BOC news – Edition 8

B O C News January 2022

The newsletter of the
British Bird Observatories Council

Thanks to all the contributors and to all the
photographers for allowing us to use their images.

QUESTION
WHAT IS A BIRD OBSERVATORY?

ANSWER

It's a place which conducts long-term monitoring of bird populations and migration.
Individual observatories are located at prime migration points where a daily census is
taken in a defined recording area. An integral part of observatory work is bird ringing,
undertaken within the national scheme which is coordinated by the British Trust for
Ornithology. This provides data for guiding conservation policies of such bodies as
Natural England, Natural Resources Wales, Scottish Natural Heritage and their
counterparts in Ireland.
The Observatories encourage volunteers to participate in scientific studies of birds
and the environment. The results of these studies and more general information are
made freely available to researchers and to the public who are welcome to visit
observatories.

QUESTION
WHAT IS THE BIRD OBSERVATORIES COUNCIL?

ANSWER
The Bird Observatories Council co-ordinates and promotes the work of the bird
observatories at a national level. Individual observatories are accredited to the Council
when they meet specified criteria relating to activities and facilities.

For information about the Bird Observatories Council contact the secretary Alison
Duncan at [email protected]

FRONT COVER
Red-flanked Bluetail at
Flamborough Bird Observatory by Justin Carr.
Some blurb here about bluetails

Chairman’s Welcome building and left nothing but a large pile of ash and
twisted metal in early-March. An appeal to help raise
Steve Stansfield funds was launched by FIBO to help rebuild the new
Observatory. In October The Directors of FIBOT
Welcome to this eighth BOC Newsletter, and what announced “…we have now secured a builder that now
another fantastic summary we have over the next 80 allows us to proceed with the building of Obs 5.
or so pages! Observatories are famed for tales of great Coupled with us now having been awarded
falls and arrivals of migrant birds, rarities that make the substantial funding from the Scottish Government and
mind boggle, and fellowship that is hard to find Highlands and Islands Enterprise, we will now be able
elsewhere. In this newsletter you will find all that and to rebuild the Observatory next year. We have
much more from all 20 BOC Accredited Observatories. appointed a company called IDMH to undertake the
rebuild. They have been awarded the contract after a
2021 was not a ‘classic’ year for migrants arriving on our lengthy and rigorous tender process and we are
shores as bird and other wildlife populations across the pleased to welcome them on board for the Obs 5
globe are struggling with survival due to human project. They have already visited the Isle for a number
persecution and other factors such as climate change. of days to start the necessary preliminary works and
However, there were still some fantastic birds at the we have a completion date of October 2022.”
Observatories, especially the ones in Yorkshire, where
last year’s cover bird, the Black-browed Albatross This is clearly fantastic news and I would like to thank
returned to Flamborough for the whole of the summer all those who donated for the new rebuild and that
delighting many thousands of visitors including me! FIBOT managed to reach the £650,000 target which
Picture opposite by Justin Carr they required.

The year began with all Observatories still in Lockdown The BOC has been continuing our efforts to get all the
#3, and it would be many weeks before any Observatory Observatories data digitised and uploaded to BirdTrack,
was fully operational with regards to staying guests. But with many Observatories now getting all their data
as governments lifted restrictions, almost all onto the system shortly after the year’s end, and some
Observatories were accepting guests by mid- August. are even doing it ‘live’ each day. More Observatories are
Financially most Observatories came out of the crisis nearing the completion of the digitisation.
unscathed as government grants, donations and other
fund-raising initiatives helped them through. Thanks to Scott Mason from the BTO for the following
information
I would like to take the opportunity here to say a big
Thank you on behalf of the Observatories to Alison Bird Observatory records total 5,965,674 records (this is
Duncan, who stood down as Secretary of the BOC at the those submitted directly to BirdTrack via Observatory
AGM in February, Alison had done a sterling job over the accounts rather than coming in via Trektellen.). If you
past decade and will be replaced by Chris Williams, the take out all the BirdGuides and Trektellen records from
Chairman at Hilbre Bird Observatory. Alison will remain the total number of records for Britain and Ireland,
on the Executive Committee of the BOC. Observatory data accounts for 7.2% of all the records in
BirdTrack!
As well as doing my primary job as Director of
Operations and Observatory Warden at Bardsey BO, I Below are the totals for Obs that have BirdTrack
have worked closely with the BOC Executive (Secretary accounts
Chris Williams (Chair at Hilbre), Peter Howlett
(representing Bardsey BO), and Steffan Walton Spurn – 1355208 Sandwich Bay – 1016833
(Warden of Sandwich Bay Bird Observatory) to progress Bardsey – 820175 Portland - 661222
various BOC items during 2021. We held a number of Skokholm – 621294 Isle of May - 471659
Zoom meetings through the year and the BOC was Landguard – 470765 Hilbre - 324052
forced to have its AGM via zoom in February. North Ron – 293569 Holme - 240776
Filey – 154147 Flamborough - 71412
The summer meeting we had planned on Cape Clear Copeland – 52017 Walney - 7532
for 2020 was rescheduled for 2021, but again had to be
cancelled. In November 2021 we had begun planning The future of Bird Observatories relies very much on the
our AGM at Thetford again, however, the BOC Exec took massive amount of volunteer hours which go into
the decision to cancel the face to face meeting, due to running the individual observatories, as well as the
the increasingly worrying surge in cases of Covid-19. We large number of hours spent by volunteers to move the
plan to have the meeting via Zoom in early February. BOC forward as a body. With that in mind as I begin my
32nd year working at Observatories, I remain very
2019 saw the total destruction of Fair Isle Bird
Observatory by a fire which engulfed the whole

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Bird Observatories Council – January 2022 - www.birdobscouncil.org.uk Page 2

positive about the future, and the number of An exciting new radio tracking project was launched
youngsters that are once again spending time at Bird last year and introduced by Nick Whitehouse in the last
Observatories. Bardsey hosted Ed Betteridge for his 4th issue of this Newsletter. An update on the MOTUS
year as short-term volunteer as well as having Hannah project can be found towards the end of this newsletter.
Coburn as one of the delayed Rare Bird Alert Young
Ornithologist Fellowships in the autumn and Louis
Driver as an intern for a month too.

SUMMARY OF THE 2021 BOC AGM HELD VIA ZOOM, ON SATURDAY 6 FEB 2020

This was the first ever remote AGM the BOC has held. As we all became more familiar with online meetings during the
year, this was just ‘another zoom meeting’ and the buzz of the BOC weekend was unfortunately lost.

The meeting however was very productive and very large with some 34 delegates, including representatives from 17 of
the 20 bird observatories within the UK, many BTO staff members, and also representatives from two other sites, Lundy,
who are hoping to regain their accreditation, and also Inishtrahull in Northern Ireland who are looking to gain
accreditation.

The Chair was tasked with keeping the meeting under control, running smoothly and managing to fit a massive agenda
into a four-hour meeting.

Election of Chairperson and Secretary was the first agenda item. These posts are to be re-elected at each AGM, to serve
until the end of the following AGM. Steve Stansfield was willing to stand again, proposed by Dungeness, seconded by
Alderney. Alison Duncan stepped down as secretary, Many thanks to Alison for all her hard work and efforts as secretary.
Chris Williams was proposed as secretary by Bardsey, seconded by North Ronaldsay.

Remembrance
Steve Stansfield then asked Mike Archer to give special remembrance and thanks to Kevin Woodbridge, who founded
North Ronaldsay BO, and Peter Dunn, who was a founder member of Filey BO, both of whom sadly passed away in
2020 and were an integral part of the BOC family.

Ringing at Observatories during lockdowns had been difficult. Dave Leech, Head of the Ringing Unit at the BTO,
expressed thanks to all for the efforts during these difficult periods and apologised for any delays but explained that
legislation was difficult to follow and again offered thanks for understanding. Dave then gave a presentation regarding
the BTO positions during the various lockdowns. As Observatories were professional bodies they were allowed to
continue to ring during lockdowns as it was classed as work and not recreational.

Affiliated Bird Observatories
Due to the pandemic, progress on this item has been difficult. These are sites that cannot fulfil all parts of the
constitution. There is some interest in asking sites that record migration to be affiliated, with collection of data on 75%
of recording dates. In the constitution, groups that fulfil census data recording can apply to be an Associate
Observatory. Associate members may not vote or hold positions, but this could be a steppingstone for them; they could
benefit from advantages in marketing or funding opportunities, kudos, or attracting more people.
A sub-group of Steve Stansfield, Tim Earl & Aron Sapsford continued to look at the progress of this item. Tim analysed
the benefits to BOC and to associate members and the minimum criteria required.

BOC-BTO Memorandum of Understanding – vote to approve:
A final draft of the MoU, approved by BTO, had been received from Scott Mason and Dave Leech and with a slight
alteration to include ROI & Channel Islands. The content has been discussed and circulated around the Observatories
and discussed at length over a number of years. A vote to accept the document was carried unanimously. Steve
Stansfield gave a vote of thanks to all involved at the BTO particularly Dave Leech, Nick Moran and the Senior
Management Team including Scott Mayson & James Pierce-Higgins. The MOU would be up for review five years from
the date of the meeting.

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Feather Sampling – Report from Steve Stansfield and Jez Blackburn:
A brief report was given about the current project, to be able to sample feathers for DNA analysis for identification of
rare and scarce migrants and difficult to identify forms. Training for Observatory Staff is continuing, though the
remoteness makes it difficult to do.

Bird Tracking Technology – Motus Project:
An update had previously been sent out to all Observatories. Nick Whitehouse gave some information to the meeting
on progress which in 2020 was obviously slowed but progress had still been made. The search for funding continued
and one or two outlets look promising. The use of the same frequency as Europe has been overcome with Ofcom in the
form of a temporary licence which is extendable. Sandwich have now had their receiver installed and there is also one
at an inland site in North Yorkshire. There is a need for more groundwork and tagging, £5K grant has been received
from the British Ecological Society for use on Blackcaps at sites with receivers and will cover 27 tags. Lucy Mitchel will
visit sites to carry out tagging. The group has changed its title to Motus UK from Operation Yellow Browed Warbler. Jez
Blackburn pointed out that a lot of work had been carried out by Lucy, especially regarding applications for permission
etc. Nick Whitehouse gave thanks to BTO for their time and hard work on this project with mention to Jez, Chris Hewson
& Special Methods Technical Panel.

BOC Scientific Committee:
This is to be re-visited with a possibility of being re-established, to collate scientific projects at different observatories.

Treasurer’s Report:
Alison Duncan reported that the Treasurer’s Statement for 2020 had been circulated, BOC are ok for funds especially
with the 2020 Bird Fair being cancelled and the fee being re-funded. The balance stands at just over £3K so this is good
for future updates to the Bird Fair stand.

YBOV – Report.
SS stated that there was nothing to report for 2020. It was suggested that a link could be added on the BTO website.
One applicant had been received for Orkney for two months in 2021 and this had been accepted.

BOC Newsletter
The Chair thanked everyone for their contributions, 20 Obs sent in pieces which produced a 90-page newsletter.
The Twitter link to the newsletter produced over 2.5k “clicks” plus un-trackable links other Obs have sent off. Chris
Williams thanked Steve Stansfield for his huge effort in collating all the information. Steve is happy to continue for
another year but asked if someone else will take over from 2022/23 edition.

Lundy Bird Observatory: Update on accreditation by Dean Jones
Lockdowns had the obvious effects on volunteers and visitors to Lundy however surveying on the island continued with
some islanders also assisting. Some volunteers and ringing groups were able to return in July and carry out ringing and
survey work. The blog etc continued to be updated and work on the website, digitisation of data and re-construction
of the Heligoland trap continued.

Inishrahull - Proposed new Observatory, a presentation by Alan Lauder
Inishrahull lies 6 miles NNE of Malin Head. It is the most Northerly point in Ireland and is the site of MorPAMM & INTEREG
project since 2019 tracking seabirds. There have been attempts in the past to establish a bird obs at Malin in the 60’s
which ran for several years. Currently there is a gap in the NW sector which Inishtrahull is in. It is a long sought-after
island. They have a band of enthusiastic locals and it is already closely linked with existing projects. In September 1965,
105 birds were ringed including Fieldfare, Redwing, Short-toed Lark, Rosefinch and Brambling. There are large seasonal
movements of migrants and massive seabird passage can be observed. The island hosts a huge Storm Petrel colony,
breeding Bonxie, Manx Shearwaters, Shags, Gulls and some waders. Currently there are unsustainable numbers of
visitors during the breeding season which a semi-permanent presence will hope to control. The volunteers are currently
operating as an unincorporated body which will move to a LTD at the point of lease holding being secured. They have
an existing ringing group, committee and licences from Irish Lights with consent from NWPS. The group have a variety
of access options including a RIB donated from Copeland BO! Accommodation is to be in the existing lighthouse
buildings which will need some works, a golf cart provides transport to here from the pier. The group are aiming for
80% coverage, hope to progress to a long-term agreement with Irish Lights, have several supporters and members and
have secured a 20K Euro grant from NWPS. The current aim is to gain BOC accreditation by 2022.

Bird Observatories Council – January 2022 - www.birdobscouncil.org.uk Page 4

Alderney In the event, a new and exciting location for the
John Horton observatory HQ was offered, agreed and ready to move
into ahead of our imposed move date. Could it be
Given the turmoil we were possible that after so much hard work that moving
thrown into by the worst kind home could be a blessing in disguise?
of small island politics it is a tribute to the Alderney Bird
Observatory organisation that we enjoyed yet another On private land at Essex Farm overlooking Longis Bay,
brilliant year. The longest annual list of 192 species ever, a location at which we have monitored birds since 2016
the highest one day species total of 89 species, and the which also became one of our premier ringing sites, I
greatest number of birds ringed in a single year am delighted to say we now have a brand-new ringing
surpassing 13,000 were highlights. Our very small team room / research station, fully kitted out and complete
also discovered one bird species, two species of insects, with solar panel power.
two species of wildflowers and a mammal never before
recorded on the island. This new facility was donated to us generously.
Designed for ringing and recording it also has ample
Ringing totals included Barn Swallow (1,946) House outdoor space that we used for ringing
Martin (251) Redstart (53) Fieldfare (101) Garden Warbler demonstrations to the visiting specialist wildlife holiday
(86) Common Whitethroat (338) and Brambling (130). Naturetrek tour groups this autumn. Anyone visiting
Jack Snipe, Stock Dove, Red-rumped Swallow, this new facility could not help but think it a positive
Greenish Warbler, Common Crossbill and Rustic step in the right direction cementing our future.
Bunting were all additions to the island ringing list, the
latter an addition to Alderney’s bird species total.

The turmoil came with a change in the politicians who
make up the States of Alderney, the island’s
administrative body. We started the year with an
exemplary residential unit sleeping 10 people and a
warden employed by the ‘States’ and for reasons far
from clear, ended with both forms of support slashed.
The accommodation lies empty, forlorn, generating no
income for the States who own it.

“The continued success of the ABO is down to a hugely Our new ringing / research station. © Alan Perks
dedicated warden and a board of directors who have
taken the observatory project into total independence
and a leaner, stronger organisation,” says steering
committee member Tim Earl. “They have secured new
headquarters, a superb ringing station and financial
support from a coterie of people who are committed to
seeing the observatory flourish.”

Attacks by those in Alderney who seemed determined But what about an HQ? Well on a small island suitable
to either destroy the ABO or take it for themselves are (and available) venues for a bird observatory are not
well known to the Bird Observatories Council. two-a-penny. However, once again we landed on our
feet – Essex Hill is the highest point at the north east
Our committee and board members have remained end of Alderney, faces the French coast, overlooks our
steadfast and resolute throughout drawing on census area and forms one of the busiest first landfall
widespread support locally, across the British Isles and sites for migrants on the island.
beyond. However, the ABO board remain perplexed
that on a small island where government consist of a A building last used in the 1980s as a pirate radio
handful of individuals serving short terms in office, long station, sits on the headland at Essex Hill. Aptly named
term stability is highly unlikely. Telegraph House, it is surrounded by dense gorse
habitat that supports breeding Dartford Warblers. In
As word spread of our eviction, offers quickly came to the short time since we moved home, a local builder
us of new private premises at long term favourable gave his time free of charge renovating the interior,
rates presented by those wanting to see the ABO rewiring, plaster-boarding and creating an accessible
continue to flourish and bring positive attention the loft / storage area. Materials donated locally included a
island. complete new wooden flooring. The immediate
exterior garden delivers commanding views of the
French coast, and an ample seating area will make this

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venue a cracking place to visit and first-class location Spring began with a wonderful boost as the ABO
for a bird observatory. featured a full page in the prestigious New Scientist
magazine. The extensive and global distribution of this
Telegraph House- the new ABO HQ © Alan Perks. publication caught the attention of Guernsey
supermarket chain ‘Alliance’ who generously made a
significant donation to our charity.

Alderney’s first comprehensive island wide survey of
Hedgehogs took place this year. This standardised
monitoring program has been masterminded by
visiting UK scientist / researcher Richard Melzack
together with our local resident leading Hedgehog
expert Suzy Weir. The ABO were delighted to assist
with the program at each stage on the monitoring and
contributed some rather unusual input when assistant
warden Matt Scragg came across a genuine albino
Hedgehog.

Location of the new observatory building © Myra Jennings Albino Western Hedgehog © Matt Scragg

If this was not enough, we have also taken on a WWII Having extended my career break several times, on 15
German watchtower. The gantry position at the top of August I resigned from the Metropolitan police service.
the tower is the best place on the island from which to The decision was not difficult given the support of so
observe visual migration. The tower needs some many, progress made this year and of course the
tidying but is sound and set to become our ‘Migration opportunity to record the fantastic migration through
Station’ from which ABO members, guests, locals, Alderney for many years to come.
visitors and tourists can learn about and experience the
wonders of bird migration. Soon after committing my future to the ABO the
Channel Islands Bird Ringing Scheme committee
Our new locations do not offer accommodation, but we asked me to become its new Chairman. I was delighted
have arranged favourable deals with members of the to accept. The CIBRS is one of the world’s oldest
Alderney accommodation sector for visiting birders schemes, its previous two Chairman both serving more
and ringers, these are available through the ABO than 20 years in post each. I hope to maintain the
website. stability and progress its members have come to rely
upon. I was very proud indeed to join this year’s
The ABO has worked closely with local landowners over EURING conference representing Europe’s smallest
the last five years developing relationships which have ringing scheme.
established a strong reputation for what we do and
how we do it. Breaking news is that one landowner has This year the ABO piloted The Channel Islands’ first
approached the ABO offering us tracts of land at a Constant Effort Site (CES) standardised ringing
peppercorn rent to protect them for birds over the next program. We will launch it officially in 2022 and CIBRS
25 years. This is an exciting development, an ringers on Guernsey and Jersey are looking to follow
endorsement from the local community proud to be suit.
the home of the Channel Islands’ first accredited bird
observatory.

Bird Observatories Council – January 2022 - www.birdobscouncil.org.uk Page 6

The Birds & General recording Stone Curlew © Chris Bale

Notable January records began on 5th with a Mute A pair of Pintail were on Longis Pond on the 2nd. Two
Swan and Black-necked Grebe (present until the 7th) Ospreys passed over on the 8th, a Large Tortoiseshell
in Braye Bay. On the 9th a colour ringed Mediterranean butterfly on the 9th. Our assistant warden for 2021 Matt
Gull in Braye Bay, first ringed 1,700km away in Serbia, Scragg was able to leave mandatory covid isolation and
was seen. A Gadwall, locally rare, was on Longis Pond join the team on the 12th. Now out of isolation he saw
23rd. the first Black Kite of the spring drift over Mannez
lighthouse on the 13th. Our first Cuckoo was recorded
February highlights included the islands 3rd and 4th on the 19th. A Purple Heron was at Longis from the 20th
records of Goosander, a male in Longis Bay on the 8th to 28th. Peak Wheatear movement was 120 on the
and the following day a female on the waterwork 20th.
quarry. On the 10th a flock of 196 Lapwings at the
airfield was the highest total since the 1980s. The Purple Heron © Ian Le Page,
month also saw an unusually high count of Common
Gulls for us peaking at 9 on the 11th. A second Black- On the 24th we held the inaugural Alderney bird race’
necked Grebe of the month was on choppy seas off the with teams from Alderney and Guernsey taking part.
NE coast on the 12th. The 17th brought the first The ABO team won the day recording 77 species. It was
movement of Lesser Black-backed Gulls with 32 on a very close competition with only seven species
Crabby Bay. On the 22nd a Rook was present on Kiln between first and last place. The 89 species recorded in
farm fields, the third ABO record in the last six years, total by the teams taking part constituted the most
this species is likely an example of decades of under- ever recorded in Alderney in a single day including a
recording as pre-2016 there are only two records in fine Wood Wabrler. A productive month ended with
200yrs! Month end the ABO were pleased to accept an belated news of a Corncrake spotted at the
invitation from the French government to become a Community Woodland on the 30th.
National Action Plan partner for Balearic Shearwater
conservation. A Common Crossbill was ringed on 2 May, only the 3rd
ringed in the Channel Islands. The other two were in
March, the spring daily census began and included a August 1972 on the island of Sark. On the same a day a
Zitting Cisticola that had overwintered at Longis Great Bustard from the Salisbury Plains Great Bustard
reserve sparking hopes of another successful breeding Project was located at Whitegates. Project scientists
record of this species. Three Purple Sandpipers (long
billed form) were on Fort Raz on the 11th and a rare local
record of a Yellowhammer came on the 26th. First
spring passage records included Sand Martin (4) on the
17th, Wheatear 20th. The first fair influx of Chiffchaffs
(110) was on the 21st, Swallow 25th, Blackcap passage
began in earnest on the 30th and the same day we had
the earliest ever island record of Sedge Warbler.

The prolonged cold spell this spring and absence of
insects resulted in very low numbers of fledglings from
early nesting birds. Spring ringing revealed that Blue
Tits, Great Tits, Blackbirds and Dunnocks appeared to
have been hit particularly hard. Spring butterflies were
thin on the ground until a notable influx of Painted
Ladies on 10th May, moths also showed dramatic drops
in numbers against previous years.

April began well with seven Ring Ouzels on the 1st and
a surprise migrant – Stone Curlew – on the NE coast
rocky shoreline on the 2nd, a species last recorded as
‘one shot in 1887’!

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confirmed the bird to be a female hatched 22/05/20 following morning I was amazed to see the flock had
and released on 05/09/20. risen to 13!

Great Bustard – Ian Le Page. 13 Rose-coloured Starlings © John Horton

On the 5th half a dozen Common Tern were the first The moth trap was picking up: it held 41 Ruby Tigers on
returners to our small breeding colony and overnight the 3rd. A White Stork was reported flying over St Anne
our newly acquired ‘Song meter 4A’ recorded Manx on the 8th. A further Rosy Starling was found at the
Shearwaters calling. This species is not recorded as airport a week after the large flock moved on. June was
breeding in Alderney to date. A locally rare Canada red letter month for wild flowers as we added two
Goose was on the sea at Saye Bay on the 6th, only the previously unrecorded species in two days! On the 8th
fifth record for the island. On the 11th a Red-rumped we discovered a Lizard orchid Himantoglossum
Swallow was caught during a Swallow roost session, hircinum. Close liaison with States Works ensured it
the first ringed in the Channel Islands. The Swallow was carefully avoided during the usual grass cutting
roost sessions this spring again produced several program. Just two days later on the 10th we found
recently fledged individuals (this year 13) all weeks Sanfoin which according to the Guernsey biological
ahead of any of our local breeders even taking up records centre is not previously found in the Channel
residence. Five Little Grebe chicks were present at Islands..
Longis Pond on the 5th and a male Montague’s Harrier
was hunting at Giffoinne on the 18th. Glanville Fritillary
was not recorded until the 26th and this proved to be
one of just a handful of records this year. A pair of
Shelduck, a recent first-time breeder in Alderney, was
spotted with eight ducklings on the 29th.

Red-rumped Swallow © John Horton Lizard Orchid John Horton

1st June a single Spoonbill was spotted passing over the An unseasonal Hobby visited on the 17 June and the
island. Our share of the movement of Rose-coloured 20th saw the first of an autumn passage of 26 Honey
Starlings across the continent was generous with five Buzzards.
birds together near the airport. Checking for them the

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During July our seabird program involved ringing more August – On the 10th a juvenile / female type Golden
than 1,000 seabirds over three days. We had fitted Oriole flew over Essex Farm, 110 Willow Warblers were
colour rings on Cormorant chicks for the first time this ringed, and the moth trap held six Radford's Flame
April and this month fitted 202 Lesser Black-backed Shoulder. On the 14th the first gathering migrating
Gull chicks with colour rings. These contribute to a flocks of hirundines lined telegraph pole wires at
program for this species started by the CIBRS in 2009. Mannez. An adult Yellow-legged Gull was seen in
More than 20 of this year’s fledged birds have been Crabby Bay on the 15th. One Greenish Warbler was
reported via ring reads in the field from wintering ringed on the 17th, two Icterine Warblers on 21st and
grounds and staging posts in Spain and Portugal. 28th. The Greenish Warbler was a first ringing for
Alderney. A Nightingale was ringed 24th.
Oystercatcher chick survival rate was poor. The
potential answer to this became clear when a Weasel
was spotted on the north coast, the views obtained of
the mammal were such that there was no doubt
concerning identification of the species which has
never been recorded in Alderney before, begging the
question how did it get here? A mystery indeed but no
lesser anomaly than the wild Boar that appeared in
Alderney in 2013!

The weather was kind to us for our trip to the islet of
Burhou where more than 700 Storm Petrels were
processed. These included eight UK and one French
control. A bird ringed on 17th July was processed five
days later by the Irish ringing scheme at Little Saltee
Island, County Wexford, 405km away. Another
exceptional Petrel record concerned longevity and one
of the retrapped birds processed on Burhou on the 16th
was originally ringed 16/07/2000, 21 years ago to the
day.

Petrel Ringing © John Horton Greenish Warbler © John Horton

The month ended on a high with the successful hand- There was a strong passage of Whinchats through the
rearing of a rescued House Martin chick that was month that saw the lion’s share of 28 ringed during the
successfully released on the 23rd having done well autumn. Two Wrynecks were ringed on the 26th. An
feasting on field crickets caught in my garden. I ground Osprey passed low over our new observatory HQ
to a halt while leading an island tour by minibus Telegraph House on the 27th. Another year for finding
observing a Great Bustard flying in off the sea on 22 species never before recorded on the island continued
July. The bird soon landed in a nearby field but within a with a Pine Tree Lappet moth in the Obs trap on the
couple of minutes was disturbed by a farm vehicle. The 21st. A vocal fly-over Dotterel was recorded on the 31st.
bird was photographed by local dog walkers an hour
later but the images captured could not confirm if this Pine Tree Lappet - Dendrolimus pini
bird was the individual recorded in the spring. A Lunar
Hornet moth was located on a mist net on the 14th.

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In September the nationally high surge in Little Stint On the 25th a Red-breasted Flycatcher put in a staring
records brought three our way on the 1st, all feeding appearance for one of our visiting Naturetrek groups.
together in Longis bay. Strong passage on the 4th October required some careful ringing management
included 140 Willow Warblers ringed. A cracking as thousands of hirundines descended on the island
Ortolan Bunting was ringed 8th September. between the 6th and 10th. The 6th was fairly quiet until
just ahead of mid-day when the increasing volume of
Ortolan Bunting © John Horton birds was such that we closed down all but one 18m
net. By dusk 615 birds had been ringed, our highest
The 9th was our last sighting of Common Swift and on single day total so far and a memorable afternoon for
the 12th a Spotted Crake made a brief appearance at assistant warden Matt Scragg and me.
Longis pond. I came across an interesting insect new to
me between ringing rounds on the 13th. It transpired to The 17th saw the start of a run of Coal Tits in numbers
be Notonecta viridis, never before recorded in the never recorded on the island; indeed there have only
Bailiwick Islands. been six records since the ABO launched in 2016.
However, during the ensuing four weeks the species
was recorded in double figures on six individual days
and a dozen were ringed (all Periparus ater ater). A
similar pattern occurred with Blue Tits: just 11 birds
were ringed during the first ten months of the year and
then 90 during November, doubling our highest ever
previous annual ringed total for this species. Individual
flocks of up to 40 Blue Tits was quite a novelty for us.
Late movers included a Willow Warbler on the 7th,
Grasshopper Warbler 12th and Garden Warbler 19th.
The 13th brought our first significant movement of
Redwings, a week earlier than last year. This began
another impressive late autumn movement – we
ringed over 3,000 thrushes including 2,463 Redwings
and 101 Fieldfares despite losing 22 days ringing during
October and November to inclement weather. In
contrast, we have come to expect large falls of
Goldcrest during the second half of October but this
year it simply never happened. Other species showing
a significant decrease were Dunnock, Firecrest and
Goldfinch.

On the 17th a fine Rustic Bunting was ringed, this was
an addition to the birds of Alderney list and the first
ever ringed in the Channel Islands. Chaffinch numbers
increased steadily towards month end – a passage of
6,200 recorded on the 24th included Common
Rosefinch ringed.

Notonecta viridis © John Horton Common Rosefinch © John Horton

P a g e 11 Bird Observatories Council – January 2022 - www.birdobscouncil.org.uk

Rustic Bunting © John Horton Pallas’s Warbler © Matt Scragg

November began with another addition to the Whitethroat on the 3rd, Russian ringed Starling on the
Alderney ringing list, a Jack Snipe at Longis reserve on 5th, Dutch ringed Blue Tit on the 8th, Belgium ringed
the 1st. The same morning a Grey Phalarope was on the Redwing 10th, and on the 16th a Belgium ringed
sea off Chateau L’etoc. Paul Veron ringed the island’s Fieldfare.
second ever Pallas’s Warbler in his garden on the 3rd!
December saw two unseasonal Sandwich Terns grace
Flyby flocks of Barnacle Geese were of 8 birds on the Longis Bay on the 9th. Two Purple Sandpipers were still
3rd and 15 on the 5th. Four Purple Sandpipers and present until mid-month as were small flocks of
surprisingly our first Yellow-browed Warbler of the year Bramblings. On the 10th a Yellow Browed Warbler was
were in the census area on the 10th. A female Pochard reported from Barrackmasters Lane. More local rarities
was seen at Crabby quarry on the 11th. One Great were seen on the 28th – a flock of 11 Greylag Geese at
Northern Diver was on the sea off Mannez lighthouse Kiln Farm fields and a male Pochard at Longis Pond.
on the 12th. Two Cattle Egrets were at Kiln Farm 13th Long term leases on our new private premises will
with one present until the 26th. ensure the uninterrupted continuation of Alderneys
first and most comprehensive standardised
Brambling numbers were impressive peaking at 455 ornithological research database, I am particularly
on 8th November. Yellow-browed Warblers remained delighted to report that assistant warden Matt Scragg
thin on the ground with just two birds seen this has committed to the 2022 season and has in fact
autumn, but five Siberian Chiffchaffs were ringed. The moved to the island with his partner. Thank you to Matt
last Swallow was seen on the 14th. A cracking run of for your hard work this year, thank you to the 2021
foreign control passerines included a Dutch Lesser migration assistants and most of all thanks to all
‘friends of the ABO’ and its dedicated, resilient board
members… onwards and upwards!

Bird Observatories Council – January 2022 - www.birdobscouncil.org.uk P a g e 12

Bardsey eventually Emma and I had the rooms looking like they
Steve Stansfield should for guests.

So spring 2021 has Getting the rooms ready
been another strange
one…

We began the season operating the Lodge again as a
single letting unit again. Emma and Connor, along with
new recruits Stuart Cossey and Megan (Stuart’s Fiancé)
got the south side put back together and the staff
continued to use the North side of the Obs to live in.

When we arrived back on the isla nd the walls in both
quad rooms (north and South) were extremely wet. The
roof had been leaking over the winter. Fortunately, BITL
had managed to secure a grant to have some remedial
repairs done. A company from North Wales (The
original roofing company) came along and did a
sterling job and fixed the roof. The walls began to dry
out and eventually we are able to paint them and get
the Lodge looking smart again.

And we can now take guests

So by early August we were up and running as a hostel
again, and it was really really good to see so many of our
friends and being able to mix inside with them again
after what had been a truly bizarre 18 months or so…

Spring Migration

Migration in spring was rather poor. There were very
few days with good numbers of migrants and not many
unusual bits and pieces. Up to five Black redstarts were
seen adding a splash of colour to spring. A Nelson’s Gull
(Glaucous x Herring gull hybrid) was loafing around for
most of February and March.

Repairing the porch roof © Steve Stansfield Nelson’s Gull © Stuart Cossey

By early June it became evident that we were going to
be able to run as a hostel for the latter part of the year.
We had to create a plan for getting the Lodge back
together, and also for migrating the staff from the
North side into their accommodation at the LSA hut
and behind the ringing hut. As the north side of the
Lodge had been used as staff accommodation for
almost two years there was a lot of work involved
moving the Assistants into their own accommodation
and then getting the rooms ready for guests. I did lots
of scraping of walls and ceilings to get all the old paint
off them, and then spent many many hours carefully
painting them. Once the rooms were all painted it was
time to clean and dress them. Curtain poles had to be
fixed, window hinges replaced, lots of cleaning, but

P a g e 13 Bird Observatories Council – January 2022 - www.birdobscouncil.org.uk

The best birds of spring were a rather fine Woodchat
Shrike that spent a few days eating bees along the
fence line below the schoolhouse.

Black Redstart © Stuart Cossey

A Red Kite was seen on 1 April and an Orange tip and
Holly Blue on 23rd. Orange Tip is the tenth in 30 years
and Holly Blue the 5th.

Orange Tip © Steve Stansfield Woodchat © Steve Hughes

An Icterine Warbler and a Marsh warbler were both
found singing on 1 June in the Observatory garden and
a immature male Common Rosefinch was seen on 3rd
again singing in the obs Garden.

There was a Rosy Starling 7 June which was found as it
sat briefly on the chimneys at Carreg, and was later
relocated in the lowlands near the lime kiln. There were
then another two on 10th, these were found at Nant and
were eventually seen in the Obs Garden. This is the first
time more than one bird has ever been seen on the
island at once.

Rosy Starling © Steve Stansfield

Breeding birds
Breeding birds had a good time this year

Many years ago now, we raised some money to but
some artificial House Martin nests. We placed two on
the LSA hut (as there are usually House Martin’s nesting
on the lighthouse), and we put another in the porch at
Cristin. Well, this year the ones at the Obs had some

Holly Blue © Steve Stansfield

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interest from a pair of martin’s in May, and a few weeks Puffin population on Bardsey continued to increase.
later there were four eggs laid! We have watched all Flush counts were completed in May and June with a
summer as, at first, the adults incubated the eggs, and maximum of 378 individuals counted. In July there
eventually when they hatched, they fed their tiny were at least 400 adults ashore or on the sea
chicks. On 22 August they fledged. All four have suggesting that there are at least 200 pairs. There were
survived and were flying round the Obs at dusk. A great 349 AOBs counted on Ynys Gwylan Fawr with a flush
success story. count of 578 individuals.

Breeding land birds did well, highlights included
Peregrines that fledged two young. For the first time an
many years we had a pair of Ringed Plovers nest on the
Narrows. They laid four eggs and managed to fledge
two chicks.

House Martin chicks © Steve Stansfield Ringed Plover chick © Steve Stansfield

Seabirds did well too. There were 21 pairs of Fulmar on Wheatears and Stonechats had a good season, with
the East Side, five above the 2020 total and 14.9% above some Stonechat pairs having three broods. Robins
the ten-year average (18.27±s.d.5.46). 13 chicks were nested at Cristin and Nant, Great Tits nested for a
seen giving a productivity of 0.58. A pair of Storm second consecutive year. Goldcrest also nested again in
Petrels again nested in an artificial nest box and a chick the plantation. With the numbers of young Meadow
was seen on 10th August. Seven Cormorant Nests were Pipits and Wrens on the island in mid-August, it looks
counted on Ynys Gwylan Fawr, the first time that they like they had a good season. Blackbirds were quite
have bred on the larger island since 2013. Bardsey held successful with at least 15 young trapped at Cristin
59 Pairs of shags, the third highest count since 1953. alone!
There were a further 39 pairs on Ynys Gwylan Fawr with
a further six seen across on Ynys Gwylan Bach. There One thing that appears not to have had a good time is
were 68 pairs of Lesser Black-backed Gulls: 69 AON Little Owl. There have been very few sightings all year
were counted and a minimum of 37 juveniles fledged. and very few have been heard calling.
A total of 337 Herring Gulls nested on Bardsey held 337
AON, 11.5% below the ten-year mean (380.80±s.d.35.6). Moths
On Ynys Gwylan Fawr 57 Pairs were counted. Two pairs
of Great Black-backed Gulls were on Bardsey. There Away from birds, we have had some outstanding moths
were 83 adults with 28 juveniles on Ynys Gwylan Fawr including a few new species for the island and a few
and nine AONs on Ynys Gwylan Bach. that have only been seen on a handful of occasions.

From the 181 nests of Kittiwake, 268 young were One of the best ones has to be the Lunar Hornet Moth
counted including a few fledged juveniles and chicks. that I found in Cristin Withy.
The best for some time.

Kittiwakes © Steve Stansfield

There were almost 1500 Guillemots on ledges. Whilst Lunar Hornet © Steve Stansfield
Razorbill numbers during flush counts saw 1220 Opposite page Melodious Warbler © Steve Stansfield
individuals. A minimum of 79 young were counted at
Seal Cave, a sample plot productivity of 0.75 chicks per
pair.

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Bird Observatories Council – January 2022 - www.birdobscouncil.org.uk P a g e 16

This is a medium sized moth but looks almost identical Melodious Warbler © Steve Stansfield
to a Hornet - so much so that even though I know it was
a moth, my survival instinct would not let me touch it!! An Osprey also flew south and a Yellow-legged Gull was
There are two previous records of this fantastic moth for one of several seen in the autumn. The 25th August saw
Enlli, the last one some 30 years ago!! You can imagine the first three Wrynecks of the year recorded.
my excitement when I saw the first one of them, having
been looking for them in the withies for the last 24
summers! I was like a kid on Christmas Day!! This black
and yellow moth, with translucent wings is a master of
what is known as Batesian mimicry.

We have had a rather delicate moth, Brussels Lace
which was new for the island, trapped by Rob Bithell at
Hendy, and then two more a month later at Cristin.
Black Arches was another quite stunning addition to
the island’s list this year as was the beautiful Clouded
Magpie.

Clouded Magpie © Steve Stansfield Wryneck© Steve Stansfield

We also had Dark Spinach which was new, small rivulet September began with the only Icterine Warbler of the
was the fourth for the island Elderberry Pearl was 5th autumn being seen at Nant along with another
record. Shaded-broad Bar was new. There was the Wryneck. At Cristin a large flock of House Martins were
second island record for both Blood-vein and also Small drawn to the nets using a tape-lure and by the end of
Blood-vein. the day 66 new birds had been trapped and ringed. To
put this into context, previously the most ever caught
in a single year was six and the total ever ringed
between 1953 and 2020 was 37, so this was some
achievement.

Black Arches © Steve Stansfield The 2nd of September saw one of the most productive
days of the autumn with a wide variety of species and
It’s been a great year for new and scarce moths all in all, in good numbers too. These included six Fulmar, five
and some of them have been very attractive too. Common, one Mediterranean Gull, 4000 Kittiwakes,
two Arctic Terns, two Sandwich Terns Scoter, passed at
Autumn migration sea, a Sparrowhawk, two Kestrels, another Osprey, a
Buzzard, three Peregrines were recorded. 12 Collared
Autumn migration got off to a bit of a good start with Doves remained at Tŷ Pellaf (as they did for most of the
good numbers of Spotted and Pied Flycatchers seen. month), another Wryneck, 106 Swallows, 193 House
Willow Warblers were passing through a little later than Martins, nine Tree Pipits, 2 flava Wagtails, ten Grey
normal and in late August two Melodious Warblers Wagtails, 16 Wheatears (mostly of the Greenland race
were found, one at Tŷ Pellaf and another at the O.o.leucorrhoa) were on the South End. A Whinchat
Lighthouse. and 15 Stonechats were scattered in the gorsey areas of
the island. On the Warbler front it was the best day of
the autumn with one Grasshopper Warbler, two Sedge
Warblers, one Lesser Whitethroat, 16 Whitethroats, one
Garden Warbler, eight Blackcaps, a possible Barred
Warbler, two Chiffchaffs, 191 Willow Warblers, and two
Goldcrests. A staggering 49 Spotted Flycatchers and
seven Pied Flycatchers were seen. At the sunflower

P a g e 17 Bird Observatories Council – January 2022 - www.birdobscouncil.org.uk

fields at Tŷ Pellaf 29 Goldfinch were with 433 Linnets for the year) arrived. A male Ruff was also in the roost
and a lone Lesser Redpoll. Also 9 Risso’s Dolphins off along with 32 Curlew, seven Redshanks and 89
west side of the island – what a day! Turnstones.

The following day saw fewer birds numerically, but two Grey Plover © Steve Stansfield
major rarities in the shape of two Avocets flew south
along the west side of the South End! This is just the It was a warm day on 16th with the wind building in the
third record for the island! A Black Guillemot was seen afternoon. The highlights of the day were out to sea
off the South End in the afternoon. 5th September saw with around 4000 Kittiwakes loafing off the West Coast
the first Firecrest of the Autumn, whilst the 6th saw the and South End. This also attracted a range of other gulls
largest count of Willow Warblers of the year with a including 170 Black-headed Gulls, two Mediterranean
whopping 699 recorded along with 100 Chiffchaffs. The Gulls and a Common Gull. There was also a Balearic
8th saw a nice male Marsh Harrier over Pen Cristin, Shearwater that flew south in the morning alongside a
whilst a Grey Plover flew over the island and a Green Manx Shearwater, 1956 Razorbills, two winter plumaged
Sandpiper did a tour of the inland ponds. Staying with Black Guillemots, eight Sandwich and four Common
sandpipers, a Wood Sandpiper flew south past the Terns also three Great Skuas, two Arctic Skuas and a
Lighthouse on 10th, and a Spanish ringed Willow juvenile Pomarine Skua.
Warbler was trapped at Cristin. The 11th saw two more
Wrynecks near the schoolhouse and a third down near
Traeth Ffynnon in the late afternoon following a
changeover of guests in the morning.

Early September is always when the seal population on
the island begins to give birth to the next generation of
pups, and by mid-month many of the 66 which were
born on the island this year were already looking fat and
healthy.

September is also a good time for passage waders, and
the high tide roost on the black rocks to the south and
west of Solfach especially so in the morning of 15th. As
the tide rose and the birds gathered the roost totalled:
21 Oystercatchers, one Grey Plover, three Sanderling, 66
Purple Sandpipers, four Dunlins, and then a Juvenile
Little Stint and a juvenile Curlew Sandpiper (both new

Grey Seal and pup © Steve Stansfield

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So after what seems like months of calm weather, the Yellow-browed Warblers © Steve Stansfield
wind was due to increase from the South West
overnight and the promise of some sea passage had Later in the day a fine adult male Red-breasted
telescopes pointing seaward at dawn. Steve was joined Flycatcher was found at Tŷ Pellaf.
by guests at the Obs to look out first thing, whilst Stuart
watched from the South End. Later Steve went to the Red-breasted Flycatcher © Steve Stansfield
South End and watched for anther few hours and was
The 11th October produced two Red Kites over the Obs.
well rewarded with two Fulmars, one Sooty Shearwater,
155 Gannets, 21 Common Scoter, four Bar-tailed
Godwits, three Pomarine Skuas, 19 Arctic Skuas, nine
Great Skuas 9, two Mediterranean Gulls, 141 Black-
headed Gulls, 863 Kittiwake, a single Black Tern and 846
Razorbills. Meanwhile a Hummingbird Hawkmoth was
busy feeding on the Fuchsia in the Obs front garden.

Late September saw moderate south and south west
winds and very little of note, other than a nice Snow
Bunting on the South End was seen.

When the winds increased on 29th so did the number
of Gannets recorded, with a count of 1453 being made.
This is the second largest number ever recorded on a
single day from the island, with 1718 being the highest
in September 2004.

October began with a bang. The wind on 2nd fell mid-
morning, enough for the changeover to happen in the
early afternoon. Just before the new guests arrived at
the Obs, Ed, our young volunteer found a Red-eyed
Vireo!

Red-eyed Vireo © Steve Stansfield Then another major rarity in Island terns in the form of
the 6th Nuthatch for the island! It was only seen briefly,
This fantastic almost luminescent green and white by Jeff Wragg who managed to get some super images
warbler with its striking blue black and white head and of it!
face pattern is a resident of North America and winters
in south and central America. The bird was trapped and
ringed just as the incoming guests arrived along with
Ben Porter! How luck was that? It stayed around for
about three days and was re-trapped on its 3rd day.
This is only the third record for the island, the last being
found dead at the bottom of the Lighthouse in 1999!

The next week was windy and generally quiet, however Nuthatch © Jeff Wragg
on 9th October the winds finally dropped again and
there was a chance to open up the nets at the Obs. It
was a slow start but two Yellow-browed Warblers were
extracted from the nets!

P a g e 19 Bird Observatories Council – January 2022 - www.birdobscouncil.org.uk

The rest of October was a bit of a damp squib really with not going to be sorted and finalised overnight, so we
lots of wet and windy days. It was not until November decided to buy the fridges and install them on our
that the season finished with a bang – a great fall on 1st, existing battery set up that used the Generator to
with over 1000 Chaffinches, 1850 Starlings, 37 charge them in The evening. This meant we were
Bramblings, two Siberian Chiffchaffs, and singles of already cutting our gas consumption substantially,
Water Pipit, Richard’s Pipit, Woodlark and Hawfinch. even though the generator usage was slightly higher at
times.
Goodbye to the Generator – hello 24/7 power!
The next phase was ordering all the solar kit. We put a
The big news of the year has been the installation of our plan together as to what we would need, though this
new Solar energy system. It has been a long time in the had to change as the type of inverter we were getting
making, and most of air members are unaware of the was real top of the range and very hi spec. We began
whole story. ordering drums of Cable, inverters and some very swish
looking Lithium-ion Batteries. They look more like a
About 4 years ago, our Vice President Geoff Gibbs and computer terminal than batteries!
his wife Kate asked if BBFO were going to go the way of
BITL and remove the gas-powered fridges and install These were all ordered in February 2020 and were
electric ones that could be run from batteries. Cost of delivered in April, however because of the Covid
the installation was the major issue, however Geoff said pandemic we were unable to get the installation sorted
that he would donate a sizeable sum to get new fridges in 2020, however, Mark Carter and Connor did manage
and batteries. Shortly after, Ann Cleeves (author of the to get the groundwork’s done and the frames installed
TV shows Vera and Shetland) visited with her late in the garden to the east of the Heligoland trap.
husband Tim. After a great week on the island Ann and
Tim also donated a large sum towards a project that I So, in spring this year when Covid restrictions began to
thought would be useful for the Obs. be lifted I approached Chris Williams, the Chairman of
Hilbre Bird Observatory who is a qualified electrician if
he would come and help with the installation of the
electrical side of the project. Chris jumped at the
chance and also brought along Phill Woollen, Hilbre’s
Secretary, to help too.

It was one heck of a week, starting at 7am and working
through to 7pm most days and even 9pm on Thursday
evening. As to be expected, we hit snag after snag, and
we could not just pop down to Screwfix or B&Q to get
the parts we needed. It was a bit of a marathon. So by
Saturday afternoon when Chris and Phill left ( they were
still waiting for parts to arrive on Saturday morning!!),
almost everything was installed. We now just needed to
switch on!

14KWh of Li-ion batteries and power management gear© Phil, Emma and Connor with the solar panels © Steve
Steve Stansfield Stansfield

I decided to add this together with the other donation We did however wait until Tuesday, when Chris
and use it as a basis for raising more funds so we could returned along with Mark Crane (a solar specialist) to go
install a solar energy system. Initially we were looking through everything and then eventually switch on the
for about £15,000 which we did eventually manage to controllers one at a time. We had pewter coming from
raise. There were many many donors, all of whom the panels to the combiner boxes, then down the
deserve special thanks. We knew that the project was

Bird Observatories Council – January 2022 - www.birdobscouncil.org.uk P a g e 20

cables to the solar room, and when we turned on the was all bought and donated to us by Andy) was made
big switches things began to beep buzz and whirred from stainless steel and is a pain to work with both
into action!!! We had power!! Then the big test - was it metaphorically and literally! They were an absolutely
running round the buildings? Yes!! The lights were on. fantastic set of blokes on their first visit to the island.
Thanks Guys! We have still got a large area to finish
putting the mesh on at the mouth of the trap again we
hope to get this completed as early as possible in 2022.

Chris clearly delighted with the switch on! © Steve Stansfield Andy, Mike, John and Ross © Steve Stansfield

It was such a relief, it had been a hell of a job project Manx Shearwater Tracking with Bangor University
managing the whole thing from coming up with the and National Geographic
concept, designing it, planning everything, getting
consent from the Trust, raising the funds ordering the As well as our normal Manx Shearwater studies
parts and putting it all together. (population census, productivity monitoring and
ringing) that we undertake each year as part of our
So for three months now we have barely had to run the Section 16 Agreement with the Welsh Countryside
generator at all. The batteries last through the night Agency, Natural Resources Wales, this year we have
and are charged, even in late August by 1pm. It was less been working with Dr Line Cordes from Bangor
efficient in late October and we did have to switch back University on a very exciting project funded by the
to generator power some days to charge the batteries. National Geographic Society, to look at various parts of
We are still getting used to what we can and can’t do, the shearwaters movements and energy usage in the
but we know if the sun is shining, we can use the North Irish Sea.
electric kettle rather than the gas one! This alone is
going to make a huge difference to the gas bill and also During May we located several nests burrows of the
be much better for the environment. birds, and under a special licence from the BTO, we
attached some quite sophisticated GPS tracking tags to
So there we go… thanks to Chris and Phil for their part the birds. These tags recorded the birds’ locations evert
in all this, to all who helped and all who donated. five minutes and also logged things such as flapping
rate, using the inbuilt accelerometer, and how deep the
The next part of the plan is to add a further 12 Panels birds dive using a pressure sensor.
and then add immersion heartens into the hot water
tanks so that we can reduce our use of burning oil for We deployed 18 tags and have managed to retrieve all
getting hot water. bar one of them, which was good as each one cost
£600!!

Heligoland Trap repairs Manxie with a GPS tag © Steve Stansfield
In September a group of volunteers led by Andy Purcell
came out to the island to help do some more of the
repairs to the trap and to get another section of the
stainless-steel weld mesh put onto the oak frame. The
terrific trio of Ross, Mick and John (along with their
'supervisor' Andy) worked like crazy on the Heligoland
trap all week. Their plan was to try and get as much of
the unfinished wide end of the trap meshed as possible
and by Friday, they had done a great job and reached
their allotted target. The lads worked like troopers to
get it done and in hard conditions as the wire (which

P a g e 21 Bird Observatories Council – January 2022 - www.birdobscouncil.org.uk

We downloaded the data, most of which will be very Tracks of Bardsey shearwaters in the north Irish Sea
carefully examined by scientists at Bangor University,
but from a BBFO perspective we have found that, as
with the studies Ben Porter and I did for Ben's degree
project, almost all of the Bardsey birds head north to
the waters around the Isle of Man and into Liverpool
Bay area. Each dot on the map below represents where
one bird was, many of them using the same areas of
water so it is quite congested! However, individual
tracks can be seen for some and each dot is five
minutes away from the next dot. Amazing really that we
can discover this. The colours indicate speed of flight,
red being stop/very slow (sitting on the sea
drifting/feeding), amber medium and green fast.

A full Thanks to Line and Bangor Uni for inviting us to
join in with this exciting project and to National
Geographic for funding it.

Bird Observatories Council – January 2022 - www.birdobscouncil.org.uk P a g e 22

Calf of Man the back garden. A relatively calm start to the 22nd, saw
Aron Sapsford a small arrival of warblers including three Chiffchaff, 10
Willow Warbler, six Blackcap, two Whitethroat and a
Although the Calf season does not normally start until Sedge Warbler, whilst diurnal passage included a
early March, a rare opportunity to visit the islet on the Dunlin flying north over the Withy. Light north-easterly
1st & 2nd January presented itself and resulted in 29 winds on 23rd brought a further arrival of warblers, with
species being added to the year list, including Buzzard, increases to 35 Willow Warbler and 13 Blackcap, whilst
Hen Harrier, Peregrine and several wader species, with Grasshopper Warbler was new for the year, along with
Woodcock, Turnstone and a roost of 51 Purple five Sand Martin, a Jack Snipe in the Top Withy field and
Sandpipers in the Lighthouse caves. Unfortunately, the a Ringed Plover that flew over Rarick at 2250hrs. A
continued presence of a Brown Rat around the group of seven Buzzard over the Twin Fields during the
Observatory was also detected, and plans were made to afternoon equalled the previous record highest count.
make some more regular visits during January and Hirundine passage was more obvious on 24th, with 16
February to monitor the situation. Sand Martin, two House Martin and 56 Swallow heading
north, as well as an early(ish) Swift. In addition, a Reed
Warbler trapped at the Observatory was the fourth
earliest ever recorded, with three of the six April records
having now occurred within the last five years. Another
small arrival of warblers on 25th included 18 Willow
Warbler, three Chiffchaff, two Sedge Warbler, nine
Blackcap and three Whitethroat, with an influx of
‘Greenland’ Wheatear during the afternoon. However,
bird of the day was a Hobby seen heading north past
the Twin Fields – the earliest Calf record. The Great Skua
was on Caigher during the morning of 26th and a male
Grasshopper Warbler was ‘reeling’ at the Withy, whilst
Woodpigeon, Jackdaw (3), a Black Redstart at the
Lighthouses, a female Redstart trapped at the Withy
and Reed Bunting were all new for the year.

Brown Rat © MNH Camera trap

However, a second out-break of Coronavirus on the
main Island brought about a further lockdown, that
prevented visits being made during late January.
Inclement weather during much of February thwarted
further attempts and it was not until 1st March that
another visit, by the MNH technicians to undertake
repair works to the generator in preparation for the
start of the season on 8th, was able to go ahead.

Daniel Woollard (Estate Warden) arrived on the Island Reed Warbler © Robert Fisher
in late February, to complete his required period of
isolation before we could head over to begin the During the latter part of April, a new hide was built at
season, but a further lockdown imposed by the IOM the Withy, funded from a ‘wardens talk’ given in 2018
Government on 4th March brought about a second and local volunteers Mike Prior and Paul Corrin expertly
spring of disruption and a delay of 56 days to the start masterminded the process of building the structure.
of the season. We finally made it to the Calf on 21st April, This replaces the old hide, that was built in the early
arriving at South Harbour during the late afternoon, 1970’s and provides birdwatchers with an ideal vantage
and with just enough daylight to get our provisions up point over the Millpond, as well as giving a base from
to the farmhouse and get the essential services up and
running. Dan and I were joined this year by Rob Fisher
(Assistant Bird Warden), Mollie Kirk (Assistant Estate
Warden) and Christa Worth (Long-term volunteer).
There was little time for birdwatching, although a (the)
Great Skua was reported from the Sound earlier in the
day, two Shelduck and two Whimbrel flew over Burroo
and two each of Chiffchaff and Blackcap were seen in

P a g e 23 Bird Observatories Council – January 2022 - www.birdobscouncil.org.uk

which to carry out ringing activities at the Withy. It is Calm conditions on 12th brought the first Collared Dove
planned to add some willow screening either side of the and Lesser Whitethroat of the year and a general
hide, which will aid approaching the hide without increase in the numbers and variety of birds, including
flushing everything that is on the pond. A significant several flocks of corvids and a lesser passage of
effort was made to increase the surface area of water at hirundes but greater variety of warblers including 14
the Millpond by digging out Horsetail and silt during Whitethroat along with three Spotted Flycatcher, 35
2020. This made a huge difference to the Lesser Redpoll, eight Siskin and a female Reed Bunting.
‘attractiveness’ of the pond for birdlife and 2021 saw the Forty-five more Lesser Redpoll were present on 13th,
pond being regularly used by waders and wildfowl. It is although numbers of other migrant species had
great to see the rewards of this management work and decreased. Calm conditions on 16th brought more
hopefully further removal of Horsetail during this corvids, however bird of the day was a female Marsh
autumn will continue to help maintain this habitat and Harrier which flew over the Sea Field mid-afternoon
attract more birds and other wildlife. and was later seen on the main Island. Auks were also
present in good numbers with seven Black Guillemot
Withy Hide © Robert Fisher off Gibdale, 138 Razorbill and 50 Guillemot seen around
the coastline and the first Puffin seen off Kione ny
The month ended with further additions to the year list, Halby. Despite relatively light winds and seemingly
of a Common Sandpiper at Cow Harbour on 28th, a good migration conditions, passage was almost non-
Cuckoo in Mill Giau and a rather bedraggled Greylag existent during 17th & 18th, although slight
Goose which did a circuit over the Glen before heading improvement on 19th saw the first records of Skylark
back towards the Isle of Man on 29th and on the 30th a and Whinchat for the year. Rain and southerly gales
Garden Warbler, which was part of an arrival which also from 20th meant that passage was severely restricted
included 45 Willow Warbler, five Chiffchaff, three Sedge again, although a reduction in strength of the southerly
Warbler, 20 Blackcap and 15 Whitethroat. A Mistle winds during the afternoon of the 23rd brought a
Thrush, a rare spring record, was also present at the passage of approximately 100 Manx Shearwater per
Lighthouses. hour past the Lighthouses. Light northerly winds on
24th brough a considerable improvement in diurnal
movements and a male Cuckoo at the Observatory was
a surprise find on an otherwise largely migrant-less day
on 25th. Light north-westerly winds on 26th brought a
few more migrants including a Garden Warbler and 15
Spotted Flycatcher. Calm conditions in 29th brought 10
more Spotted Flycatcher, plus and a small arrival of
warblers including two Reed Warbler, with another two
Reed Warblers trapped at the Observatory on 30th
when an immature male Crossbill landed briefly in the
Sitka, and another(?) Reed Warbler was seen briefly in
Mill Giau on 31st.

The month of May started promisingly with light north- Following successful photographic courses run in 2018
easterly winds bringing a small arrival of warblers and a & 2019, it was decided to expand the variety of these
light passage of hirundes, as well as a relatively late adult learning experiences and during spring 2021
Fieldfare at the Observatory. The recent phenomenon another Photography course, along with a beginner’s
of Buzzards being resident on the island had prompted Birdwatching course and two Dry-stone Walling
the conclusion that they may breed soon, so the courses were held. In addition, we were able to offer a
discovery of pair building a nest on 2nd, was welcome one-night ‘meet-the-Manxie’ experience during May,
but not completely unexpected. The wind remained in which allowed participants to get ‘hands-on’ with our
the northerly quarter, with heavy rain and gale force Manx Shearwaters as they come ashore during the
winds deterring the arrival of any summer migrants cover of darkness. This event and the research that we
over the next few days. The only notable observation, of undertake on Manx Shearwaters has been hugely
a Great Northern Diver flying north off the Puddle, benefitted by the purchase of a thermal image camera
added to the unseasonal feel of the weather! After a few that was made possible through a generous award by
days, a very few summer migrants began battling the Curraghs Wildlife Park’s conservation fund.
through, with a Cuckoo at Gibdale on 8th and a Garden
Warbler and the first Spotted Flycatcher of the year on The first few days of June provided more excitement
9th. A decreasing southerly wind on 11th brought a than the whole of the month of May put together, with
noticeable increase in diurnal passage, with 470 a male Western Subalpine Warbler trapped at the
Swallow, five Sand Martin and three House Martin, Observatory on 1st and a stunning adult male
whilst a Jack Snipe was flushed from the Millpond. Woodchat Shrike on 2nd. A Pied Flycatcher on 4th was

Bird Observatories Council – January 2022 - www.birdobscouncil.org.uk P a g e 24

a rare spring record, another Crossbill was heard-only, around 1000 -1200 pairs. This is testament to the hard
and the male Western Subalpine Warbler reappeared work and commitment shown by Manx National
at the Observatory. Calm conditions on 6th provided Heritage, Manx Wildlife Trust, past wardens’, and
the ideal opportunity for a boat-based seabird breeding volunteers over the last nine years, in establishing and
survey, with 156 Fulmar, 166 Guillemot, 260 Razorbill and implementing the Manx Shearwater Recovery Plan.
nine Black Guillemot, although of most importance was For many seabirds the breeding season would appear
the first sighting of Puffin ashore on the Calf since 1997. to have been reasonably successful, with most species
Two pairs were regularly seen associating with the recording above average breeding numbers.
‘decoy area’ around Kione ny Halby, with birds seen Productivity for Herring & Great Black-backed Gulls was
above average for the second out of the last three years,
although Lesser Black-backed Gull numbers were low,
with many of their breeding attempts seemingly
delayed, probably due to the cold spring. The cold
combined with a very dry spring also affected several
passerines, in particular Chough, with some
abandoning nesting attempts and others delaying (or
relaying) clutches and the first (three) fledged broods
weren’t seen until 8th July. This delay to the breeding
process is illustrated well by the Silo pair, which were
initially seen carrying nesting material on 22nd April
and eventually fledged young on 25th July, some 38
days later than their average fledging dates between
2017 – 2019. Eider numbers continue to flourish, whilst
the Mallard pairs finally managed to raise one young to
fledging, the first time in several years. At least five
Robin pairs bred, a higher number than in any year
since 1992, however warm and dry conditions during
the summer months had a detrimental effect on
productivity and survival rates, for first brood Wheatear
and Blackbird young were very scarce.

For the first time in almost a decade a comprehensive
floral survey was undertaken, finding 202 vascular plant
species, which compares with approximately 500
native and naturalised species on the Isle of Man. This
included two species which would appear to be new to
the Calf – Fleabane and Northern Marsh Orchid, whilst
also relocating Round-leaved Sundew, which had not
been recorded since 2007.

Woodchat Shrike © Robert Fisher

‘cuddling-up’ to decoys on several occasions and one
bird photographed carrying nest material down
towards a suitable breeding area. A small number of
birds also continued to associate with the area around
the Stack and it is conceivable that breeding may
also/has been occurring on the slopes below the Upper
Lighthouse.

A night-time survey of the NW coastline during the Northern Marsh Orchid Round-leaved Sundew
early hours of the 9th, recorded 40 – 50 Manx
Shearwater with several birds seen to land at a known
potential breeding site at Baie Fine and a new site
below the Upper Lighthouse. Manx Shearwaters would
appear to be continuing to do well on the Calf and call-
back burrow surveys during June 2021, along with more
detailed mapping of the eight known sub-colonies,
enabled us to estimate the current Calf population at

P a g e 25 Bird Observatories Council – January 2022 - www.birdobscouncil.org.uk

To celebrate the 70th anniversary of the founding of the Goshawk on 14th were seen high above Cow Harbour,
Manx National Trust, now part of Manx National their presence initially notified to the observers by the
Heritage, a set of ten beautiful stamps were published reaction of the local Herring Gulls to their presence.
by the IOM Post Office. The stamps document the Given that the species has never bred on the Isle of Man,
environmental and historical importance, unique it is thought likely that these birds will have crossed the
character and outstanding natural beauty of the Calf of Irish Sea from their natal area. Migrant warblers began
Man and were dedicated to Dr. Trevor Norton (Sheffield, to arrive from 18th, with the first juvenile Sedge Warbler,
1940–Isle of Man, 2021), formerly Professor of Marine plus Blackcap and Whitethroat, whilst the 19th
Biology at Liverpool University and Director of the Port produced a juvenile Blue Tit trapped at the Observatory
Erin Marine Laboratory, Isle of Man (1983–2005). Dr. – just the 2nd ever July record and exactly 50 years to
Norton was a long-serving, well-respected and the day of the first. Seabirds were prevalent on 22nd
supportive Trustee of the Manx Museum and National with 550+ Manx Shearwater gathered between the
Trust serving from 1984 to 2012. Puddle and Chicken Rock and five Black-headed Gulls
seen. Hirundine passage was also noticeable with 15
Sand Martin, 91 Swallow and a single House Martin,
whilst a third Treecreeper for the month was trapped at
the Observatory.

IOM Post Office Stamps © Maxine Cannon Waders again featured on 25th, with an immature
Black-tailed Godwit and a Snipe present on the
With coronavirus restrictions making it difficult to travel Millpond and a Common Sandpiper at Cow Harbour. A
on or off the main Island, the Calf became the ‘go-to- female-type Marsh Harrier initially seen around Jane’s
place’ for both day visitors and staying guests. The House, remained on Island for the next few weeks and
farmhouse accommodation was fully booked may have been involved in an unprecedented series of
throughout the summer with many people looking for autumn records. The month closed with an arrival of 30
an alternative style ‘staycation’. Unfortunately, Covid Willow Warbler and three each of Sedge Warbler and
inevitably reached the Calf and in July two wardens had Whitethroat on 31st. Willow Warblers continued to
to be taken off the islet and placed into isolation. move through in reasonable numbers throughout
Thankfully the other staff members remained healthy August and a second Black-tailed Godwit, this time an
and virus-free, and we were able to maintain our adult was present at Fold Point during the evening of
monitoring programmes. Following the necessary 7th. An Osprey seen along the East coast on 22nd was
period of quarantine and a host of new restrictions and the start of an above average appearance for the
precautions it was possible to re-open the farmhouse to species, whilst the same or another(?) Marsh Harrier
a few guests to enjoy staying on the Calf during the last appeared and remaining to 27th. Calm conditions with
few weeks of summer. early morning fog brought an arrival of birds on 24th
with the first (four) Tree Pipit of the year, plus three
Autumn passage was evident from mid-June with two Sedge Warbler and a Reed Warbler and the first
Lapwing on 14th being the start of an above (recent) fledgling Manx Shearwater was located at South
average passage of the species. The first Storm Petrels Harbour. A Grasshopper Warbler and eight more Tree
of the summer were caught at South Harbour on 15th, Pipits were the highlights of 25th and the first passage
a Redshank flew east on 17th and a Black-headed Gull of (11) White Wagtail was recorded on 27th, with a
joined the ‘larger’ gull roost in the Withy field on 18th. A female-type Redstart seen at Spaghetti Junction.
male Greenfinch at the Observatory on 23rd was new Garden Warbler and Pied Flycatcher trapped at the
for the year, whilst a female Spotted Flycatcher on 25th Observatory on 29th would have normally been the
and five Blackcaps on 27th involved presumed failed highlight(s) of the day, however a Red Kite that spent
breeders beginning to wander. Early July typically saw half an hour hanging in the wind at Baie Fine easily
a couple of Treecreepers trapped at the Observatory, over-shadowed them as just the 11th Calf record and
juvenile Willow Warblers began to arrive from 6th, a first since 2004. Another Garden Warbler was trapped
couple of juvenile Cuckoos were seen, and a Short- on 30th, whilst wagtail passage increased on 31st with
eared Owl was flushed from near to the highest point eight Grey, 50 ‘Alba’ and four White Wagtail.
on 8th. Up to four Great Skua were present on the
Island, continuing the recent trend of birds summering Wardens group © Robert Fisher
on the Calf and raising expectations that the species
might breed sometime soon. Two, probable juvenile,

Bird Observatories Council – January 2022 - www.birdobscouncil.org.uk P a g e 26

Early autumn saw a change-over in personnel, with
Mollie Kirk leaving to take up her MSc studies at
Reading University and Lauren Stokes and Mairi Young
arriving as this seasons’ Grey Seal breeding survey
volunteers. Ana Shapiro (Aug – Sep) and Luise
O’Donovan (Oct - Nov) both spent periods as long-term
volunteers assisting with the daily bird recording and
ringing programme. During their stays at the
Observatory both, Ana and Luise, were assessed on
their progress towards the award of their BTO ringing
licences.

The Grey Seal breeding period took place between Paddyfield Warbler © Robert Fisher
September and November 2021; with the first pup born
on the 7th of September, and the last known individual A Grasshopper Warbler on 18th was part of small arrival
on 1st November. There was a total of 62 pups born that included 50 Robin and 413 Meadow Pipit moved
around the island, which is a slight increase from 2020 through. Slightly decreased numbers arrived on 19th
(n=61), but a decrease on previous years (average of 67 although further quality birds appeared with a Pied
across the previous five years). Pup deaths were lower Flycatcher trapped at the Observatory and a Common
than the previous year; with the mortality rate being Rosefinch at the Withy, whilst a Grey Plover in the
11.48% in 2020 and just 6.45% in 2021. Seafield during the morning of 20th was the first record
since 2015. An adult Mute Swan flying north over the
Front Field on 26th was rather unexpected being just
the 10th Calf record and first live bird since 1997.

Grey Seal & pup © Mairi Young October began with a productive seawatch producing
a Sabine’s Gull and 2000 ‘Auks’ off Culbery on 1st.
Autumn migration appeared somewhat delayed with Blackcaps arrived throughout the 3rd with a total of 18
the main passage of many species occurring 10 -14 days trapped and a slight decrease in wind strength on 4th
later than normal. However, by mid-September encouraged more diurnal passage with 59 Pied
migrations were in full swing, at least when the weather Wagtail, a Richard’s Pipit, 286 Meadow Pipit and 158
was suitable. Passage was very much boom or bust and Linnets moving through. The first two Whooper Swans
several lengthy periods of stormy weather put a halt to of the autumn flew east over the Glen on 5th and light-
migration passage, but on calmer days thousands of ish north westerly winds on 6th brought the first Coal
birds poured through the Calf. September began Tit of the year, accompanied by six Blue Tit and 17 Great
quietly with a few warblers and wagtails present, Tit. A female Pintail, the first record since 2011, flew
increasing to 51 White Wagtail and 59 ‘Albas’ on 2nd. through the Sound on 8th and ducks featured again on
Similar numbers of wagtails were present on 3rd, whilst 9th with six Wigeon and five Common Scoter seen off
a female Teal was at the Withy and an Osprey flew north Culbery. The 13th brought our first numbers of thrushes
over the Observatory. A Marsh Harrier (re)appeared on with 191 Redwing and both Snipe and Jack Snipe were
4th, staying until 8th with a female Redstart seen near on the Millpond. Diurnal passage increased with 14
the Withy. House Martins dominated hirundine Woodpigeon, 512 Skylark and 307 Starling, whilst 147
passage on 7th, with 68 moving through, whilst more Redwing arrived on 14th, when two male Red-
passage of Chiffchaff increased to 18, a Pied Flycatcher breasted Merganser flew past South Harbour. Light
was trapped at the Observatory and the first Blue Tit NNE winds on 15th proved ideal conditions for
and finch arrivals of autumn occurred. The 2nd Calf migration with herds of 10 and four Whooper Swan
record of Thrush Nightingale on 10th September kicked seen heading north over the Glen during the morning
off an excellent autumn for rarities, with further Ospreys and a record count and most impressive group of 20
on 11th and 12th and followed by a Barred Warbler and Buzzard were seen on a thermal above the Observatory.
the first ever Manx record of Paddyfield Warbler, both
trapped within an hour of each other, on 16th. Another herd of Whooper Swan flew NW during the
morning of 16th, whilst numbers of diurnal migrants
were slightly reduced with the best being 139 Skylark,
but nothing really prepared us for the event of the year,
when a Red-flanked Bluetail was trapped near the
Observatory mid-morning.

P a g e 27 Bird Observatories Council – January 2022 - www.birdobscouncil.org.uk

Red © flanked Bluetail © Robert Fisher Pale-bellied Brent, 12 Red-throated Diver, Great
Northern Diver, 33 Lesser Black-backed Gull and 314
Later in the day a Little Egret flew south past South Great Black-backed Gull off Cow Harbour. Elsewhere
Harbour, as well as an impressive flock of 27 Black- two Woodcock were seen above the Cletts and a Jack
headed Gull and 18 Common Gulls and the last Snipe was flushed from a puddle near Fold Point.
Wheatear of the year was seen at the Triangle. A small Calmer conditions on 2nd, produced another excellent
arrival of 28 Redwings occurred around the day of visual migration with six Whooper Swan north, a
Observatory on 17th, along with three Chiffchaff, westerly passage of two Great Northern Diver heading
including one showing characteristics of the race over the Observatory, 236 Woodpigeon, 742 Jackdaw,
‘tristis’ which remained to 25th. Inclement weather kept 47 Rook, 11 Carrion Crow, 18 Raven, a Swallow, 898
things quiet until 21st when the wind veered more Starling, 15 House Sparrow, 343 Chaffinch, 16 Brambling,
northerly and produced a Brent Goose off Cow Harbour 16 Greenfinch, 149 Goldfinch and 33 Siskin. Grounded
and six more Whooper Swan flew north. With the wind birds included three Blackcap, 24 Blackbird, 14
backing more westerly, Culbery produced a few more Fieldfare, 479 Redwing, 45 Song Thrush, 10 Dunnock
seabirds on 22nd, with four Manx Shearwater, 312 and two Reed Bunting. Pigeons were very much a
Gannet and almost 5000 Kittiwake. A slight decrease in feature of 3rd, with two Stock Dove and 167
wind strength during the 25th brought an arrival of 37 Woodpigeon heading north, along with a Collared
Song Thrush and the first Brambling of the year. Dove around the Observatory, where there was also six
Further strong winds over the next few days kept things Long-tailed Tit and 80 Blackbird. Other diurnal passage
quiet, although a Grey Wagtail was seen at Cow included 75 Skylark, a Swallow, 1029 Starling, 27 House
Harbour on 26th and a Manx Shearwater and 49 Sparrow, 12 Tree Sparrow, a Grey Wagtail, 567 Chaffinch,
Kittiwake flew west off South Harbour on 27th. seven Brambling and eight Greenfinch. Another 156
Decreasing winds on 28th brought the first Woodcock Woodpigeon headed north on 4th along with 1554
of autumn along with a general increase in migrants, Starling, whilst around the Observatory were 46
including seven Chiffchaff and three Brambling. The Blackbird, 200 Fieldfare, 109 Redwing, 402 Chaffinch,
Woodcock was still present on 29th but other than a five Brambling and 17 Siskin. Smaller numbers of
westerly passage of 1455 Starling, 122 Chaffinch and a Woodpigeon (31) flew north on 5th, along with 17
Twite relatively little migration was noted. A Woodcock Jackdaw and 719 Starling. Blackbirds arrived in greater
was again present around the Observatory and Glen numbers with at least 150 around the island, along with
areas on 30th, but the day was dominated by a huge 59 Fieldfare, 90 Redwing, 15 Song Thrush, 24 Chaffinch
passage of Redwing, many hundreds poured out of the and a Brambling. Little was seen on the 6th & 7th due
sky just after dawn with 3197 counted during the day. to inclement weather and packing up the Observatory
Additionally, 2259 Starling moved west and other ready to leave the island, but as we departed at least 100
diurnal passage included 42 Song Thrush, 12 House Great Black-backed Gulls were accompanied by five
Sparrow, 25 Tree Sparrow, 365 Chaffinch, 17 Greenfinch, Lesser Black-backed Gulls on Caigher and single Purple
116 Goldfinch and 24 Siskin. Also of note were two Great Sandpipers were present at South Harbour and Kione
Northern Diver which flew west over the Observatory. ny Halby.
The 31st brought the first noticeable arrival of (24)
Blackbirds around the Observatory, along with the first Life and work on the Calf would be considerably more
Fieldfare of autumn, 68 Redwing, 15 Song Thrush, five challenging without the assistance of many people,
Blackcap and three Brambling. and we are blessed with terrific support from many
volunteers. Volunteers are what make the Calf such a
Strong WNW winds overnight and into the early hours great place to live and work and without them our
of the 1st November gave a productive seawatch with a achievements would be considerably less. The need for
support and the supply of essential provisions is a must
on the Calf and we are very grateful to Steve Clague
who continues to safely transport us and our supplies
to and from the Calf on his boat Scraayl and to Lara
Howe (MWT) and Shaun Murphy (MNH) for doing their
utmost to make sure we have all the supplies that we
require. It is also appropriate to acknowledge the hard
work of Geoff Mitchell and Howard Osborne for their
many efforts over the past year in refurbishing the
South Harbour crane and general repairs to vehicles,
generators, and various elements of the Calf
infrastructure.

Bird Observatories Council – January 2022 - www.birdobscouncil.org.uk P a g e 28

Cape Clear was an early Sand Martin on 21st February. A Black
Steve Wing Redstart was around North Harbour on the 7th March
and up to 3 Common Buzzards were seen almost daily
Despite the hopes and in that month.
optimism for a better year,
2021 followed on in every © CCBO
aspect from 2020.
Manx Shearwaters were seen daily from around the
It was decided very early in the year that the middle of April, with a high count of 7000+ on the 17th.
Observatory would not be opening in the spring, and The first real migration was noted on 2nd April when
we had monthly reviews on the possibilities available over 25 Chiffchaffs and 75+ Willow Warblers were seen
to us. The problem that struck us dead last year had around the island. Our first Blackcaps (4) were seen on
not changed and we were still unable to comply with the 14th and 10 Northern Wheatears were here the
the 2m Social Distancing regulations to a degree that following day - always a delight to see. Also on 15th,
made it sustainable. We could have had one person or Eurasian Hoopoe arrived at the east end of Cape,
a couple staying but that would not have covered the moving slowly south and west, ending up outside
costs. So, with heavy hearts, we decided that the Obs Ciaran Danny Mike’s Bar until April 24th.
would not open at all in 2021. Slightly better news was
that some of the holiday accommodation on the
island was opened in late summer and Autumn,
meaning that we had visiting birders for the first time
in what seemed like years. It really was great to see all
the old friends again and to sample the odd jar or two!

The daily census was not possible for much of the first
half of the year, although restrictions were lifted
slightly after that, and I was able to cover more of the
island. This included getting access to the sea-
watching mecca of Ireland - Blannan!

© CCBO

Blannan © CCBO On the 22nd, a small flurry of hirundines passed over
the lake, with 5 Sand Martins and 8 Barn Swallows
Initially, numbers were quiet with littlepassage but a there. A good count of 6 Skylarks were seen on 25th,
few good days in late autumn made up for the quiet the same day that our first 2 Little Grebes of the year
start! More on that later! As mentioned earlier, no returned to the lake. Single Collared Dove and
Census was taken during the early part of the year, so Common Swift were seen the following day along
the following records are compiled from casual reports. with the first Sedge Warblers (8), Common
Whitethroat (3) and a small fall of Chiffchaffs (15) and
Spring Willow Warblers (6). A single Spotted Flycatcher was
seen on 27th in Cotters Garden and the month ended
Recording, such as it was, started in the middle of with a single Tree Sparrow visiting Mary Cadogan's
February when the wintering pair of Shelduck were feeders on 29th and 30th, very much a Cape rarity
noted on the lake. We assume that these are the same nowadays.
two that appeared to be prospecting a few years ago
and have visited us every winter since. Also at the lake

P a g e 29 Bird Observatories Council – January 2022 - www.birdobscouncil.org.uk

May was very poorly covered but did produce a good
days birding on the 8th with a female Eurasian Golden
Oriole along the Low Road, a Eurasian Curlew and 2
Great Skuas past Blannan and a pair of Reed Buntings
setting up territory in East Bog.

The months of June and July were even quieter as lock
down hit hard again. Most of the very few sightings
were from pelagic trips from Cape or Baltimore. A pair
of Collared Doves held territory briefly in mid-June
but, sadly, didn’t produce any offspring.

Wilson’s Storm Petrel © CCBO

On land, the Common Buzzards were still present along
with a steady number of Eurasian Sparrowhawk,
Kestrels and Peregrines on the island. The bird of the
month for Chick McNally was Cape’s first Black Kite on
24th, a bird I missed by minutes!

The first real signs of Autumn migration were the 2
Common Sandpipers were present on the 8th, 1 of
which stayed until the 16th. 2 Ringed Plover and 2
Whimbrel flew over the island on the 15th with another
flock of 9 Ringed Plover passing Blannan on 30th.

Rosy Starling © CCBO

While the rest of Britain and Ireland were being
inundated with a Rosy Starling influx during May and
June, it took until June 10th before our only bird
arrived! It stayed for two days giving excellent views
and allowing some good shots to be taken! A
Common Sandpiper was seen on July 21st and up to 2
Common Buzzards were seen regularly. A very brief
view of an Albatross, assumed to be Black-browed -
was seen flying past Blannan, the observer being busy
ringing Lesser Black-backed Gull chicks at the time!

Autumn Ringed Plover © CCBO

Thankfully, August saw the easing of some The only Grasshopper Warblers of the year were a pair
restrictions, resulting in more coverage. Our Little of juveniles trapped in East Bog on the 4th. Our
Grebe population on the lake grew to a high of 17 and Common Whitethroats appeared to have had a good
they maintained that number until the end of breeding season and they were seen everywhere! Small
October. Seawatching improved dramatically with numbers of Blackcap, Chiffchaff and Willow Warbler
Great Shearwaters, Cory’s Shearwaters and Sooty were noted in the second half of the month. The first
Shearwaters seen on several days during the month. Pied Flycatcher of the autumn showed up on the 15th,
with another on the 28th, accompanied by a Spotted
Watching from Blannan is always exciting but for Flycatcher
close up views, you can’t beat a pelagic trip. We had
some crippling views of Wilsons Storm Petrels, with A small hirundine passage on the 26th saw 50+ Sand
up to 5 seen in a day (22nd August), a day that also saw Martins, 260 Barn Swallows and30 House Martins pass
a Sabines Gull,a Balearic Shearwater and over 200 through the island. Northern Wheatear numbers
European Storm Petrels pass the boat. Several Great peaked at 21 during the month with a beautiful
Skuas were seen from land and from sea, with a Greenland race showing well on 28th.
maximum of 10 on the 12th. Puffins were sighted
almost daily, offshore. A pair of Gadwall were found on the lake on the 28th,
only the 8th record for Cape! They stayed around until

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27th September, giving plenty of Cape birders to add to wasn’t seen again. The 4 Yellow Wagtails on the 6th
their island list! were a delight with a scattering of Grey Wagtails during
the month, mainly in South Harbour. A Turtle Dove was
September saw the return of our small wintering flock recorded on the 26th, the first of the autumn.
of Eurasian Teal appearing on the Lake, always a
pleasant sight although they are always very flighty. Garden Warbler © CCBO

On the sea, there was only one record of a Great Garden Warblers were seen quite frequently, by Cape
Shearwater on the 4th, along with 24 Sooty standards, with one or two present for most of the
Shearwaters and over 6000 Manxies per hour passing! month. The first Tree Pipit of the year was heard over
A Mediterranean Gull was seen from the ferry on 14th, Cape on the 15th. A good fall of Eurasian Reed Warblers
near the East end of the island. A juvenile Long-tailed occurred on the 16th (5) and 17th (4), which for Cape, are
Skua, 5 Great Skuas and 3 Arctic Skuas passed Bullig very high numbers. Also on the 17th, an Icterine Warbler
along with 14 Cory’s Shearwaters on the 16th, the only was found in a field opposite the school, becoming very
record this month. There was a trickle of Sooty skulky and difficult to locate. Small numbers of
Shearwater records up to the end of the month but no Blackcaps and Common Chiffchaff were also seen,
great numbers. Willow Warblers and Goldcrests in slightly higher
numbers than last month. The last Sedge Warblers of
Raptor numbers remained stable with up to 4 Common the year appeared on the 13th (2) and a single on the
Buzzards, 2 Eurasian Sparrowhawks, 3 Kestrels and 2 16th. The last Common Whitethroat was seen on 24th.
Peregrines present for most of the month. A Barn Owl Excellent numbers of Spotted Flycatchers were present
was seen on the 13th and a ring-tail Harrier, most likely, throughout the month with a high count of 12 on 12th
a Hen Harrier was present on the 21st. An Eagle was and 16th. Pied Flycatchers were also showing well with
seen briefly on 28th and is almost certainly the same up to 4 birds present on the 16th and 17th.
bird as the White-tailed Eagle seen in October.

Waders were noticeable by their absence in
September! A single Dunlin at the lake had me
guessing for a while as it looked very long billed and
huge, but I couldn’t turn it into anything else, except
maybe, an American cousin? Comments welcome!

Dunlin © CCBO

A single Whimbrel flew over on the 1st, Curlew on the
2nd, 4th and 10th, Common Snipe on several days and
a Common Redshank at the lake on the 17th were the
only members of the group to visit us this year.

A Collared Dove visited us on the 1st and was the last Pied Flycatcher © CCBO
one of the year. Good numbers of Swallows (200+)
moved through on the 3rd with over 300 Meadow Pipits An unusual passage of Northern Ravens took place
on the same day. Whinchats were seen on the 5th, 10th, between the 17th (12), 18th (23) and the 19th (25), all
15th (4) and 2 on the 16th. A high count of 31 Northern heading westwards, surprisingly.
Wheatears on the 4th was a good number for Cape.
Also on the 4th was a Wryneck which was seen in West Heading into October is always an exciting time on
Bog. It stayed there until the following day and,
presumably the same bird was seen just up the track in
Olly Gully on the 10th. A very brief view of a Greenish
Warbler was seen in Cotters Garden on the 5th but

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Cape and, with the holiday cottages booked full with Snow Bunting that stayed for 4 days. The 13th showed
birders, this year just oozed anticipation. The quiet start a little lull in activity with a lot of the aforementioned
didn’t exactly mirror that but a Yellow-browed Warbler birds having left. However, 3 Merlin, 1 Common
on the 2nd and 3rd was an upward turn. Very Redstart, 1 Tree Pipit, 1 Lesser Whitethroat and the year’s
surprisingly, there was only one other Yellow-browed, first, and only, Common Firecrest. Still a reasonable day
on the 9th. A Cape rarity, the record of 8 Barnacle Geese by normal standards. The 14th only added a Siberian
flying over Ballyieragh was a huge surprise! Our semi- Chiffchaff but had high counts for Meadow Pipit (300+),
resident Common Buzzards were joined by the odd Black Redstart (3), Redwing (18) and Common
migrant, with a high count of 13 on the 15th, 3 of which Chaffinch (47). A few quieter days were followed, on the
stayed until the end of the month. A severe storm on 16th, with a decent seawatch day.
the 6th brought many seabirds in close enough to
shore, including 1749 Sooty Shearwaters in one hour, 52
Great Shearwaters, 11 Great Skuas and 2 Pomarine
Skuas.

The bird of the year for many, including me, was a first
year female Rose-breasted Grosbeak that was found
long the Low Road on the 7th, staying there for 3 days
and giving stunning views.

The weather was atrocious during its stay and the Sooty Sharwater © CCBO
proximity of its location to the cliffs, prompted a few
birders to do a seawatch. Their efforts were very well 172 Sooty Shearwaters, 1 European Storm Petrel, 2
rewarded with a Long- tailed Skua on the 7th and 2 on Common Scoter, 1 Arctic Skua and 4 Golden Plover
the 8th. The 9th was the start of a really exciting few passed the island. Also recorded that day were a Short-
days as the following list will show! White-tailed Eagle eared Owl, a Lesser Whitethroat and 2 Snow Buntings.
(1), Hen Harrier (1), Kestrel (4), Common Redstart (2), 2 rather late Sand Martins caused a few heart flutters! A
Yellow Wagtail (1), Spotted Flycatcher (1), Red-breasted Wryneck and Barred Warbler were the birds of the day
Flycatcher (2), Tree Pipit (1), Radde’s Warbler (1) and on the 17th with 2 Garden Warblers and a Lesser
Garden Warbler (1). Not a bad day list of goodies! The Whitethroat as a supporting cast. On the 18th, a Turtle
following day added Golden Plover (1), Long-eared Owl Dove that stayed overnight, was found around Mary
(1), Sand Martin (1), Common Rosefinch (1) and Rook (1). Macs house, where some of the 150 Eurasian Siskin
The 11th didn’t disappoint either, with Great Northern were. Nearby, in the Loch Errol pines, a new Red-
Diver, and Stock Dove added, and monthly high counts breasted Flycatcher was located, while a Lesser
for Little Grebe (15), Blackcap (51), Common Chiffchaff Whitethroat was located along the Low Road, in what
(60), Willow Warbler (6), Goldcrest (119) along with 2 is becoming a little hotspot. The small ‘pull in’ at the top
Sooty Shearwaters, 2 Sand Martins, 10 Barn Swallows, 3 of Brid and Seamus’ drive and the bottom of Morteen
House Martins and 25 Rooks. and Gers drive gives excellent viewing of the trees in
that area. All three birds were present also on the 19th.
Great Northern Diver © CCBO An interesting ferry trip into the island on the 20th
produced 2 Great Northern Divers, 4 Sooty Shearwaters
The 12th added a Hen Harrier, Ruddy Turnstone, and a gull flock consisting of, for Cape, an incredible 120
Common Redstart, Whinchat, Mistle Thrush (3) and a Black-headed Gulls and 60 Common Gulls! On land
were 8 Yellow Wagtails and the Lesser Whitethroat still.
I found a new Red-breasted Flycatcher at the start of
the Mass Track on the 21st and we were lucky to hear a
Mistle Thrush as it flew overhead. That would have
missed the Log if we hadn’t been in that particular spot
- highlighting the need for more birders here in all

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months! A Hen Harrier was also present over the Glen Radford’s Flame Shoulder pic Eamonn O’Donnell
area for a while. Things were definitely quietening down
now, both in bird and birder numbers, as is to be A bat detector was deployed for a few nights in October,
expected, but there were a few highlights to brighten increasing the species list for Cape a little. Species
up the late October days. Like the 3 late Willow recorded were Lesser Noctule, Nathusius’ Pipestrelle,
Warblers on the 22nd, alongside 4 Coal Tits, an unlikely Soprano Pipistrelle, Common Pipistrelle and Brown
combination. As were the Garden Warbler and Long-eared Bat.
Brambling on the 24th!
Conclusions!
A brief seawatch on the 26th saw 55 Atlantic Puffins
pass by, somewhat later than usual. Also very late were So, despite all of the Covid restrictions, the Obs was able
5 Barn Swallows and a Spotted Flycatcher on the 29th. to operate to a small extent during the latter part of the
The last notable record of the year was a Glaucous Gull season and had what can only be described as a
that visited the lake very briefly on November 5th. successful year! Some good birds, a first for Ireland
moth, birders returning to the island again and, as I
Ringing always say, any year that has a Yank passerine (see
Rose-breasted Grosbeak picture opposite), is a goody!
The Covid restrictions this year didn’t stop the CES
being completed, thankfully and we managed to
complete all 12 sessions. 291 birds were processed, 114
adults and 177 juveniles of 24 species. The annual totals
for all ringing sites was 1241 of 38 which was up a little
on last year but way below what we would hope to be
doing. Major declines in Goldcrest and Yellow-browed
Warblers were noted but Sedge Warblers had another
good year.

Other Wildlife notes

A good flurry of Clouded Yellow’s during October
brightened up many a dull day, along with good
numbers of Red Admirals, Small Tortoiseshells and
Peacock Butterflies.

Several Blue Emperor Dragonflies were recorded
during the year, as were Red Darter, Common Hawker
and Migrant Hawker.

Little moth trapping was carried out but we did have a
First for Cape and Ireland! A Radford’s Flame Shoulder,
trapped on 16th October.

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Copeland Swathes of Narcissi around the Observatory (Roisin Kearney)
Chris Acheson
the Greenland ‘leucorrhoa’ race trapped between the
The 2021 season, like that of 6th and 26th May. No rare species were recorded in
2020, opened with Northern spring and the least common species in Observatory
Ireland still in the grip of the Covid-19 epidemic and terms were seven Grey Plover on the 18th May, which
government lockdown measures meant that the early represents the 17th record of this species, our first
spring coverage was limited to just three work party spring record and the second highest in terms of
day visits. The measures were eased in late April, numbers, following a sighting of 12 on 27th August
although the mixing of households for overnight stays 2000.
was still not possible – the Observatory is classified as a
household and not tourist accommodation, due to the With the summer seabird season approaching and the
shared facilities. The manned season belatedly kicked imminent arrival of a team of researchers from the
off on the 30th April with three single household Oxford Navigation Group of the Zoology Department at
“bubbles” staying consecutively until the 08th May. the University of Oxford (Ox-Nav), groups of volunteers
Clear conditions kept the numbers of migrants low but undertook the task of clearing vegetation from the
the volunteers made a good start to the year’s bird list overgrown paths and shearwater sub-colonies, to
and got the Observatory ready for the season ahead. It enable the group to continue the long running Manx
was a spectacular spring for the island’s Narcissi. Shearwater studies. May and June were particularly
busy at the Observatory with The Ox-Nav team arriving
The mist nets were relatively ineffective through the on the 11th May, staying for five weeks until the 16th
spring monitoring with a male Cuckoo on the 1st June June. On the 13th June, with further easing of
being the pick of the bunch. Potters and spring traps restrictions, they were joined by Black Guillemot
were a little more productive with Meadow Pipits and a researcher Daniel Johnston from BTO Scotland and
run of nine Wheatears, the majority of which were of Katherine Booth Jones from BTO Northern Ireland (a
CBO member) who were using GPS trackers to discover
more about the foraging distribution and habitat

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associations of Black Guillemots in Northern Ireland as to the island. The programme can be found on BBC
part of the MarPAMM project (funded by the EU’s iPlayer at:
INTERREG VA Programme). The pair had a very https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m000wvzs/spri
successful two week stay and we eagerly await the ngwatch-2021-episode-11.
results. 2021 also marked the start of the Observatory’s
Black Guillemot colour ringing project, although delays
in delivery of the rings resulted in the opportunity to
colour ring adults being missed. Over the years we have
ringed c780 Black Guillemots but this has been
restricted almost entirely to pulli and little effort has
been placed in catching adult birds. The British
longevity record stands at over 24 years and 8 months
and with many ringed birds present in the colony, it is
likely that some very mature birds exist and colour
ringing well help us better record survival, and if we are
lucky, find a new record holder.

Katherine Booth Jones GPS tagging Black Guillemot Ollie Padget and Paris Jaggers from the Ox-Nav Group
© Daniel Johnston University of Oxford with Gillian Burke © BBC

As another element of the MarPAMM project, a Manx Seabird ringing was back on the cards during the
Shearwater census was undertaken by a team of summer beginning with our annual Eider ringing day
seabird surveyors led by Dr Kendrew Colhoun at the on the 16th May. It is estimated that the adjacent island
start of June. After a record-breaking Manx Shearwater of Mew hosts in the region of 185 Eider nests and a total
population census in 2007, with an estimated 3,444 of 110 nests were recorded by the six person ringing &
pairs, a new survey was long overdue, and, as a key survey team, with an average of 3.763 eggs per nest.
component of the Copeland Islands Special Protection Otter predation was notable with at least 9 nests raided
Area (SPA), the data will be invaluable in assessing our and a sitting female killed. Despite this, 25 new female
current habitat management practices on the island to Eiders were ringed and 24 re-trapped. The Observatory
safeguard the species. Tying in with the shearwater island was disappointing with only one nest located
survey and research, we once again welcomed BBC and one bird duly ringed. Eighteen Black Guillemot
Springwatch to film a feature at the Observatory in early pulli were ringed in early July and a ringed adult was re-
June, which was also presenter Gillian Burke’s first visit trapped and colour-ringed. Just five adult Lesser Black-
backed Gulls and zero adult Herring Gulls were ringed
in 2021, however 50 Lesser Black-backed Gull and 42
Herring Gull pulli were ringed. Common Gulls continue
to be scarce – an adult male was caught, unusually, in
the Crow Trap on 16th June, but only four chicks could
be found for ringing, all in the South Landing colony.
The string of more recently founded sub-colonies along
the West and North sides of the island seem to have
suffered catastrophic failure. Storm Petrel ringing at
the Observatory is restricted to the short window as
darkness falls and before the thousands of Manx
Shearwaters begin to make landfall – shearwaters
shred mist nets and can regurgitate the food they’ve
spent days gathering to provision their chicks. In
Northern Ireland, where Storm Petrels do not breed,
catching is normally restricted to July and August,
however a surprisingly early catch of eight on the 18th
June was achieved. By 28th August, 82 had been ringed
and three controls from elsewhere. A single Fulmar was
also trapped in the Storm Petrel net. The Ox-Nav group
returned to continue further Manx Shearwater research
between 27th July and 10th August.

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long-term studies and any research projects in the
coming decades.

Left to right: Kez, Ed, Katherine, Roisin & Katie doing gull pulli The group burned the candle at both ends and greatly
ringing on sunny Copeland contributed to the running of the Observatory, focusing
not just on the Manx Shearwaters at night, but also
Summer is normally a quiet period for passage birds ringing, hours of seawatching and recording migrant
and August generally marks the start of notable birds during the day. They even managed time to
migration with good numbers of Blackcaps, Swallows, squeeze in some traditional music sessions in the
Willow Warblers and common waders etc. Raptors evenings. Having helped set a record in 2020 for the
were well represented with singles of Kestrel and number of Manx Shearwater chicks ringed (1,278), they
Merlin, resident Buzzards and single Peregrine, regular worked tirelessly every night during the trip and
Sparrowhawks and the returning adult female Hen smashed their own record, setting a new total of 1,889
Harrier back for another winter on the island group. new shearwaters, of which around 20 were adults. The
Little Egret has featured in all recent reports as a overall season total was an impressive 2,182 Manx
notable species and now seems to be established as an Shearwaters ringed including 1,997 pulli.
annually recorded species at the Observatory. A single
bird (perhaps multiple) was present from 20th August
to 3rd September, with a probable different bird in mid-
late October.

As first noted in 2020, the collapse of the island Rabbit Traditional music, Copeland Style
population meant the island was awash with colour
once again with thousands of wildflowers managing to By net, trap and torch, the group handled a total of 148
get the opportunity to bloom in the short sward where birds of 22 species (not including Shearwaters)
normally they’d be grazed to the ground. It is likely that including just the second Buzzard ringed at the
Rabbits are the key architects for the success of the Observatory, and a Spotted Flycatcher, Sparrowhawk,
Manx Shearwater colony in the past 70 years and we Moorhen, Magpie and three Stock Dove - a seldom
were pleased to see increasing numbers over the caught and scarce species in NI.
summer. It was an ideal opportunity to undertake
botanical surveys of Lighthouse (Observatory island)
and Mew Islands and, thanks to the Royal Irish
Academy who supported the project through their
Praeger Grant in Natural History, we were able to draft
in the Crème de la Crème of Northern Irish botanists to
assist with the surveys. Twenty-nine new species were
recorded on the two outer islands and it is hoped that
the final report will include some habitat management
recommendations to halt and reverse the onslaught of
Bracken which has claimed huge swathes of the island
in recent decades. It is a particular issue on the Puffin
slope, the Gully area which in the 1940s hosted a large
tern colony and in the trapping areas.

The Oxford Navigation Group and friends, led by Ollie A selection of the birds handled by the Ox-Nav Group in
Padget, returned for another sojourn at the Copeland September © Ollie Padget
Bird Observatory from the 05th to 16th September, this
time for pleasure and a personal aim to ring as many
Manx Shearwater pulli as possible. The importance of
ringing chicks is that the precise age is known when
they are recaptured and this will be a massive help for

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Settled conditions throughout the autumn meant that count of 65 on the 17th October. A small flock of Twite,
coverage was good, with just two trips cancelled due to a long staying Merlin (though possibly multiple) and the
the weather. Favourable winds for landing on the island Hen Harrier, plus four Collared Doves on the 25th
do not necessarily mean ideal winds for migration, and October were the best of the rest, closing the season on
autumn slipped by with no rare or scarce species in the the 28th October with 109 species.
nets. A Redwing ringed on the 3rd September, and
subsequently caught twice more in the following
weeks, appeared to be a very early migrant, however
camera traps set in July confirmed the bird had
summered on the island. The collapse of finch numbers
in late autumn, which we have experienced over the
last few years, continued in 2021. The numbers ringed
speak for themselves – very low single figures for
Chaffinch, Siskin, Goldfinch and Linnet. Even with
Lesser Redpoll, our main autumn finch, there were only
three days with double figures ringed (10, 13, 10!!) and an
annual total of 39.

Two Redshanks, dazzled and hand-netted on 8th and
9th October, added the only splash of colour at the end
of 2021 during what has been described as “the Autumn
that never was”! Although not a scarce species at the
Observatory, these were only the 20th and 21st
Redshanks to have been ringed there. In spite of all the
circumstances encountered during 2021 – Covid and
otherwise - we managed to ring 3,008 birds (including
2,113 pulli) at the Observatory this year.

One of the most important jobs when manning the Seawatching on CBO © Ollie Padget
Observatory is keeping a record of all the birds sighted
each day, contributing to our 67-year dataset and to It was a spectacular year for Grey Seal pups with a
BTO/national datasets. Like last year, the Ox-Nav team record count of 55 (+2 dead) on the 09th October. No
came up trumps with our only new species for the proper counts were undertaken on the other islands
Observatory this year – a Hobby sighted on the 13th but scanning from passing boats and from the top of
September. The Hobby is a scarce bird in Northern the old light stump on Lighthouse Island suggested
Ireland with just 1-2 records in most years. With an they too had an exceptional year. We did note the major
increasing breeding population in NW England and loss of pups in some other Irish Sea sites during the
Scotland, this is a species we had been eagerly November storms but we are unaware how the
anticipating. For some of the Oxford team who live in Copeland pups fared. Limited counts of adult Grey Seals
England, the Hobby is a common breeding bird, so it were made throughout the season but the three
was a surprise for them to learn of its local rarity value. highest were 94 on 16th April, 96 on 28th Sep and 116 on
This species is no doubt a potential colonist of Ireland in 30th December.
the coming years. The group’s seawatching was again
productive with singles of Pomarine Skua on the 08th Other marine mammals included Minke Whales on the
and 13th September and a maximum count of six Great 2nd May and 24th July, single records of Common and
and 19 Arctic Skua on the 11th; and the Observatory’s Bottlenose Dolphin; a handful of records of Otter and
10th Long-tailed Skua – a juvenile on the same date. Common Seal, and regular records of Harbour Porpoise.
Other seawatch records included two Little Gull on the Nine species of butterfly were recorded including a
09th September and a high count of 37 Red-throated single Speckled Wood on July 18th and Small Copper
Divers on the 11th. Scarce passerines were absent but on five dates in July, with a maximum of two. Moth
other interesting Observatory sightings included four recording is inconsistent at the Observatory and is
Gadwall (4/5th CBO record), two Mute Swans (c15 dependent on the volunteers staying, however there
records), Knot and an early Brambling on the 15th was one particularly nice find of a Devon Carpet Moth,
September. the third record for NI and fourth for Ireland.

Despite 16 days coverage in October, it was pretty much
standard fare throughout. It was better for Whooper
Swan records with three bird-days, and a maximum

P a g e 39 Bird Observatories Council – January 2022 - www.birdobscouncil.org.uk

Grey Seal pup © Richard Donaghey and species such as Blackcap and Willow Warbler have
begun to breed on the island. The trees around the mist
In early October we undertook an upgrade of our off- net rides, however, are now very tall and leggy, resulting
grid solar electricity system thanks to funding from the in less productive nets. A SWAT team of arboriculturists
Northern Ireland Environment Agency through the armed with four chainsaws have begun the process of
Challenge Fund. The upgrade has greatly increased our coppicing and thinning the plantations, while also
capacity and should ensure no shortages of electricity stocking the fire fuel stores.
on extended stays. A big project is underway over the In all, it was somewhat of a disappointing year in terms
winter to manage the tree plantations which have been of the quality of birds but it was refreshing to have such
left untouched for a number of years. Several patches a demand and enthusiasm from our volunteers and the
of woodland-like habitats have been allowed to develop best was made from the opportunities presented to us
– a desire perhaps spawned from the Covid-19
restrictions. As we start into 2022, restrictions on the
mixing of households in indoor spaces have returned to
Northern Ireland and we are now well used to constant
uncertainty of what awaits around the corner.
Whatever may be, we await in hope for a season not
impacted by global pandemics, one filled with birds
both common and rare and the opportunity to host
friends both old and new.

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Dungeness Possible Thayer’s Gull
David Walker
Iceland Gull
As with all the Bird Observatories
we were hit hard in 2020 with a Although it is tempting to say that coverage was much
lack of income from staying guests reduced and no doubt numbers were affected it is not
and with 2021 looking the same a simple picture. It was clear that not just here but along
the decision was taken not to employ a full time the south coast in general that there were very few
assistant this year. The combination of this along with a birds arriving although those that did were often
trapping area which remained flooded well into May, relatively early. The offshore passage was not great but
one of the coldest Aprils and wettest Mays on record did have its moments and was certainly better than last
resulted in a reduced netting/ringing effort during the year.
spring. The situation was exacerbated in the autumn There was just a steady trickle of some commoner
when it became clear that many species had suffered migrants rather than any large arrivals. Only one Wood
badly from the weather with very poor breeding Warbler and just two Turtle Doves were seen along with
success and most of our species in the autumn very few Cuckoos, Swifts, Sand Martins and Swallows,
appearing in low to very low numbers. However, as Willow Warblers, Garden Warblers, five Redstarts, six
things eased for a while we were joined by Sam Perfect Whinchats (all on one day) and just two Tree Pipits.
as a temporary warden and this allowed for a decent Amazingly, a Wood Lark was the first bird of the year to
trapping effort in November which helped to boost the be ringed.
number of birds ringed.

As in most recent times the year started fairly quietly
with very little in the way of cold weather movement.
Good numbers of Red-throated Divers, Gannets and
auks were wintering offshore and three Iceland Gulls
continued their stay into the New Year with one staying
to the end of April. Glaucous Gulls were scarce but three
individuals were eventually seen in March. Caspian
Gulls were a feature of the winter months with a day
peak of 11 individuals in January. The first Sandwich
Terns arrived in early February. Potentially the bird off
the winter was a first-winter gull which appeared to be
a Thayer’s Gull. It remained at the Patch for 11 days but
with the estate closed to the public it was only seen by
a few locals who were able to walk in. Up to five
Firecrests were over-wintering in the area.

Wood Lark

Opposite page – Gulls on the patch

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be ssp rubicola) and lots of young being fledged. The
regular pair of Ravens successfully fledged four young
but despite being present throughout the resident pair
of Peregrine Falcons failed to produce any young. For
the second spring in succession a “booming” Bittern
was heard in the Long Pits reed bed on several
occasions. Breeding passerines generally had a hard
time though with Blue and Great Tits, Whitethroats,
Blackbirds and Linnets all producing very few young.

Pied Flycatcher
Rose-coloured Starling

The spring seawatching was at best average (although Young Wheatear
coverage was reduced compared to normal years) but
with a decent passage of Manx Shearwaters including The autumn was very slow to get going with very few
a spring record count of 421 on May 24th, good numbers Sand Martins, Willow Warblers and Reed Warblers in
of Whimbrel, Bar-tailed Godwits and Little Gulls and 96 July and August and very few Lesser Whitethroats in
Pomarine Skua and an amazing 30,000 terns of six September. Later in the autumn the lack of Firecrests
species on April 28th although passage had almost and Goldcrests was particularly worrying as was the
come to a standstill by early May. shortage of thrushes. The sea was very slow for the most
part but there were excellent numbers of Balearic
The low numbers of birds arriving was also reflected in Shearwaters with a day record of 161 on Sep.28th.
a lack of rarities but two more White-tailed Eagles Towards the end of the season numbers of Kittiwakes
hinted at the future and a Purple Heron was seen at the increased and auks arrived in large numbers. On the
Long Pits. Rarer passerines included singles of minus side Arctic Terns were virtually non-existent and
Melodious and Marsh Warbler and two Rose-coloured Little Gulls numbers were disappointing. Rarities
Starlings. included eight Leach’s Petrels, a Grey Phalarope, a
Wryneck, a Pallas’s Warbler and a Red-breasted
Flycatcher. One other remarkable site was that of a
large flock of White Storks although these were
somewhat tarnished as they were thought likely to be
Knepp birds.

Purple Heron

The small breeding population of Wheatears had a Wryneck
more productive season than is now the norm due in
the main to less disturbance during the spring and
Stonechats seemed to be everywhere with at least nine
pairs present (many of the males at least appearing to

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Pugs, a Brussels Lace, seven Hoary Footman, two
Clouded Buffs, two Radford’s Flame Shoulders, a Marsh
Mallow, a White-speck, a Beautiful Marbled, a Tree-
lichen Beauty and an Oak Rustic (new for the
Observatory). A few micro-moths were added to the
Observatory list including Nemphora cupriacella and
Cosmopteryx pulchrimella.

Red-breasted Flycatcher

Nemophora cupriacella

Pallas’s Warbler Portland Ribbon Wave

The back end of the year saw huge numbers of
Gannets, Kittiwakes and auks passing through. A
Siberian Chiffchaff and a couple of typical Chiffchaffs
and a Jack Snipe remained to the end of the year in the
Trapping Area where the winter feeding station was re-
established.

Other wildlife

As well as birds the Observatory records a wide range of
fauna and flora and is well placed to receive species
from the continent. Moth traps are operated on most
nights and butterflies, dragonflies, shieldbugs and
crickets and grasshoppers are constantly monitored.
Butterflies had a decent season with huge numbers of
Small Copper and good numbers of Grizzled Skippers,
Holly Blue and Brown Argus were seen. There were
also a few Clouded Yellows and numbers of Painted
Ladies were reasonable.

After a very slow start to the mothing season things Beautiful Marbled
picked up a bit from early July but it was not a great
year for migrants with some of the best including
Tebenna micalis, four Loxostege sticticalis, ten
Cydalima perspectalis, four Palpita vitrealis, a Blair’s
Mocha, a Portland Ribbon Wave, two Channel Islands

Bird Observatories Council – January 2022 - www.birdobscouncil.org.uk P a g e 44

Oak Rustic Ornate Shieldbugs

Marsh Mallow Moth

It was also an exciting year for some other insects
groups. The very rare shieldbug (only known in Britain
from Dungeness) Geotomus petiti was found in the
Moat again and a few Mottled Shieldbug were seen.
Also of note were four examples of the rare Ornate
Shieldbug, several Firebugs found in the Moat for the
first time and the rare beetle Hister quadrimaculata
again.

Firebug

Geotomus petiti Hister quadrimaculata

P a g e 45 Bird Observatories Council – January 2022 - www.birdobscouncil.org.uk

Tree Cricket numbers were high again and have now Large numbers of Porpoises were seen again with
spread out into the main Desert area and Sickle- sightings on many days during the year and with a peak
bearing Bush-cricket numbers improved with a second count of 40 in March. Various attempts to record bats
more or less discrete colony found. It was also great to were also made with Bat Detectors with numerous
find good numbers of Large Conehead still in the records of Nathusius’s Pipitstrelles and Common
Trapping Area again and including a nymph and thus Pipistrelle and the occasional Soprano Pipistrelles
confirming a breeding population. Southern Oak Bush- gathered. A Daubenton’s Bat was picked up off a fence
crickets were frequent in the Observatory garden. and taken into temporary care. The female Kuhl’s
Pipistrelle that was taken into care last year was
released in Lydd in September and it is tempting to
think that this individual was responsible for a couple of
recordings made on the Echometer in October.
Badgers were frequent visitors to the Observatory
garden.

Large Conehead nymph

Blue-eyed Hawker So, all-in-all, and despite all the difficulties that this year
has presented, it was another very successful one and a
The highlights among the dragonflies were six Blue- big thank-you to everyone who has helped to make it
eyed Hawkers and two Vagrant Emperors and Variable so. Hopefully 2022 will be an easier year in terms of
Damselfly and Small Red-eyed Damselfly continue to Covid restrictions and we hope to be able to take a
reduced number of bookings for accommodation and
see you more of you in the field.

As you can see from the above the work of the Bird
Observatory covers much more than just birds. The
Observatory provides inexpensive accommodation for
anyone wishing to see for themselves the natural
history riches that the area has to offer. For further
information you can check out our website at
www.dungenessbirdobs.org.uk or contact David
Walker by email at [email protected] or post
to Dungeness Bird Observatory, 11 RNSSS Cottages,
Dungeness, Kent TN29 9NA.

Bird Observatories Council – January 2022 - www.birdobscouncil.org.uk P a g e 46

Fair Isle
David and
Susannah Parnaby

P a g e 47 Bird Observatories Council – January 2022 - www.birdobscouncil.org.uk