A driech aul day throughout composed of very strong NNW winds all day (perfect conditions for a helicopter ride), chilly temperatures and sporadic showers throughout.
Not much to shout about bird wise unfortunately, though a Kestrel, two Skylark, a Chiffchaff calling from the Laundry Garden Privet, a Goldcrest, and a smattering of thrushes and finches made it into the LFS logbook by the evening.
Tuesday 12th November
Yet another wild day of downpours and strong north westerlies. Highlights from this difficult day of birding comprised the appearance of a female Wigeon on Pondsbury and a total of six Manx Shearwaters past the island through the day.
Other sightings included four Mallard, seven Teal, at least 100 Fulmar off the West Coast, 20 Gannet, two Woodcock, one Guillemot, a Chiffchaff, three Redwing and four Stonechat.
Wednesday 13th November
A gentler day today wind-wise though rather sporadic in its direction – swinging from the north to south west in the morning, back again by the afternoon and then north easterly in the evening. A few odd showers also occurred in the afternoon but all in all, a much nicer day than yesterday!
Birds of the day were the female Wigeon again – tucked away on the western side of Pondsbury – and a single Snow Bunting feeding in Tillage Field.
Other birds included: four Mallard, six Teal, two Woodcock, two Snipe enjoying the new Ackland's Moor marsh, 20 Herring Gull, two Merlin whirling together over Millcombe, a single Skylark, nine Goldcrest, 14 Blackbird, four Fieldfare, two Song Thrush, 31 Redwing, 14 Robin, a Black Redstart, a Stonechat, ten each of Dunnock and Meadow Pipit, 193 Chaffinch, six Brambling, seven Siskin and seven Linnet.
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| The seasonal wetland that forms near the water tanks in wet winters has filled up early this year... © Dean Jones |
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| Redwing on the farmyard wall, Nov 2019 © Dean Jones |
Thursday 14th November
A truly miserable day weather wise with strong and chilly north-easterlies coinciding with a constant deluge of rain throughout the day. Unsurprisingly due to these poor conditions, bird sightings were few and far between. The best of the bunch included a Sparrowhawk, two Stonechat, four Brambling and a Snow Bunting.
Friday 15th November
The strong and chilly north-easterlies continued though luckily dropped away somewhat by the afternoon. A rather quiet day bird wise with an adult Common Gull in the Landing Bay taking the crown of star bird for the day.
Other birds recorded included a single Teal, a Sparrowhawk, one Kestrel, four Skylark, five Blackbird, 11 Fieldfare, two Song Thrush, 17 Redwing, three Stonechat, a Pied Wagtail, three Meadow Pipit, 12 Brambling, four Linnet and a Snow Bunting
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| Song Thrush on Halfway Wall, Nov 2019 © Dean Jones |
Saturday 16th November
The winds continued to drop away overnight leaving a very welcome breeze come the morning – conditions which encouraged a decent arrival of thrushes overnight. Thankfully the weather stayed like this for the daylight hours at least with the winds only picking up slightly from the west during the dark hours of the evening.
Highlights from today included a stunning Mistle Thrush, probing the now sodden earth in Barton’s Field in hope for a meal and a rather startling Cetti’s Warbler – flushed from the thick brambles above St Helen’s Copse on the Upper East Side Path in the afternoon (next to the stream). Unfortunately views of the little beauty were rather brief and therefore I did not manage to see whether the bird was ringed or not. Could this little sneak be the same Cetti’s as the one from October in Millcombe, hopefully it’ll show itself again!
Other sightings included nine Mallard, two Oystercatcher, a single Snipe, ten Great Black-backed Gull, 43 Herring Gull, a single Lesser Black-backed Gull, four Skylark, a male Blackcap in Millcombe, c300 Starling, 41 Blackbird, 29 Fieldfare, 24 Song Thrush, 64 Redwing, five Robin, three Stonechat, nine Dunnock, six Meadow Pipit, 15 Rock Pipit (most of which were feeding together next to the Earthquake), 26 Chaffinch, a fly-over Greenfinch and two Goldfinch.
Sunday 17th November
The day started off with a whirlwind of wing beats as a flock of around 900 Starling arrived together from the south to forage in Barton Field. The noise of these calling birds as they arrived to the island came very suddenly and was near deafening at times – so much so that it startled poor Bill (one of our Lundy Ponies) making him rear up on his hind legs and bolt across the field as the birds alighted at his hooves.
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| Part of the early-morning Starling influx to Barto Field on 17 Nov © Dean Jones |
Weather-wise, the island was blessed again with some beautiful late-autumn conditions with next to no wind, warm sunny spells and zero precipitation.
Highlights from this glorious autumnal day included a Cetti’s Warbler, this time calling from the vegetation in Millcombe Pond. A beautiful ringtail Hen Harrier – looking for a meal along Pyramid Slope, two Mistle Thrush upon the Sycamores in Millcombe first thing, a Firecrest in North Wood, 5 Reed Bunting (three together at Quarter Wall Pond and two at Pondsbury) and two Snow Bunting – feeding on the track at the top of St John’s Valley.
Other birds of note were: ten Mallard, nine Teal on Pondsbury, five Fulmar (four of which were on ledges in Jenny’s Cove), three Shag, singles of Woodcock and Water Rail in Millcombe, two Oystercatcher, two Snipe, 56 Herring Gull, a male Kestrel with Starling in talons over Barton Field, a female Merlin at Tibbetts, three Skylark, a male Blackcap in Millcombe, eight Goldcrest, 40 Blackbird, 18 Fieldfare, 17 Song Thrush, 77 Redwing, three Robin, three Stonechat, seven Dunnock, five Meadow Pipit, six Rock Pipit, 64 Chaffinch, four Brambling, a Greenfinch, six Goldfinch and a Linnet.
Report composed of sightings from Zoe Barton, Mike Jones, Pete Lambden and Martin Thorne.
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