing on a Snipe spp before it flew off, meaning they had almost certainly found one of the overwintering Jack Snipe on the island. The sunny weather in the morning saw an impressive 22 Skylark noted across the island with the majority of these singing. Signs of some movement was particularly noted again in the Stonechat and Meadow Pipit with 9 and 65 counted respectively. However, an apparent afternoon arrival of wagtails saw the first White Wagtail of the year amongst the sheep on Highstreet Field, 12 Pied Wagtails (subspecies yarelli) seen on Brick Field/Airfield and 3 unidentified ‘alba wagtails’ which flew over north. The arrival led to some impressive views of the female type Merlin who began hunting the flock, as well as some nearby Meadow Pipits, finally grabbing one of the latter around the Old Hospital.
Adult Iceland Gull on Pondsbury © T Weston
A check of Pondsbury yielded a stonking adult Iceland Gull, the first of the year. This species is an annual vagrant with one record per year on average. The bird was roosting with a flock of Herring, Lesser-black backed and Great-black backed gulls on Pondsbury before flying off towards the west coast. Other species seen on the pond included 3 Eurasian Teal, a Water Rail (heard) and 2 Snipe. Checking along the coastline from North Light to the East and then to Millcombe Valley yielded roughly ~100 auks, 10 Oystercatchers, 165 Herring Gulls, 20 Lesser-black backed gulls, 8 Rock Pipits, 27 Fulmar, 42 Gannet (feeding amongst a pod of dolphins), a pair of Peregrines, 8 Raven, 22 Carrion Crow, 2 Redwing and a Song Thrush.
Ringing
A short session in Millcombe resulted in all birds caught being retraps. The oldest was a House Sparrow ringed as a chick in 2021. The bird had lost a couple of colour rings and these were replaced as part of the Lundy Sparrow Project that is ongoing on the island.
March 4th sightings – Wet, Wild and Windy
Sightings
As summarised by the title, today was a bit of a washout but the birds were still out there. Census counts made up most of today’s records with highlights including 2 Mallard on Rocket Pole Pond, 216 Razorbill off Benjamin’s Chair, 4 Linnets over Old Light, 4 Redwing, 3 Goldcrest and 4 Water Rail in Millcombe, 105 Herring Gulls in the fields, a single Kittiwake in South Landing, 13 Gannet off Southwest Fields, 2 Pied Wagtails in Highstreet Field, 4 Stonechat back on territory, and a pair of Peregrine calling as they flew over Quarter Wall. Other sightings from today included a female Merlin hunting the Church Field area, a single Skylark heard half-heartedly singing on the Airfield, a pair of Eurasian Teal on Pondsbury, 5 Chaffinch in Millcombe Valley, 24 Meadow Pipits between Quarter Wall and Halfway Wall.
Ringing
No ringing was undertaken today due to the weather.
March 3rd sightings – A nice sunny day!
Sightings
A ringed Robin in Millcombe © Thomas Weston
A sunny, calm day resulted in a little ringing at Millcombe this morning whilst the census was undertaken. Totals were not high (see below), but it was certainly nice to be out. Combined census/ringing sightings included the overwintering adult Great-northern Diver in the Landing Bay, whilst in the valley a flock of 8 Woodpigeons, 2 Water rail, a Woodcock (flushed whilst opening nets), 3 Goldcrest, 3 Song thrush, 3 Redwing (one in sub-song) and 11 Blackbirds were noteworthy. A sign of some migration came in the form of a flock of 4 Goldfinches flying between the trees and a small increase in Chaffinches to 7 individuals.
On the census route, the warmth enticed about 200 Razorbills and 12 Guillemots to raft off Benjamin’s Chair this morning. However, there were no sign of any Puffin yet, but this is a good place to have a look if you are on the island in the next few weeks/months. Whilst walking around the Southwest field and across the Airfield, it was really nice to hear the Skylarks in full song and the first Meadow Pipit starting to sing and perform their parachute display – this really is a sure sign early spring is here. Moreover, the numbers of Stonechat, Meadow Pipit and Starling were down on yesterday’s counts with 5, 25 and 178 birds, respectively, showing how each day can be quite different here. A pair of Pied Wagtails were setting up territory around the north of the village, whilst the ever-present flocks of non-breeding Carrion Crow and Raven continue to remain around the village.
A guided walk in the afternoon yielded 4 Teal on Pondsbury, as well as a total of 12 Mallards on the freshwater pools/ponds. The walk took guests from the Old Hospital on the east coast to Jenny’s Cove in the West. A large feeding frenzy off the east resulted in 641 Herring Gulls, 28 Great-black backed Gulls, 18 Kittiwake, and 34 Gannets seen. However, on the west coast, displaying Rock Pipits were singing on the cliffs whilst 32 Fulmar were seen on their breeding ledges.
Ringing
A quiet session with only one new bird caught today. Retraps were mostly from last Autumn with one Blackbird ringed in 2021 and showing signs of breeding!