DAY OUT: Lundy, Devon
Island pilgrimage
Every autumn, David Lindo leaves the city and heads for the rugged island of Lundy off the north Devon coast, where the sight of a migrant is often as exciting as the sheer cliffs on which it perches
Islands are a magnet for birds and birders alike. And, although I am known as the Urban Birder, I must confess that if I were not so fixated with finding wildlife within our urban centres, I would be off island-hopping at the drop of a hoopoe’s tail feather.
Not just to admire the scenery, I must hasten to add, although nothing beats the vision of sheer cliffs rising from a foaming sea, or looking along a blonde, sandy beach with a tranquil azure ocean lapping on its shoreline. I am drawn to islands because of their remoteness, even if the mainland is within sight. The idea of roaming an island, as if I owned it, or at least to treat it as a temporary local patch, is totally irresistible.
FIRST LANDFALL
Islands are brilliant places for finding tired wayward migrants who have made first landfall after a long migration over treacherous seas. In autumn, most birders gravitate to the mystical Shetland and Fair Isles in the north, or the Scilly Isles – the westernmost point of the UK. Whereas I prefer to make the autumn pilgrimage to Lundy Island in the Bristol Channel. An unlikely choice for rarity hunters, as it is not a far-flung island in the middle of a foreboding sea, but it is a special place nonetheless.
This sparrow-sized finch with its pretty, russet-hued plumage is an autumn-passage migrant on Lundy. Numbers usually peak at the end of October, when daily counts regularly exceed 1,000.
REGULAR AND RARE
At three miles long, half a mile wide and only a 45-minute boat ride from Ilfracombe, Lundy makes for a great day trip. Steeped in history, some of it quite dark, it is a rocky island that, during the summer, is home to colonies of seabirds, including the nationally declining and adorable puffin. In autumn, when the seabirds have mostly gone out to sea, I focus on searching the bushes and trees for migrants busily refuelling before continuing their journeys south. Many of these birds are common migrants, such as chaffinches, pied flycatchers and willow warblers. But occasionally a waif from the far east is discovered, such as 2021’s sulphur-bellied warbler, Britain’s first-ever record, hailing from Central Asia.
A trip to Lundy is not just about rarity hunting. There is a special magic here that captivates me. It is exciting and picturesque in equal measure, and has the feeling of a remote isle, despite its proximity to Ilfracombe. My favourite spot on Lundy is the wooded valley around Millcombe House in the south-east. Sheltered from the westerly winds, it is a haven for birds and people. Whenever I leave the island, I am left dreaming about what I might find on my next visit.
Lundy calling
Enjoy an audio voyage with the island’s nature warden, Dean Woodfin-Jones, in Slow Radio: A Night on Lundy. Available on BBC Sounds.
David Lindo, aka the Urban Birder, visits Lundy every year in search of avian magic.