The day started very overcast, a bit of rain and some wind, however, everyone was in high spirits, I then boarded the boat, said hello to the staff and set myself up for the day. While setting up I was also introduced to Fiona and Peter who were doing the monthly MARINElife survey. Once heading out from Bideford, I spotted many gulls, a few Little Egret, Oystercatchers and a Grey Heron along the riverbank.
Once joining the Bristol Channel there was a bit of a swell and relatively few birds, so I made use of the time, chatting to many passengers and pointing out a few Manx Shearwater that we saw. Other than a few gulls, a solitary tern that flew overhead, and the shearwaters, there wasn’t much else to be seen on the journey out to Lundy!
Once arriving at Lundy, the weather calmed down and there was a dense fog over the island, adding to its mysterious beauty for those who were new to Lundy. We saw a few Grey Seal bottling in the harbour, I could spot a large male near Rat Island and a few seals came up towards the boat to investigate the new visitors, one had caught what looked to be a Cuttlefish that it was eating.
I spent my day on the island walking up to the tavern, doing some illustrations of birds and then meeting up with Peter and Fiona for a nice walk to Jenny’s Cove to search for any auks (hoping for a Puffin). However, as it was the end of their breeding season, they were now out at sea, and we drew a blank. There were still birds to be seen though and we were happy to spot some Fulmar, Kittiwake, a young Peregrine, Shag, and Great Black-Backed Gulls. The domestic animals on the island were much in evidence, with a rather majestic Highland Cow, many sheep, goats, rabbits and ponies. We also saw a colour-ringed Starling, ringed as part of a study of the species on the island. By the end of the day, the weather had cleared up and the sun lit up Lundy making for some spectacular views, and you could see the North Devon coastline in the horizon.
Once back at the village, we had time to sit and have some cake and a nice cold drink and exchanged stories of our bird spotting experiences. I am still very new to this volunteer position, so it was very helpful to chat to those with more experience and I have taken a lot on board to help better my skills for spotting!
We headed back towards the boat and there were again many Grey Seal in Landing Bay, now laying on the rocks with a couple still in the water. Peter spotted a raft of Manx Shearwater in the distance, possibly waiting for night to come to head back to their nests. We also spotted more gulls, Oystercatcher and some Fulmar as we boarded.
As we headed away from Lundy, I saw a group of Shag sitting along rocks in the water and saw a few Manx Shearwater near the boat. During the journey back I had a few passengers talking to me about what they had spotted during their time on Lundy, one passenger reported they had seen a Portuguese Man O’ War whilst snorkelling and a few other passengers had mentioned spotting other jellyfish such as Compass Jellyfish which I also spotted in the water on the way back. As we reached the coastline, we were fortunate to see two dolphin just breaking the water in the distance, given what I did see of them I assumed they were Common Dolphin. Other than a lot of Manx Shearwater and then more gulls along the coast, I did not spot any other species of bird.
I thanked Jason and the crew again for a lovely trip and departed after a long fun day!
MARINElife/Lundy WLO Kizzi Stone
Summary of sightings:
Marine Mammals
Grey Seal 12
Common Dolphin 2
Birds
Manx Shearwater
Guillemot
Gannet
Herring Gull
Great Black-backed Gull
Black Headed Gull
Fulmar
Shag
Kittiwake
Storm Petrel
Little Egret
Oystercatcher
Tern sp.
Wildlife seen on Lundy
Soay Sheep
Domestic Sheep
Goat
Lundy Pony
Highland Cow
Robin
Skylark
Starling
House Sparrow
Carrion Crow
Raven
Peregrine
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