Bird Sightings

By Emma Abel

The day started early for me, heading out to Jenny's Cove at 5.30am for some morning monitoring. The sky was dramatic with the rising sun's rays shining down through the clouds over the sea. The Quail seen later on census must not have been an early riser as I didn't catch a glimpse of it on my walk past Quarry Cottages. However, I did spot a female Mallard sneaking her small brood of ducklings through the reeds at Pondsbury, a Great Black-backed Gull on the prowl nearby.

Sunrise over Quarry Cottages by Emma A

On reaching Jenny's, I started to watch the Puffins coming in to their burrows and noting their behaviours. The most exciting behaviour being a couple of adults arriving with Sand Eels in their beaks. That classic image that springs to mind of a Puffin sitting with its bright orange beak filled with fish is a sign that deep within some burrows are some fluffy Pufflings. Despite their name, Sand Eels are not actually true eels but small fish with long eel-like bodies that many seabirds species rely on, especially around the breeding season. Over the next weeks the number of adults feeding returning with fish will increase as more chicks hatch and grow. Another fluffy sighting today included a Lesser Black-backed Gull chick popping up its spotty head between the adult's legs, obviously quite freshly hatched as its egg tooth was still present.

First Puffin with Sand Eels through scope by Emma A

After my monitoring I set up my scope for Seabird Station, which was quite quiet as the westerly winds had started to pick up and Jenny's was in the firing line. Those who stuck around were treated with good views of puffins, especially when the sun came out and reflected off of their orange beaks and feet, and it was great to chat to everyone about the seabirds we have on the island. I chatted to some visitors who brought news of an exciting sighting from their walk further North, which was a Quail. I had to dispapoint them that they were not in fact the first sighting and Thomas had beaten them to it with a sighting of a separate individual that very morning, making theirs the fourth Quail of the year. They had been able to get a video of the bird flushing, meaning they got the fourth Quail, but the first footage!

Additionally a female Water Rail was heard calling from the Airfield scrub, which is the first any have been heard in a little while.

Quail at Widow's Tenement by Chris S

By Simon Parker

June is here! That means sunshine, calm seas and heatwaves, except this is the UK and on Lundy none of those things are guaranteed.  Today would be described as dank, thick fog and constant steady rain awaited as I headed out to do the morning Census.  Millcombe did have a little activity, a pair of Whitethroat were hiding up in the canopies along with a few Goldfinch, Chiffchaff, Chaffinch and Willow Warbler.  A brief view of the landing area as the fog cleared saw ten Shag in a close group feeding just off the shore.  Passing past brambles villa, a young Stonechat starting getting quite vocal and a Robin popped out briefly before shooting back into the gorse bushes.

The top of the island was where the thickest fog lingered and visibility was below 20m, Rocket Pole Pond area yielded a few Linnet before I moved up past the Old Light and onto Ackland's Moor.  At this point it became a little disorientating, but heading in a general direction I managed to somehow stay on track.  A lone Skylark and several Meadow Pipit were scuttling along the ground. The rest of Census followed the same story and by the time I'd arrived back I was absolutely soaked.

No one had a clue where we were

A badly needed recharge from the Marisco Tavern before getting into some admin and meeting up with the Biosphere team online. I was quite glad the rest of the day was spent inside as the weather became gradually worse.  The good news is that the island needed some rain, everything was starting to look a little dry and the water supply a little shaky, still no bath plugs in the properties if you're wondering..

by Greg Lee

Census today and technically the final patrol of the spring season, as we are expected to only do coverage until the end of May. However, since early June can provide some interesting records some years, we will be continuing to do a bit more until the middle of the next month. Census itself was pretty quiet, with little of major note and the general quietening down that can be expected of migrants at this time of year with a solitary Spotted Flycatcher at Millcombe being most obvious. The Golden Oriole remained in the same trees above the Casbah continuing my hot streak of familiarity with this particular bird.

A Spotted Flycatcher at Old Light was a nice record in the always attractive garden at Stoneycroft. Over the spring I’ve had various Warblers, Redstart etc. in this small area, I’m interested to see what may turn up in autumn in the bushes.

Spotted Flycatcher by G.Lee

This week, my parents are visiting the island so later on, I connected with them for a walk up northward to North Light. Naturally, birding wasn’t the aim of the trip, but it would’ve been most remiss of me to not bring my camera and binoculars. Passing Quarter Wall, an Emperor Dragonfly cruised by, whilst Small Heath butterflies dance and skipped over the short turf. As we passed Quarter Wall Pond on the main path, I saw something small and brown run into the grass on my left-hand side. Perplexed, I walked towards the clump of where I flushed a small, compact and streaked bird up from the ground, giving a short, sharp “meep” call as it flew. It was a Quail! The first I’d ever flushed and actually seen in the UK (having come across a few singing from deep cover in various locations), the bird didn’t fly very far but it did go quick and low over the ground with whirring wings before diving into the rushes near Quarter Wall. Not a bad start. An impressive Orchid in flower opposite Pondsbury also caught my eye though I wasn’t entirely sure on the species.  The rest of the walk north was less high-octane but the Thrift display at North Light was excellent, with Puffins also performing nicely on the waters off the Lighthouse and the Guillemots piling together on the cliffs.

The final act of the day was a cutthroat game of Snakes and Ladders with my parents in the Tavern before doing battle with a game of Wingspan against my fellow Lodge mates. Having taught them how to play, it was only right that I came out on top with a respectable haul of 86 points. The others have much to learn...

By Thomas Weston

Starling with food in the Village. Thomas Weston

Today started with me awaking just before 5am. I got up and ready and headed on down to Millcombe to open some nets and start some ringing. The first couple of birds seen from the house to the ringing site included one of our Channel Wagtail pair and a Siskin along with the local House Sparrows and Starlings. The weather was sunny and extremely calm, not a breeze or a gust at all and it was looking like another glorious day on the island.

Golden Oriole ringed Millcombe by Thomas Weston

Opening the lower Millcombe nets was the plan as I was on my own. The session was extremely slow to begin. A single new Chiffchaff made up the 1 bird per hour (05:30-06:30), followed by a new(!) female Blackbird keeping up the 1 bird per hour (06:30-07:30). There were flocks of passing Auks, 100+ Manx Shearwaters and a 6 Gannets too. Our male Golden Oriole was singing in the trees but remained stubbornly elusive as they do. There was passing fog too, but nothing on the island yet! This all changed when Maddie came down to the site. We opened a net near the Casbah and went back down to the bottom to extract any birds. Success came in the form of 2 new Chiffchaffs showing breeding evidence, almost certainly a pair, and a retrap Linnet. The fog started to close in now and it was feeling rather eerie and cool. Greg made an arrival, and we checked again. Nothing on this round but we were not going to call it quits yet. Two juvenile Blackbirds were a welcome sign of fledged juveniles, and we could see parents of a lot of the locals collecting food for their young too.

The next net round was very special and memorable, we approached the Casbah net, and we had caught a retrap Blackbird from two years ago, a new Goldfinch and the Golden Oriole! A very big surprise given that none of us had seen it this morning, just heard it. There were a pair of retrap Linnets in the lower Millcombe nets, and we proceeded to process all birds bar the Oriole in the Valley. Only a couple of minutes later we went to ring the bird at the top of the valley so those who were around could see. A small gathering formed, and the Golden Oriole was ringed. A smart 2^nd calendar year type male. On release he flew back into Millcombe, where he was seen and heard again up to the time of our departure, 10am. A successful, and good morning, especially for all those retraps we caught today!

Making my way into the Village I undertook some washing of Bird Obs bags, met with a new researcher on the island, Jayden, who is looking into the temperatures of the cliffs where our colony/cliff nesting species are currently holding territory, and helped Lucile with a brood of House Sparrows that needed some assistance. There was one fledged Starling today, though crashing into the Vestry was never the best idea and so we popped it in the closest nest of similar size young, an adopted family.

An evening of chill and relaxing is the plan tonight.