Bird Sightings

by Greg Lee

Cold today, with the wind remaining quite strong into the night leading into a cool and crisp morning. So, with that in mind, I was pleased to be out on census in a uniform outfit of green and black, with my green RVRC trousers and my green hoodie hopefully making me stand out less to the birds. On my way down into Millcombe, I came across several of our visiting birders including Paul Holt, whose local patch is just down the coast from Sandwich Bay at Samphire Hoe. As we were peering into Secret Garden staring intently for any signs of movement, the familiar "pee-yew" of flying Siskins caught our ear and three birds flew into the Valley. I still remember the first time I saw Siskins, my grandfather had given me a VHS tape of the RSPB guide to British garden birds narrated/presented by none other than Sir David Attenborough and I watched this quite religiously as a small child. When the Siskin section came on, I was enamoured by the green and yellow plumage of these smart finches and desperately wanted to see one. So I was delighted on a late afternoon in winter to come across a small flock feeding in an Alder tree in the car park at Tewkesbury Abbey. Many years later and I still feel joy hearing these birds passing overhead.

As well as these, I also kept hearing a high-pitched "zeee" call which made me consider that a Hawfinch could be in the vicinity, however, I couldn't be sure with all the Robins and Dunnocks squeaking around the valley. As I took the path towards the Casbah, I came across Jimmy Hair, who relayed that he had sighted a Hawfinch perched at the top of the valley near Government, a very nice find and the first of the autumn season, after a couple of birds in the spring. The rest of census on the plateau of the island was pretty quiet, with the wind really drowning out a lot of sound, although a Reed Bunting was heard near Quarter Wall. Down at the Terrace, even though it was quite sheltered, there were only a few Chiffchaffs, Blackcaps and Goldcrest.

Hawfinch by G.Lee

Although I hadn't seen it on census, late morning saw me return to the Rocket Pole area to see the long-staying Snow Bunting, which had taken a shine to this corner of the island, a very lovely bird and quite unbothered by my presence. Usually, this time of year, I would associate this species with low-lying shingle and sandy coast, particularly in the east, but birds do turn up in surprising places, including my local patch on Cleeve Hill sometimes. The rest of the day saw a mix of recycling, office jobs and rest before a KP shift in the evening. 

Snow Bunting by G.Lee

Other sightings around the island included a Redwing in Millcombe and the long-staying Yellow-browed Warbler at the Quarries.

By Thomas Weston

An extremely wet morning on which Eleanor and I decided it would be a good idea to do census... With Greg ill, and luckily staying in bed, we took it on ourselves to get up, eat croissants with tea, before heading out to brave the weather. On the route, we firstly noted the local Carrion Crows – they were braving the weather and sat feeling sorry for themselves in the fields around the Village. Meadow Pipits decided today was probably not the best time to migrate and with 17 noted, it was not much to write home about. The regular 5 Blackbirds in Millcombe, sums up the current thrush migration. Where are the deluge of Redwing, and the first few Ring Ouzels?

 Swallow in Millcombe by Thomas Weston

The Swallows definitely looked like they wanted to be in Africa right now, as they sat – some motionless – on the brambles and flew centimetres away at your feet looking for food. A sad look on their faces too did not help the situation. In Millcombe, we struggled to pick out many birds in the wind and rain. A single Dunnock, 10 Robins, 4 Wrens, 3 Chaffinches, and a Woodpigeon were some of the best of the residents. Migrant-wise, it was slow, with 6 Goldcrest, 2 Chiffchaffs, 9 Blackcap, a ringed Firecrest, and the most unusual species of the morning, a quiet Yellow-browed Warbler at the top of the trees around Battlements. Offshore a flock of 3 Gannets and 4 Shags were the only birds. Walking around the plateau did not add too much to the selection, with a couple of Skylark flushed from underfoot, a Lesser Black-backed Gull with 9 Great Black-backed Gulls on the Airfield, and 8 female and 3 male Mallards in Barton Field. 

Little Egret from the Terrace by ThomasWeston

The rest of the day off was spent making cake, drinking tea, writing a report for the Large Gull Survey (which somehow crashed and deleted so you will have to wait for that)! before heading off for a walk in the evening once the wind died down a tad and the sun came out. On our adventure down to Millcombe and along the Lower East, a couple of additional Goldcrest were of note, including two on the Terrace. No sign of any more Yellow-browed Warblers, but there were two Little Egrets spotted by Eleanor flying in from midchannel, before coasting, and heading north off the island. In addition during our wanderings, a Spotted Flycatcher was in Millcombe, 2 Snipe were flying around in the wind, a Sparrowhawk was spotted on the down pipe to one of the Barton cottages, and a nice flock of 20 Oystercatchers were below Millcombe with 44 Great Black-Backed Gulls at North End.

Amazing news came in of a Manx Shearwater chick ringed on the island on the 19th August 2026. It was found dead on a beach in Brazil, some 9000km away just 46 days later. It is great to know the bird got close to its wintering grounds, but a shame it ended up being found dead on a beach. Hopefully not the first of many!

by Kirsty Cox

When I saw that today was my day for writing the blog, I was concerned that it may be another eventful day but luckily today has gone a lot more to plan!

It started as usual with some office admin, catching up with seal ID and emails, including liaising with the Devon Wildlife Trust Marine Strandings Network. Sadly there have been a lot more pup deaths than usual this year and this has been the same across Devon and Cornwall, so I have been organising sending them the data that we have been collecting. 

After toast I went to feed the chickens. It was my last day with this responsibility and I’ll miss seeing them every day and having a bit of chicken therapy time!

Then it was off on pup check. It has been a quiet few days with the pups as there have been no new arrivals but it is nice to see the pups that are on the beaches doing well and developing as they should.

Part way through my pup check route I went down to meet the boat to take up my position as 'pup police'. Although we don’t currently have any very young pups in the Landing Bay, we still need people to keep their distance from the weaned and moulted pups and it is a great time to meet people arriving on the Oldenburg and to chat to them about all things seal.

After completing pup check and processing the photos, it was time to head back to speak to people as they were walking back down to the boat. Boat days always seem to pass so quickly, especially on Ilfracombe days when there are only a few hours between the boat arriving and the boat leaving.

With a bit more ID work completed in the office, it was time to sign off. So, all in all, a much less eventful day than my previous two blog days but that was definitely welcome!

Elsewhere on the island there were continued sightings of a Yellow-browed Warbler as well as a Common Redstart, 2 Lapland Bunting, 4 Redwing, a Spotted Flycatcher and a Tree Pipit.

Yellow-browed Warbler by Greg Lee

By Thomas Weston

Sunfish at North End by Thomas Weston

Foggy yesterday, but we found a Sunfish at North End. Yay! The only pic I can contribute to the blog today!

The fog was strong again today and lingered over the top of the island. The ringers down in Millcombe were having a quieter session before heading home, and I passed by on census. Census was a good one, migration notching up a little with a day of thrushes. Reports of Redwing and Song Thrush (totalling less than ten) were seen by guests, but none of the former and just three of the latter were noted on census. However, 23 Robins, 24 Stonechats, and 11 Blackbirds were high counts for the census area, being counted as I moved in and out of the misty fog that lay on the top of the island for most of the morning. In Millcombe, numbers of Swallows were okay, but low. No obvious migration of this species was seen today, so we presume the 34 birds counted were sort of stuck on the island and could not see the mainland to depart. We presume the single House Martin was stuck too, as it was seen flying up and down the east coast. Not ideal. Howevere, there were signs of movement, with 7 Goldcrest, and 72 Meadow Pipits noted. In the trees above the Casbah a Yellow-browed Warbler was heard calling deep in the Sycamores. In the bushes below, 19 Dunnocks (a high count), 7 Chaffinches (still really low), 10 Blackcaps, 8 Chiffchaffs, and 5 Siskins made up the rest of the small but decent arrival. Residents were present in good numbers with 10 Wrens, 4 Ravens, 3 Water Rails, 11 Carrion Crows, 2 Peregrines, 3 Rock Pipits, a single Great Black-backed Gull, 3 Oystercatchers, and 11 Shags all within the general Millcombe area, seen from various vantage points. Finches along the route really have not taken to migration, or not quite to Lundy yet. The Skiskin were nice, but seeing 6 Goldfinches and 15 Linnets was very low for the time of year. In the Village, after navigating through the fog, 8 Mallards, a male Kestrel, and 84 Starlings were the best of the rest. 

An afternoon in the Tavern for me, with not much to report from my side, but the visiting ringers had a probable Little Bunting, another Yellow-browed Warbler was seen, the Snow Bunting was still in residence, and 2 Lapland Bunting appeared as the cloud cleared. The Common Redstart from a few days ago, relocated to the Beach Road where it found a rock now aptly called Redstart Rock. In Millcombe, a Spotted Flycatcher and Firecrest were nice late migrants, and a Golden Plover and Snipe were the only waders seen today.