8th to 9th Oct – The White's Thrush reappears ... in a mist-net!

Dean Jones updates us on the exciting happenings on Lundy over the past two days.

 

8th October

Thick drizzle first thing clearing up by 08:00 – overcast for the rest of the morning giving way to some lovely and sunny weather in the afternoon – moderate winds from the west during the early morning which quickly slacked off to a light wind by the late morning/early afternoon.

Unfortunately there were no additional sightings of the White’s Thrush from yesterday but a superb day of Lundy birding none the less, with a nice variety of scarce birds logged. Highlights were a Yellow-browed Warbler on the Terrace alongside two Firecrest, the Barnacle Geese pair on Pondsbury for their second day, a Short-eared Owl flushed near the Steps of Doom, three Lapland Buntings at Threequarter Wall and a Great Skua offshore harassing a small flock of Kittiwakes and two adult Mediterranean Gulls.

Other sightings included ten Gannet, a Sandwich Tern seen from the Oldenburg on approach to the island, 60 Kittiwake, two Snipe, a Grey Heron, two Merlin, a Sparrowhawk, four Skylark, 150 Swallow, 20 House Martin, singles of Blackcap and Chiffchaff, twelve Goldcrest, three Song Thrush, two Redwing, twelve Blackbird, two Wheatear, 22 Stonechat, a single Whinchat, ten Robin, small numbers of passage Meadow Pipit, the Millcombe Grey Wagtail, six Siskin, 110 Goldfinch, 14 Linnet, one Lesser Redpoll and two Reed Bunting.

 

A total of 49 birds were trapped and ringed, including 28 Swallow, five House Martin, 12 Goldcrest, one each of Blackcap, Blackbird, Stonechat and Grey Wagtail.

9th October

Overcast first thing, followed by a brief downpour then overcast – sunshine with cloud for the afternoon with one or two heavy showers – winds picked up from the north-west by mid-morning and remained moderate/strong throughout the day.

Undoubtedly today’s highlight was the reappearance of the White’s Thrush in a shelf of a mist-net in the Secret Garden. The bird was ringed and released by Nik Ward near the Secret Garden and subsequently viewed by Paul Holt in Millcombe Wood at around 08:00. The bird then went back into stealth mode and wasn’t seen again for the rest of the day.

 

White's Thrush, Millcombe, 9 Oct © Dean Jones

White's Thrush, upperwing, Millcombe, 9 Oct © Dean Jones

White's Thrush, underwing, Millcombe, 9 Oct © Dean Jones

White's Thrush, tail, Millcombe, 9 Oct © Dean Jones

What a gorgeous bird! © Dean Jones

Other sightings of note included the two Barnacle Geese still on Pondsbury, two Yellow-browed Warbler trapped and ringed in Millcombe, two Firecrest (one in Millcombe and the other in Quarter Wall Copse), amongst good numbers of Goldcrest (83 logged).

Also logged were two fly-over Golden Plover, 37 Razorbill, 20 House Martin, 50 Swallow, 20 Blackcap, seven Chiffchaff, five Song Thrush, 11 Blackbird, 25 Robin and small numbers of Meadow Pipit, Siskin, Goldfinch, Chaffinch and two Lesser Redpoll.

A total of 89 birds, including the White’s Thrush, were trapped and ringed (as well as five others re-trapped from previous days shown in brackets): 26 (1) Swallow, one House Martin, 18 Blackcap, two Yellow-browed Warbler, three Chiffchaff, 22 Goldcrest, one (1) Blackbird, one Song Thrush, (1) Grey Wagtail, one Meadow Pipit, four Goldfinch, two Lesser Redpoll, six (2) Siskin and one Chaffinch.