You are currently viewing sixteenth to twenty second Could – A quiet week which ended with an unlikely first for Lundy

sixteenth to twenty second Could – A quiet week which ended with an unlikely first for Lundy

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Overcast for many of the week with a number of
days with gentle rain. Max temperature of 17° on the seventeenth, common temperature
was 13°. Mild to reasonable southwesterly winds all week.
 

A most
depend of 11 Mallard ducklings have been
seen in a number of broods on the sixteenth and nineteenth, which decreased down to only 4
on the twenty second. Two Shelduck flew excessive west
over Benjamin’s Chair on the 18th. That is the third document for the 12 months after
none since third Could 2018. The fowl of the week was an unlikely customer. A feminine
Mandarin duck was first seen by visiting Devon birders on Christie’s Quay and
in a while Rat Island by Stuart Cossey, Jamie Dunning and Paul Holt. This constitutes the
first document for the island. Mandarin geese are initially from China and Japan
however escaped captivity within the UK and at the moment are frequent in Southern England.

Feminine Mandarin duck, Rat Island ©
Stuart Cossey 

Swift have been seen on three dates with
4 on the sixteenth, six on the nineteenth and one on the twentieth.  Two completely different Cuckoo have been recorded with a rufous brown particular person on the Terrace
on the sixteenth and one other gray Cuckoo
round Millcombe on the twentieth. Collared
Doves are nonetheless current with three
by Massive St. Johns on the sixteenth. A Collared
Dove was ringed on the twentieth within the
Lodge Backyard while trapping Home Sparrows.

Some wader
passage was logged with two Dunlin
on Center Park Pond on the sixteenth, a Curlew
calling over the Touchdown Bay on the seventeenth and a Ringed Plover was heard
over the Terrace on the 18th. Two Golden
Plover have been recorded each over the
East Coast, one on the sixteenth and one other on the twentieth.

Dunlin, Center Park Pond © Richard Campey

Paul St Pierre
and Anthony Bellamy from the RSPB have been on the island this week to make counts
of the breeding gull populations. The counts have been break up over a number of days with
some colonies doing properly and others not. Giant numbers of grownup Herring Gulls have been gathering within the fields across the Village throughout
the week with a most depend of 460 on the twenty second. A 2nd 12 months Widespread Gull was seen within the Touchdown Bay on the morning of the sixteenth earlier than
drifting north.

Transferring on to
seabirds, the very best depend of Puffins
of the 12 months to date was made on the twentieth with 340 counted round Jenny’s Cove
and environment. A stroll round the entire island on the nineteenth by visiting
birders Tim Jones and Tim Davis produced counts of 6901 Guillemot, 2237 Razorbills,
327 Kittiwakes, 108 Shag and 272 Fulmar. Two Cormorants
have been seen on the seventeenth and nineteenth.

The Kestrels are nonetheless being recorded with
the female and male seen on the sixteenth and one or the opposite seen the remainder of the
week. Wonderful numbers of Pastime
have been seen through the week, three have been recorded on the sixteenth and one on the
seventeenth. A feminine / immature Marsh Harrier was seen over Tibbets earlier than
heading excessive in direction of the West Coast. 

The resident
Swallows have been seen commonly
visiting the Church porch. A small digital camera has been set as much as view the nest
while on the island, although common updates are being posted on the Lundy Island
Fb web page. Different hirundines are nonetheless passing by way of with max counts on
the nineteenth of 9 Sand Martins 320 Swallows and 120 Home Martins.

A Wooden Warbler was nonetheless current on the sixteenth with one seen feeding within the
Bracken on the Decrease East Facet. Small numbers of Willow Warbler and Chiffchaff have been seen all through
the week with a quantity singing in Millcombe, St Helens Copse and Quarter Wall
Copse. 4 Willow Warblers on the twenty first was the very best
depend of the week. The very best depend of Chiffchaff
was seven on the nineteenth. Sedge Warblers are additionally nonetheless arriving with
two on the sixteenth and seventeenth, three on the 18th, six on the nineteenth and singles on the
twentieth and twenty first. Two Reed Warbler have been reported on the sixteenth and
singles of Backyard Warbler have been seen on the sixteenth, seventeenth and
nineteenth. Resident male Blackcap and Whitethroat have been heard singing in
and round Millcombe. The male Blackcap
has a very various name which features a few harsh phrases and mimicry
which at occasions resembles the tune of a Marsh Warbler!

Whitethroat, Millcombe © Richard Campey

Different
migrants embody a male Redstart on
the sixteenth and nineteenth, a Black Redstart on the twenty first and a feminine Whinchat on the nineteenth and twentieth. Noticed
Flycatchers have been recorded all week with excessive counts of 16 on the sixteenth and
20 on the nineteenth. A single Tree Pipit
was reported on the nineteenth. A number of Yellow
Wagtails
have been seen in Barton Discipline all week. 4 on the sixteenth embody
three male Yellow Wagtails of the UK race flavissima and one Blue-headed flava Wagtail.
Single Yellow Wagtails have been seen on
the seventeenth, nineteenth and twentieth. On the twenty first and twenty second two feminine flavissima and a
new Blue-headed flava Wagtail have been seen in Barton Discipline. Continental White Wagtails have been recorded this week
with singles on sixteenth and twenty second and two on seventeenth and twenty first. Sadly, transient views of what was doubtless a Nightingale on the twentieth weren’t sufficient to substantiate the identification.

Blue-headed Wagtail, Barton Discipline, sixteenth Could © Richard Campey
Male Yellow Wagtail, Barton Discipline sixteenth Could © Richard Campey
 Blue-headed Wagtail, Barton Discipline twenty second Could © Stuart Cossey

Indicators of
breeding embody the primary fledged Starlings,
Blackbirds, Robins and Chaffinches. A number of
Stonechat pairs at the moment are feeding
fledged younger and might be heard loudly ‘chacking’ as you stroll previous. The primary Puffins have additionally been seen returning to
burrows with fish, a wonderful signal that the primary chicks have hatched.

Starling with meals, Barton Row © Richard Campey
Juvenile Stonechat, Brick Discipline © Richard Campey

In non-avian
information a max depend of 10 Painted Girl butterflies have been counted on the
nineteenth and 13 on the twentieth. A Wall Brown was on the Higher East Facet on the
twenty first. Brimestone, a scare Lundy
species have been seen on the seventeenth and 18th. Three Hummingbird Hawk-moth have been reported on the nineteenth and a Striped
Hawk-moth was reported on the twenty second. A Clouded
Drab
within the moth entice on the 18th was the primary document for the island.

We even have a brand new arrival on the island with a foal born behind the Tenting Discipline on the twentieth. 

New foal, Bull’s Paradise © Stuart Cossey

Contributors:
S Cossey, R Ellis, Z Wait, L Pirateque, J Dunning, R Campey, T Davis, T Jones,
P St Pierre, A Bellamy.

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