About this page...


This page is run by volunteer contributors as a source of news for everyone interested in the birds of Lundy, in the Bristol Channel, UK.
If you have news to report, please consider signing up as a contributor or send in your sightings here.
See also the companion website The Birds of Lundy for comprehensive updates to the 2007 book of the same name.
Bird recording and ringing on Lundy are coordinated by the Lundy Field Society and general information about visiting the island can be found here.

Monday, 27 March 2017

27th March – Osprey through and first Blackcaps of the year

Tim Davis, Tim Jones and Tony Taylor report excellent views of an Osprey arriving low below Castle Hill before climbing as it moved north along the East Side, mobbed by gulls and corvids (record shot below).

Osprey mobbed by crow over East Side 27 March ©Tim Jones

An influx of thrushes included 2 male Ring Ouzels on the Terrace, up to 15 Song Thrushes and a noticeable increase in Blackbirds. Auk numbers totalled 99 Puffins in Jenny's Cove, with 900 Guillemots on the ledges and a further 200 on the water and 400 Razorbills. Puffins were later seen on land for the first time this season, exploring nesting burrows. There was a Golden Plover calling in flight over the Airfield and the Jackdaw count increased to four, all of which were seen apparently leaving the island to the NNE over the Terrace during the morning. A female Bullfinch feeding on blackthorn buds at the head of St Helen's Combe was unusual for the island, though most recent records are for March and April. Hirundine passage comprised 75 Sand Martins and 4 Swallows. There was a count of 20 Willow Warblers and the first Blackcaps of the year were recorded; a female and two males – the female feeding on rocky slopes at North Light! Two Siskins were present on feeders in the Village, there were several White Wagtails alongside migrant Pieds and the Red-necked Grebe was still in the Landing Bay. Finally an extremely dark-mantled adult Lesser Black-backed Gull – as dark as the adult Great Black-back standing next to it and therefore presumed to be of the continental breeding race L. f. intermedius – was at Pondsbury in the afternoon.

Male Ring Ouzel, VC Quarry 27 March © Tim Jones
White Wagtail at Quarter Wall 27 March © Tim Jones

Seven Manx Shearwaters were caught at the Old Light study colony between 9.30pm & 11.00pm, comprising four new birds and three retraps.

The lighter winds and warm sunshine made it a good day for invertebrates:

Common Carder Bee, Terrace willows © Tim Jones
Common Plume moth, Upper East Side Path © Tim Jones
Minotaur Beetle, Upper East Side Path © Tim Jones

No comments:

Post a Comment