An excellent opportunity for 14 young birders to visit Lundy, boat and board included -- lundybirdobs.org.uk/news-and-sig... Additional funding for young people to get out to a bird obs, through the BTO here -- www.bto.org/our-work/you...

Tree Pipit and Redstart new for year this morning. Female Firecrest caught and ringed in new arrival of Chiffchaff and Willow Warbler yesterday evening.

At Bull Point, three reeling Grasshopper Warblers at dawn this morning, plus good numbers of grounded Chiffchaff, Willow Warbler and Blackcap feeding in flowering blackthorn scrub. Single flyover Tree Pipit, Redpoll & Curlew. Continued strong passage NW of Linnet & Goldfinch #devonbirds #ukbirding

At a blustery Morte Point this a.m. an odd mix of seabirds displaced on the southern edge of Storm Dave, incl 65 Kittiwake & 35 Manx Shearwater, heading back W, and 130 Swallow & 204 Linnet piling N as skies cleared and winds dropped. Also 11 Turnstone, 11 House Martin & 3 R-t Diver. #ukbirding

Yesterday saw a flurry of new migrants including 2 Black Redstart, a few Sand Martins and a couple of new Siskin. A ringing session in Millcombe today saw the 1st Willow Warbler ringed/of year, 3 Chiffchaff and 3 Blackcap ringed. Where are the Chiffchaffs???

Bull Point this morning: modest movements of finches, Meadow Pipits & Pied/alba wagtails. Highlights: 1 Swallow W at 07:30, 2 Sand Martin, 5 Common Scoter W. Grounded migrants = 16 Chiffchaff, 2 Willow Warbler, 2 Blackcap, 8 Wheatear, 13 Stonechat. Also 7 Peacocks & 1 Comma #devonbirds #ukbirding

Bull Point: busiest morning of spring passage so far, with 3 Sandwich Tern W, 18 Sand Martin, 11 Chiffchaff and a Wheatear. Plus migrating finches (incl 44 Goldfinch & 62 Linnet), wagtails (15 Pied & 11 unidentified albas) and small numbers of Woodpigeons. Mostly before 08:00. #devonbirds #ukbirding

Bull Point calm but heavily overcast & chilly this morning. A few migrants on the move, incl 3 Sand Martin, 4 Skylark, 9 Pied Wagtail, 3 unid’d alba wag, 1 Grey Wag, 46 Meadow Pipit, 23 Linnet & 4 Goldfinch. Noticeable influx of 6+ Chiffchaff. #UKbirding #devonbirds

Heard a strange noise coming from our chimney flue this morning. After a challenging extraction, with crucial help from Matt, our local sweep, we managed to free this adult Tawny Owl. We checked it over, made sure it drank some water, and kept it in a box for dusk release this evening. #ukbirding

Sunrise at Bull Point was accompanied by singing Chiffchaffs and followed a bit later by the first Sand Martin of the year – my earliest site record. 14 alba wagtails & a Grey Wagtail overhead, c100 staging Meadow Pipits feeding. #devonbirds #ukbirding

At Bull Point today a Curlew (very unusal in Feb) flew in calling and *landed* (exceptional) revealing a GPS-tag, leg-flag and colour-rings! The bulge of the GPS tag shows up in the flight pic. Evidently a @curlewrecovery.bsky.social 'head started' bird; awaiting info on release site/date #UKbirding

Thrilled that last weekend’s @birdobscouncil.bsky.social AGM at @btobirds.bsky.social HQ in Thetford confirmed @lundybirds.bsky.social has successfully completed its 3-year probationary period and is once again a fully accredited member of the British & Irish Bird Observatory network 🥳 #ukbirding

A mild, drizzly and windy day, with strong southerly gusts, tempted a Mistle Thrush into tentative song in the valley at home for the first time this year 😊 #ukbirding

At Bull Point this morning, 2 Red-throated Diver feeding close inshore, 4 male Common Scoter flying W quite far out, and a Little Egret doing its best Cattle Egret impression, feeding among the Belted Galloway conservation grazers – white speck in the foreground😁 #ukbirding #devonbirds

New Year's Day patch birding at Bull Point yielded three Fulmar and single Gannet, Snipe, Sparrowhawk, Raven & Goldcrest among other species – very much a "winter on an exposed, blustery headland" feel to my notebook! Great to see new small-scale wetland creation by @nationaltrust.org.uk #ukbirding

Highlight of a sunny New Year’s Eve walk on the Exmoor coast near Trentishoe was a wintering Ring Ouzel feeding on hawthorn berries at the head of this sheltered combe #ukbirding #devonbirds

Five late(ish) Swifts heading ESE were the highlight of a couple of hours’ birding at Bull Point this morning, following an ethereal sunrise. #ukbirding

Reconnecting with my Bull Point birding patch after a spring & summer surveying elsewhere… This a.m: 1 Common Scoter, 4 Sandwich Tern, 430 Manx Shearwater, 20 Swallow, 9 Willow Warbler, 10 Whitethroat. #UKbirding

Homepage blog for @lundybirds.bsky.social updated with an account and photos of the dark-morph Booted Eagle that graced the island earlier this week, together with Golden Oriole & Woodchat Shrike, here: www.lundybirdobs.org.uk #UKBirding

The best sighting of the day was not a bird but this pristine male Orange Tip butterfly, still drying itself out in the sun after emerging in the garden at home. What extraordinary beauty in those transluscent hindwings! 🤩 💚

Bull Point quiet for late April. 35 Swallow, 9 Sand & 3 House Martin a poor showing for hirundines over several hours. Single Tree Pipit & Grasshopper Warbler, 4 Whitethroat & 8 Willow Warbler. Sunrise well round to the NE – over the Welsh coast already. Amazing how quickly that happens! #UKBirding

Highlights at Bull Point this morning: 1 Red-throated Diver W, 71 Manx Shearwater, 13 Willow Warbler, 9 Blackcap, 1 Whitethroat, 1 Grasshopper Warbler reeling, 3 flyover Yellow Wagtail, 7 flyover Tree Pipit, 120 Linnet, single Redpoll & 125 Goldfinch. Few hirundines. #UKBirding

The sightings blog for @lundybirds.bsky.social has been updated with details of the island's second-ever White Stork yesterday (Friday 11th April) and lots of other recent news, including a Lundy colour-ringed Wheatear seen in Mauritania: www.lundybirdobs.org.uk #UKBirding

Surveying this morning for NT-led Landscape Recovery Scheme linking Arlington Estate with West Exmoor. Great to find 3 territorial male Yellowhammers – very scarce these days in this part of N Devon. Also Red Kite, another locally scarcity, and an obvious influx of phylloscs & Blackcaps. #UKBirding

Yesterday a.m. (5 Apr) at Bull Point: Osprey E at 10:15, 18 Sandwich Tern, 79 LB-b Gull, 3 Manx Shearwater, 127 Sand Martin, 51 Swallow, 17 House Martin, 7 alba wagtail, 2 Tree Pipit, 51 Meadow Pipit, 160 Linnet, 138 Goldfinch. Everything going E into the wind, gusting at F7, except the terns – SW!

Proud to announce a new guide to Lundy’s commoner birds, aimed especially at helping day-trippers & families, has today hit the shelves of the island shop😊 With pics by Richard Campey⁩ and text by Tim⁩ Davis & myself, we hope this will also raise awareness of the Bird Observatory. #UKBirding

Quiet for passerines at a chilly Bull Pt this a.m. with an onshore N wind & leaden skies. Main interest over the sea: 15 Common Scoter W, continuing passage E of ad LBB Gulls, and a colossal patch count (for settled weather in spring) of 235 Gannets ENE. Also 1 Curlew & 2 Sand Martin E. #UKBirding

I took a winter break from posting but Spring Equinox has got me going again😃 At Bull Point, the first of 55 Sand Martins zipped through before sunrise. Also 3 Swallow (1st of yr), 141 LBB Gull coasting E, 219 Mipit, 47 Linnet, a songflighting Wheatear & a single subsinging Blackcap. #UKbirding

A couple more flights shots of the Pallid Swift, again captured brilliantly by Brennig Hughes

Seems like we’re getting towards the fag-end of Chaffinch migration at Bull Point, with just 128 through in a couple of hours from dawn this a.m. Also 96 Woodpigeon, 31 Redwing, 6 Fieldfare and a female-type Black Redstart on the very highest bit of the lighthouse. #UKbirding

Back on my mainland patch at Bull Point this a.m., strong passage of c.2K Chaffinch, 6 Brambling & 43 Siskin – all undercounts due to tricky viewing conditions with clear skies & low sun. Also my 1st patch Yellow-browed Warbler plus 2 f-type Black Redstarts feeding around the lighthouse. #UKbirding

1/3 Recently back from @lundybirds.bsky.social An excellent trip with a good range of scarcities, incl. the long-staying Greater Short-toed Lark, Yellow-browed Warblers most days, and an elusive Wryneck. Rather low numbers of 'common' migrants but enough to keep multiple Merlins well fed. #UKBirding

Hardly any visible migration at Bull Point this morning. A few Meadow Pipits and 6 Swallows was about it. On the plus side, an evident influx of 8 grounded Song Thrushes, with a few more Chiffs & Goldcrests about, along with this delightful (if rather distant) presumed 1st-yr Whinchat. #UKbirding

Also at Bull Pt this a.m. the first migrating Chaffinch flocks of autumn (75) plus first trickle of Redwing (4), Skylark (4) & Siskin (9). Offshore, steady passage W of 68 Common Gull & 96 Black-headed Gull, and 5 Cormorant E. Few grounded migrants after a starry night and clear dawn. #UKbirding

The unusual sight of 2 migrating Great White Egrets passing feeding Gannets off Bull Point this a.m. Also in the shot (the fuzzy brown dot between the egrets!) is a Meadow Pipit flying in off the sea, likely having left the Welsh coast earlier. I didn't even notice it at the time! #UKbirding

BTO Winter Gull Survey (WinGS) on Taw Estuary last night, avoiding gales & horizontal rain forecast this pm... Frustratingly (but as expected) most gulls came in when almost too dark to count, let alone ID, but >3K on our sector. Beautiful light & plenty to watch whilst waiting for gulls😁 #UKbirding

Dramatic skies at Bull Point early this morning. Unsurprisingly, not much on the move but 66 Linnets, 65 Meadow Pipits, 4 alba wagtails & 4 Swallows battled through the brighter breaks, as a noisy flock of about 20 Gannets plunge-dived among Harbour Porpoises off the lighthouse. #UKbirding

A very high spring tide & heavy rain combined to make today one of the soggiest Taw Estuary WeBS counts I can remember. Plenty of Wigeon in on the recent easterlies. Also notable were single Great White Egret & Great Crested Grebe (local scarcity) and an Osprey tucking into its breakfast. #UKbirding

Recently back from a bucket-list trip to see the spectacle of migration across the Strait of Gibraltar. 1000s of Honey Buzzards + numerous Black Kites, Short-toed & Booted Eagles, Egyptian Vultures, White & Black Storks, Bee-eaters & much else. Essential kit: comfy chair, multi-clicker, neck yoga 🤩

From a murky but dry Bull Point this a.m. in a F5-6 ENE, 15 Common Scoter and – patch gold! – 2 Wigeon. Virtually no passerine movement; zero hirundines! This heron flew in from W, struggling to hold steady in the wind, with a GBB in hot pursuit but stabilised in the lee of the headland😁 #UKbirding

3/2 😉 The supporting cast included a gorgeous juv Sabine's Gull, Long-tailed Skuas + numerous European Storm-petrels zig-zagging & dipping over the chum-enriched wake of 'Sapphire'. Thanks to Joe Pender, Bob Flood and the whole Scilly Pelagics team, including @scottreidscilly.bsky.social #UKBirding

2/2 As a young birder, the notion of South Polar Skuas in UK waters was the stuff of myth & legend. Were they really ID-able in the field? Would I know if I ever saw one? 4 decades on, I can reassure my younger self on both counts! This 1st-yr bird put on an epic show off Scilly on 24 Aug #UKbirding

1/2 Last weekend I realised a long-held dream, joining Scilly Pelagics for 4 unforgettable days of seabirding. Staggeringly close views of Great, Cory's & Sooty Shearwaters + Wilson's Storm-petrel. South Polar Skua & 2 Scopoli's Shearwater (pic) the cherries on the icing of a huge cake. #UKBirding

Superb views of Cory’s, Great & Sooty Shearwaters from the Scillonian today and Pectoral Sandpiper at Lower Moors, St Mary’s at 18:25. Presumably the one reported from Porth Hellick earlier. @UKbirding

Bull Point from before sunrise today saw the first obvious return passage of Swallows, with 85 through by 9am. Also 41 House & 2 Sand Martins. Otherwise rather quiet on land & offshore. A few Willow Warblers & Whitethroats, c400 Manxies & 40 Gannets. And a close encounter with a Roe Deer. #UKbirding

A seawatch from the tip of Morte Point early this morning in a fairly stiff SSW breeze yielded 1,354 Manx Shearwaters, 137 Gannets and 19 Fulmars but just 2 Whimbrel & 3 distant ‘comic’ terns by way of greater variety. #UKbirding

Working on NT Arlington estate today setting up survey routes for baseline bird monitoring ahead of landscape-scale nature recovery work. Excited to find 2 singing Yellowhammers (wiped out across most of Devon since 1980 by changing farming practices) and successfully fledged Barn Owls #UKbirding

First post in a while... At Bull Point this a.m. a fall of 32+ Willow Warbler, with a few Whitethroat & Blackcap, plus 1st Spotted Flycatcher of autumn. Significant W-bound passage of mainly juv Herring & LBb Gulls plus a patch-record flock of 29 Oystercatchers😁 #UKbirding

At Bull Point this morning: 20 Swift, 92 Swallow, 34 House Martin, single Tree Pipit & Yellow Wagtail over, and a huge offshore feeding movement of 6,130 Manx Shearwater W 07:00 to 09:30, of which >5K just in the first hour. Missed the start of it, so could easily have been closer to 10K. #UKbirding

A wonderful 10km walk over part of Devon Exmoor today. Warm & dry after early fog lifted. 11 singing Redstart & 4 Pied Flycatcher but – slightly worryingly – no Wood Warbler, though there’s still time in this odd spring. 3 singing Garden Warbler & 2 Tawny Owl (seen) the best of the rest. #UKbirding