Hilbre Island

It was a cold misty start on Hilbre at 7am this morning, but at least the stiff south easterly breeze brought with it the possibility of some visible migration. Today there was a good passage of Siskins, I counted about 20 going over the island, and four of these were caught, which is apparently an impressive total for a species which is rarely trapped on Hilbre. Some of the males were really stunning birds, almost as bright as Canaries. Other finches today included a few impressive Lesser Redpolls, and some Goldfinches.

On the north end of the island, the female Merlin sat patiently, awaiting the arrival of tired passerines. Once I watched it as it hunted an unfortunate Siskin which came in off the sea. At first I didn’t realise that it was a Siskin until I heard it call, but then both birds flew towards me, and as is often the way with Merlins, it was so focused on the chase that it didn’t realise that it was within a few feet of me, and by now I could clearly see that the Siskin was a bright yellow male. The Siskin flew high and the falcon swerved to follow it, then the finch dropped like a stone and the falcon swooped, only for the finch to fly high again, with the Merlin twisting and turning in close pursuit. The chase lasted for about 3 minutes, and I was almost certain that the Siskin was deliberately flying towards me in the hope that my presence would deter the Merlin from close approach. Maybe it worked, because I’m fairly certain that the Siskin escaped.

Other highlights today, included Yellow and White Wagtails, a fly over Tree Pipit, a (Greenland?) Wheatear and a couple each of Willow Warblers and Chiffchaffs.

As usual it was a tremendous experience today, and special thanks must go to the guys at the Bird Observatory who as usual were very friendly and allowed me to feel very much involved. Click here for the Hilbre Bird Observatory blog, and the real story of today.