27th March to 2nd April – Strong movement of hirundines

Started the week with light easterlies before the strong southwesterlies and rain returned up to the 31st. Sunshine with moderate to light northerly winds to start April.

Mallard have started to pair off with total numbers now becoming harder to count. Up to three Teal are still present on Pondsbury consisting of one male and two females. A Greylag Goose flew over Castle Hill on the morning of 27th. Two other geese, possibly Greylag, flew north over Middle Park later on 27th. A Stock Dove was recorded from 28th to 31st and there was a high count of 14 Woodpigeon on 31st. A summer-plumage Black-headed Gull was seen with the Herring Gulls in High Street Field during bad weather on 31st.

A full island walk on 27th resulted in counts of 3083 Guillemot, 1510 Razorbill, 201 Puffin and 150 Fulmar. Two Great Northern Divers were seen on 27th and 2nd with only one in the Landing Bay on all other dates. Cormorants are frequently noted flying over the island, including five on 27th and six on 28th, but two breeding plumage birds roosting with Shags along the East Side could suggest an attempt at nesting this year. Only two Purple Sandpipers were seen at Brazen Ward on 29th.

Cormorants, East Side © Tim Jones

Razorbills and Puffins, Jenny's Cove © Tim Jones

The female Sparrowhawk continues to be seen around the Village and a smaller male was seen on 2nd. The female Merlin is more elusive but is often seen beyond Quarter Wall. It appears a pair of Kestrel has returned with both calling and displaying over Millcombe on 29th. The number of Jackdaw increased to three on 27th when a pair joined the long-staying individual in Brick Field. All three were seen up to 1st, with only our single bachelor/bachelorette seen on 2nd!  A Rook flew over the Nook in the Village in the early evening of 2nd.

Female Sparrowhawk © Tim Jones

Hirundine passage has really picked up with high counts of 68 Sand Martin counted on 27th and 340 on 2nd. Swallow numbers were also increasing with 28 on 27th, 48 on 30th and 160 on 2nd. There are much fewer House Martin with only six on 1st and one on 2nd.

Twenty-four Chiffchaff were counted on 27th and 20 on 28th. This peaked on 2nd with a total of 51. Willow Warblers also arrived on 2nd with 54 counted, the first double-digit count this year. A small number of Blackcap are being recorded with the highest count of five on 2nd. The male Firecrest continued to be seen in Millcombe all week and was ringed on 1st. Goldcrest numbers varied with high counts of 26 on 27th and 23 on 2nd. Likely the final spring record of Redwing was on 27th, with one in Millcombe. A young male Song Thrush joined our resident male by singing its short and less impressive repertoire on 31st and 1st.

Willow Warbler, Millcombe © Luke Marriner

Firecrest, Millcombe © Luke Marriner

There was a full island count of 63 Wheatear on 27th, including multiple colour-ringed birds. Pied Wagtail and White Wagtail continue to push through the island. Thirteen confirmed Pied Wagtail were seen in the fields on 27th with 17 on the 29th and 11 on 2nd. Flyover wagtails which could not be identified to race were also counted with a high count of 18 seen or heard on 27th. Two Continental White Wagtails were seen around the farm fields on 27th and 30th with one on 28th and 2nd. Meadow Pipits appear to be slowing down with the majority of birds recorded now in small pre-breeding groups or singing males on territory. The highest count was 172 on 27th. Goldfinch and Linnet passage increased on the 2nd with 102 Linnet and 24 Goldfinch flying over, including flocks seen heading towards Wales off the North End.

Colour-ringed Wheatear, West Coast © Tim Jones

In non-avian news, butterfly sightings on 2nd included two Small White, two Small Tortoiseshell, a Painted Lady and a Peacock. A Hummingbird Hawk-moth was seen by Quarter Wall. In the moth trap on 29th were two Pearly Underwing; a migrant moth to the UK with very few March records.

A Harbour Porpoise was off South West Point on 28th and two swam past the Castle on 2nd.

Contributors: Stuart Cossey, Luke Marriner, Rosie Ellis, Tim Davis, Tim Jones, Chris Baillie, Steve Rosser