The clear skies, much lighter winds and higher temperatures of Sunday 7th gave a window of opportunity for delayed migrants to flood north. In line with observations along the mainland coast of North Devon,
Swallows were particularly abundant, with a "
highly conservative" estimate of 1,000 entered in the Lundy logbook, alongside 400+
House Martins and 100+
Sand Martins. Grounded night migrants included 11
Whitethroats, a
Lesser Whitethroat, 5 each of
Sedge Warbler,
Garden Warbler and
Blackcap, 9
Willow Warblers, 5
Chiffchaffs, 3
Whinchats and a
Spotted Flycatcher. The
Bar-tailed Godwit was still in the Pondsbury area, whilst other waders were represented by 4
Dunlins at the Rocket Pole (see photo of breeding-plumaged bird below) and 3
Whimbrels. A
Buzzard (presumably the same bird as during the first week of May) was also seen. The fine weather brought out good numbers of butterflies, among them Small, Green-veined and Large Whites, Red Admirals and Small Tortoiseshells.
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| Breeding-plumaged Dunlin © Dean Jones |
Monday 8th was much quieter, with the more notable sightings comprising: 1
Cormorant, 3
Dunlins, 4
Whitethroats, 5
Sedge Warblers, 1
Wood Warbler (see photo below), 2
White Wagtails and 2
Spotted Flycatchers.
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| Wood Warbler, 8 May © Dean Jones |
The quieter theme continued into Tuesday 9th, which featured a
Merlin, 3
Swifts, 4
Sedge Warblers, 3
Whitethroats, a handful of
Chiffchaffs and
Willow Warblers and a
Spotted Flycatcher. Dean Jones noted the first fledglings from among the 37 active
Starling nests located by Tim Jones last week. Zoë Barton's discovery of a stunning female Emperor Moth sitting on the doorstep of the shop (see photo below, after relocation to a safer spot!) was undoubtedly the sighting of the day though.
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| Female Emperor Moth, 9 May © Dean Jones |
Writing on Wednesday 10th, Dean reported a further quiet day birdwise, with the exception of an arrival of 8
Spotted Flycatchers – the first real influx of the spring – and 2
White Wagtails.
Thanks to Dean for forwarding counts from the log to enable this update.
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