Ringing
Unlike the previous two years, in 2022 there were no Covid-19 restrictions to affect bird ringing on Lundy. However, ringing restrictions imposed in response to another pandemic, Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI), affected work on Lundy’s seabirds. Just one night of Storm Petrel ringing was possible before the restrictions, and autumn Manx Shearwater ringing was also curtailed.
The year’s ringing total of 2,716 was little more than half that of 2021, but HPAI was not the main cause of this reduction. Numbers of spring migrants and of shearwaters were somewhat lower, but autumn migrants showed the largest drop, falling by about a thousand. Adverse weather conditions played a part in reducing migrant ringing. They caused the low spring numbers, despite an increase in the time for which ringers were operating (up from three weeks to nearly five); then in autumn their effect was combined with a reduction in ringing coverage (down from seven weeks to four) to reduce that season’s ringing total very significantly.
As in the previous five years, Blackcaps topped the species totals, with 753 ringed. Numbers of Manx Shearwaters (161), Swallows (202), Chiffchaffs (144), Willow Warblers (387), Sedge Warblers (101), and House Sparrows (140) also reached three figures. The most unusual catches included a Golden Plover, only the fourth to be ringed on Lundy; a Long-eared Owl and a Pallas’s Warbler were each the fifth of their species; a Cetti’s Warbler was the sixth; and two Hawfinches were the tenth and eleventh. The most notable of the other species were three Yellow-browed Warblers, two Treecreepers and a Common Rosefinch.
Among the regular migrants, Blackcaps have maintained their remarkable long-term increase. Between 1981 and 2000 they made up about 6% of annual catches, in the following decade this figure averaged about 9% and since 2011 it has averaged 21%. Willow Warbler remains the species ringed in the greatest numbers since 1947, but their equivalent percentages, over the same periods as the Blackcap figures above, have been 18%, 12% and 11%. Blackcaps have been able to adapt their relatively short-range migration strategies in response to warmer winters and the increasing amounts of food provided in gardens, while Willow Warblers are long-range migrants finding it harder and harder to cross the Sahara,which is widening as its southern fringes become drier.
The ringing projects on Wheatears, Starlings and House Sparrows have continued. Though some useful work was also achieved on Manx Shearwaters and Storm Petrels, both projects were affected by the restrictions put in place because of HPAI.
Apart from the ringing itself, the rebuilding of the Terrace Heligoland trap has continued, and it should be operational sometime in 2023. Many thanks to all those who have worked on this. The digitisation of all the surviving Lundy ringing records, from 1972 to the present, has been completed, so they are available to anyone wishing to analyse them for research purposes (see ‘Digitisation of Lundy Ringing Records’, which follows this account). Both achievements strengthened Lundy’s case when the Bird Observatories Council considered the island’s application for official recognition as a Bird Observatory, in February 2023.
Number ringed in 2022 |
|
Manx Shearwater |
(85) 161 |
Storm Petrel |
17 |
Golden Plover |
1 |
Snipe |
3 |
Woodpigeon |
1 |
Long-eared Owl |
1 |
Goldcrest |
87 |
Firecrest |
6 |
Skylark |
13 |
Sand Martin |
10 |
Swallow |
(6) 202 |
House Martin |
4 |
Cetti's Warbler |
1 |
Yellow-browed Warbler |
3 |
Chiffchaff |
144 |
Willow Warbler |
387 |
Blackcap |
753 |
Garden Warbler |
6 |
Lesser Whitethroat |
7 |
Whitethroat |
371 |
Grasshopper Warbler |
9 |
Sedge Warbler |
101 |
Reed Warbler |
8 |
Treecreeper |
2 |
Wren |
429 |
Starling |
(32) 70 |
Blackbird |
47 |
Song Thrush |
9 |
Redwing |
51 |
Spotted Flycatcher |
12 |
Robin |
52 |
Pied Flycatcher |
7 |
Redstart |
2 |
Whinchat |
1 |
Stonechat |
13 |
Wheatear |
(5) 75 |
Dunnock |
18 |
House Sparrow |
(88) 140 |
Grey Wagtail |
1 |
Pied Wagtail |
1 |
Tree Pipit |
1 |
Meadow Pipit |
57 |
Rock Pipit |
4 |
Brambling |
1 |
Chaffinch |
39 |
Hawfinch |
2 |
Bullfinch |
2 |
Common Rosefinch |
1 |
Linnet |
22 |
Goldfinch |
62 |
Siskin |
17 |
Total number of birds ringed |
2,714 |
Total number of species ringed |
52 |
Numbers in brackets indicate pulli – i.e. chicks/nestlings – ringed in 2022. The number of pulli is included in the main total.
For the latest sightings and photos of birds on Lundy visit the
Lundy Bird Observatory website