The 24th started off well enough with a Hobby seen dashing over Jaffa and Helen's back garden in Budleigh Salterton early morning. However, anticipation of close seabird encounters on the crossing over to Lundy were dashed on arrival at Ilfracombe by the rough conditions, and in fact seabird numbers going over were very disappointing with just c.15 Manx Shearwaters, 6+ Razorbill, 1 Guillemot, 1-2 Fulmar and a few Gannet seen. After arriving on Lundy and dumping our gear at our accommodation we trekked north to Halfway Wall, where we quickly located the male Trumpeter Finch that had been present since the 13th (my second in Britain). This 13th for Britain performed brilliantly in the bright evening light to just the four of us, showing down to just 6 m at times. It spent most of the time on the grass tracks and gravel paths feeding on seeds and small shoots, but did start calling and even singing on one occasion. Despite the strong winds we managed some reasonable shots (photos 1-3). Migrants noted throughout the afternoon were a Turtle Dove and 2 Willow Warbler in Millcombe Valley, 1 Sedge Warbler in St. John's Valley and c10. House Martin and good numbers of Swallow elsewhere. 2 Peregrines were amongst the resident birds seen.
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| Trumpeter Finch with the Lundy landmark of Tibbets in the background |
With light south-easterlies forecast for the 25th, it looked like this was going to be our best chance for passage migrants. But instead the day dawned with a strong southerly blowing that quickly changed to a blustery south-westerly. A few hours birding early morning produced virtually no migrants, with just 1 Spotted Flycatcher, 2 Blackcap and the Turtle Dove noted in Millcombe Valley and the same Sedge Warbler in St. John's Valley. An afternoon walk to the north end of the island while being blasted by the wind was equally unproductive for migrants, with just 1 Spotted Flycatcher noted on the East Sideland and small numbers of House Martin knocking about. The Trumpeter Finch was also seen again at Halfway Wall.
Local breeding birds provided the only other wildlife photo opportunities. Northern Wheatears (photo 4) were everywhere on the island plateau, with at least 2 pairs seen visiting nests, and Meadow Pipit (photo 5), Skylark and Linnet were abundant. Also noted were 4 Peregrine (including a pair at the nest), 4 Raven, an adult Water Rail feeding a chick in St. John's Valley and Pied Wagtail and Wren both with fledglings in Millcombe. The strong wind made viewing seabirds very difficult but lots of Manx Shearwater, Fulmar, Razorbill, Guillemot, Northern Gannet and Shag were seen offshore, mostly very distant, along with a few Grey Seal around the rocks. Finally, a late night visit to one of the Manx Shearwater breeding slopes found just a few birds calling.
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| St. John's Valley looking towards Millcombe Valley - one of the few areas on Lundy with bushes and trees and a well known migrant trap. Our accommodation - Bramble Villa West - is the background. |
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| Lundy is characterised by grassy slopes between the cliffs and the island plateau known as the Sidelands. This is the East Sideland - one of the only spots sheltered from the wind duing our visit. |
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| Looking north towards Gannets' Rock |
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| North Light at North West Point. Thousands of Atlantic Puffins once bred on the grassy slopes here, but today only around 32 pairs breed, and Lundy is close to losing Puffin as a breeding species. Since 2006 Lundy has been rat free thanks to the Seabird Recovery Programme, which will hopefully help lead to an an increase in Puffin numbers. |
On our last day the winds were so strong (force 6) that the Oldenburg couldn't make the crossing back to the mainland and so we had to be 'evacuated' by helicopter! I managed to grab the seat next to the pilot so the views over Lundy and Hartland Point on the mainland were incredible (photos below). This was my first visit to Lundy and although the weather stopped us doing much of what we wanted to do I can't wait to go back, hopefully in conditions where you can at least stand upright.
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| Hartland Point, Devon |
For an alternative take on this trip, which highlights some of the psychological issues that arise within a group stuck on a lump of rock in the Atlantic in storm force winds seeing bugger all, click here.
