April 2025 part ii

Late April had a nice variety of migrants and new species to see for the year, which was especially promising since we needed to bring our Bird Race day forward by a week from the official day, so it was to be on the last weekend of April this year. The Easter holidays were late this year so I was able to pop out more regularly to see what was about.

On 21st April I was up on Pleinmont headland where it was very busy with common warblers, but not-so busy for scarce birds. A newly-arrived female Redstart perching atop the fully-blooming gorse was the only uncommon species I could find.

Redstart - Pleinmont, 21 Apr 25

On 23rd a quick look at Pulias revealed a Yellow Wagtail feeding on the beach and a Reed Warbler singing from the small reedbed. After dark on 24th it was really calm and clear, and from the back garden I heard both a flyover Greenshank and a screeching Barn Owl, which hopefully means the local pair are back in their box. Another Pulias visit the next day and the Reed Warblers had increased to 2 singing birds, and another Greenshank was observed flying up and down the coast a few times. There were also Manx Shearwaters flocking offshore out to sea.

Juvenile Raven - Vale, 25 Apr 25 - Just fledged from the nest in the quarry near Bordeaux

Early morning in Sausmarez Park

27th April came around and we met for the bird race before first light but were not expecting a big total due to the uninteresting weather forecast, and that is what indeed occurred. As usual, a very enjoyable day in the field but not many unexpected birds, and migrant numbers were familiarly low. We tried Saumarez Park very early morning to try to see woodpeckers before it got busy but we were not successful there.

We then followed the coast west searching for shorebirds but we had to make do with scraps. Whimbrels were in in numbers, but a couple of Common Sandpipers and a Bar-tailed Godwit were all we could find - a very poor show. At Claire Mare, a Snipe took off when we looked out of the screen (hard to come by on bird races nowadays) and a Sedge Warbler sang amongst the Reeds. Up at Pleinmont, the birds were low in number and nothing was passing overhead, but we did eke out a Whinchat and a briefly reeling Grasshopper Warbler. Surprise of the morning was a high-flying Bullfinch over the top fields, a species which seems to be decreasing a lot locally.

Whinchat - Pleinmont, 27 Apr 25

Down at the Reservoir we ticked off the breeding Great Crested Grebes, which was a new species for the bird race, and we were surprised to see a scruffy young Common Gull on the raft, a bird was had been present at Perelle a few days prior. More searching the middle of the island failed to produce many new species apart from the expected and we eventually found the Cattle Egrets down at Rue des Bergers.

Cattle Egret - Rue des Bergers, 27 Apr 25

Marsh Harrier - Rue des Bergers, 27 Apr 25

Marsh Harrier - Rue des Bergers, 27 Apr 25

We searched the seas off Fort Doyle for terns and auks. There were none of the former, but we did see both Guillemot and Razorbill, as well as a surprising Great Northern Diver. As we’d seen 2/3 of the auks and we were not expecting a big total, we didn’t think it was worth heading to Herm for Puffin, which also meant we no doubt missed Brent Goose as we could find none of the mainland. The rest of the day was spent touring various spots, ticking off a few known species like Little Grebe and Goldcrest. We finally found a single flock of small waders at Vazon which consisted of Dunlins and Ringed Plovers which are usually pretty easy, but we never found a Turnstone or a Sanderling. Our final bird was a Tree Pipit at Pleinmont in the evening which meant we finished on 79 species. Migrants are such a scarce commodity nowadays, getting a good bird race total can only really be achieved by being totally flexible with the date. If the weather conditions aren’t perfect, it isn’t going to happen, and even then it probably still won’t!

The Mighty Sultans of String - still going strong after 25+ YEARS of bird-racing

Back to work, the next week, the best bird was a super, singing Garden Warbler in the fig tree at Fort Hommet/Vazon on 29th, only the second record for my patch.

Painted Lady - Les Tielles, 27 Apr 25

Chocolate-tip - Garden, 24 Apr 25

A saw of a sawfly - not something I’ve seen before, now its clear where they got their name.