28 Aug to 5 Sep and 9 –11 Sep – shearwater and passerine ringing, including Common Rosefinch

David Price, Peter Slader,  Nik Ward and Tim Frayling spent much of this period ringing Manx Shearwaters at night, following on from Tony Taylor & Richard Taylor's earlier visit – see below. They captured good numbers of adults, including both 'new' birds and retraps, but fewer chicks than in recent years, though it may simply be that this is a later season, rather than a less productive year.

Mist-netting during the day, yielded just over a hundred birds, including 48 Willow Warblers, while Nik ringed a juvenile Common Rosefinch on 10 Sep. Other passerine migrants included Spotted Flycatcher, Whitethroat, Garden Warbler, Blackcap, Yellow Wagtail, White Wagtail, Goldcrest and Firecrest. Two Ruff on Pondsbury on 10th were the first since 2007!

11 Tree Sparrows continued to be seen up until 30th. Nik reports that "At one point 10 were just up the track from the farm, while one stayed over by Old Light!"

Thanks to David Price & Nik Ward for contributing the information from which the above brief summary is taken.

23rd August to 6th September 2014

During my two week stay there were a number of interesting sightings. When I arrived there were reports of a Juvenile Rose Coloured Starling which I tracked down in the chicken run behind the Lodge.

A flock of Tree Sparrows was also reported. Initially 3 had been seen, but in the first week of my stay I regularly saw as many as 11 or 12 on the main track between the Village and Quarter Wall, or on the track from the Black Shed past the Stone Crusher and towards Old Light. Sometimes they split into smaller groups but often they all stayed together.

Towards the end of my stay I saw a Firecrest in the oak trees in Millcombe and a Pied Flycatcher further down Millcombe.

A little Stint was reported around the duck pond behind Bartons but I didn't get to see it!!

There were plenty of Spotted Flycatchers and Willow Warblers mainly in Millcombe and St Johns, and also Swallows, Swifts, House Martins and Sand Martins flying around the top of the island.

I saw all four Wagtails too, Pied, White, Yellow and Grey.

3 Kestrels were regularly seen, often being mobbed by the resident Ravens and Crows.

Juvenile Rose Coloured Starling

Tree Sparrows

Firecrest

Pied Flycatcher

27 August 2014

Tony Taylor reports that the 11 Tree Sparrows were still present today, along with a single Swift battling into the strong SE wind and a Little Stint.

Tree Sparrow flock still present, plus late Swifts

Tim Davis, Tony Taylor, Richard Taylor, Mike Jones, Martin Thorne and Annie Alford were all on the island today and saw up to 11 Tree Sparrows on the main track between the stonecrusher gate into SW Field and Old Light. The flock was quite flighty, being frequently disturbed by non-birding day-trippers, but always returned to the same general area. A few of Tim's photos are below. Tim also reports a Whinchat (on juncus and the fence-line around Quarters pond) and a juvenile Yellow Wagtail (next to and on top of the water tanks). Annie saw six to eight late Swifts over the High Street outside the shop – a very good count for so late in the month. There was no sign of the Rose-coloured Starling.

Tree Sparrow flock multiplies

Tony & Richard report that the flock of Tree Sparrows has increased to 12 – seen on the track near the Brick Field this morning. Having now checked the record books, I can confirm that these are the first Tree Sparrows on Lundy since 2000 (though there was an unconfirmed report of one in early August 2008). A glance at Bird Atlas 2007–2011 shows that while range and numbers have decreased dramatically over most of southern England and Wales, they have increased substantially in eastern Ireland. With north-westerly winds having dominated over the last couple of weeks, Ireland may be the most likely origin for this remarkable influx.

Rose-coloured Starling & Tree Sparrow still present

The juvenile Rose-coloured Starling was around the farmyard today and at least one Tree Sparrow was with House Sparrows near the lambing shed. Also small numbers of juvenile Willow Warblers everywhere we looked, including three or four in and around the pig-sty next to the Tavern Garden and Wheatears much in evidence. Other birds included a Blackcap in Millcombe and three Sand Martins hawking low around the South End, while six Ravens and single Cormorant and Kestrel also put in appearances off Benjamin's Chair. Outward crossing almost devoid of birds, but return crossing brought good numbers of Kittiwakes and Manx Shearwaters close to the island and two 'winter'-plumaged Razorbills. Also Harbour Porpoise and three Bottle-nosed Dolphins.

Rose-coloured Starling hiding in the chicken run

A veritable FLOCK of... Tree Sparrows

Rather astonishing news from Tony Taylor & Richard Taylor is of an actual flock (if three constitutes a flock) of Tree Sparrows in the area between the Black Shed and the old stonecrusher. This appears to be the largest number seen on the island – of what is now a very rare bird for both Lundy and mainland Devon – since nine in May/June 1978.