Tue 5 Apr – UPDATED Another Osprey and a well-travelled Wheatear

News from Rob Duncan is that visible migration included Meadow Pipits, Pied Wagtails, 1 White Wagtail, 50 Sand Martins, 40 Swallows and 4 House Martins, whilst among grounded night migrants were 30 Chiffchaffs, 20 Willow Warblers, 15 Blackcaps and 8 Goldcrests. 38 new birds were ringed. The first butterfly of the year put in an appearance: a Peacock in Millcombe.

Update: Claire and Mark Tims returned from the island on Tuesday and add to Rob's report with a Grey Wagtail and news of the season's second Osprey, directly over the jetty during the afternoon. During their four-day stay they also saw a colour-ringed Wheatear at Quarter Wall. This individual, a male, was originally ringed on 2 June 2014 and nested at the western end of Quarter Wall in both 2014 and 2015. Plumage details at the time of ringing confirmed that it had hatched in 2012 or earlier, meaning that it has now successfully completed a minimum of eight trans-Saharan migrations (four in autumn and four in spring), each spring managing to return to the same small area of the same tiny island! (Thanks to Tony Taylor & Richard Taylor for information about this bird's life-history.)

Colour-ringed Wheatear, Quarter Wall, April 2016 © C&M Tims

Please would all birdwatchers visiting Lundy during spring and summer 2016 keep an eye open for colour-ringed Wheatears and report the same details as requested last year. Photos are especially helpful. You will be making a valuable contribution to monitoring the year-to-year survival of Lundy's Wheatears as part of a national programme operated by the BTO.

Puffin news: the Lundy Conservation Team's Facebook page reports that the first Puffins were seen on 22 March and that numbers in Jenny's Cove had reached 88 by 1 April.