Update 15 Oct – 11 individuals seen during a day of strong seabird passage was by far the highest total ever recorded from the island, the previous maximum count being just two birds (on four occasions, most recently on 5 October 1999).

Update Another exceptional year for this species, with records on 13 dates between 15 Sep and 21 Oct. Most involved ones and twos, but ten were seen on 14 Oct, with seven the following day.

Update 15 Oct – six individuals seen during a day of strong seabird passage was the highest total ever recorded from the island, the previous maximum being three on 5 October 1999.

Update One heading south on 30 Aug was followed by records on four dates in mid-Oct: one on 14th, two on 15th, one on 17th and one on 20th.

Update 24 to 30 Jan – between 300 and 900 recorded daily, with the maximum count of 900 recorded on the last date. These are high counts for the time of year. The seabird census in late May recorded a total of 151 apparently occupied nests, representing a slight increase over the 148 counted in 2004 (David Price et al./RSPB). While these figures appear mildly encouraging, productivity studies suggest that breeding success remains relatively poor (Nicola Saunders, pers. comm.) and it is too early to conclude that the long-term decline in Lundy's breeding population of this delightful pelagic gull (once numbered in the thousands) has bottomed out.

Colour-ring sighting: A Kittiwake bearing a green colour-ring, inscribed 'AV' in white lettering, nested in the colony below Threequarter Wall Buttress in 2007 and 2008. Information available at the time of writing suggests it was ringed at Hjelmsoya, near North Cape, Norway, on 2 Jul 2004.

Update The seabird census in late May recorded 263 apparently occupied territories, on the face of it a significant drop of 41% since 2004, though Herring and Lesser Black-backed Gulls received less intensive coverage during the 2008 survey due to poor weather, which meant the census team had to concentrate its limited resources on covering the main target species, such as auks and Kittiwake (David Price et al./RSPB).

Colour-ring sighting: birds ringed on Lundy as pulli between 23 & 26 Jun 1996 were seen at:

Portimao, Algarve, Portugal (37°08’N, 8°32’W) on 03 Oct 2007
Malaga, Andalucia, Spain (36°42’N, 4°25’W) on 01 Dec 2007
Portimao, Algarve, Portugal (37°08’N, 8°32’W) on 25 Oct 2008

These are the 13th & 14th reports of a Lundy-ringed Lesser Black-back from Portugal (and the 2nd & 3rd sighting in Portimao, following one there in Nov 2001; potentially involving the same individual). There have been only two previous sightings in Spain and this is the first for Málaga.

Update The seabird census in late May recorded 534 apparently occupied territories, an apparent reduction of 25% since 2004, but see the comment under Lesser Black-backed Gull regarding weather-related differences in coverage between 2004 and 2008 (David Price et al./RSPB).

Ringing Recovery: The ring of a Herring Gull ringed as a pullus on Lundy (ring no. GN08601) on 22 Jun 1999 was found on the island on 07 May 2007. The bird is presumed to have died but the date of death cannot be determined and could have been within a short time of ringing as no remains were found.

Update The seabird census in late May recorded 57 pairs, virtually unchanged from the 58 pairs counted in 2004 (David Price et al./RSPB).

Update 30 Aug – although not seen from the island, two were watched from the MS Oldenburg as they fed with Common Terns about a kilometre east of Lundy (N. Croton, A.M. & R.J. Taylor).

Update 30 Aug – at least 50 were seen from MS Oldenburg during the crossing from Ilfracombe, including a group of 20 feeding just east of Lundy, together with two Black Terns (N. Croton, A.M. & R.J. Taylor). Also seen on the return crossing on 6 Sep. Tony Taylor writes: "Both [on 30 Aug & 6 Sep] flocks gathered close to the boat and then wheeled upwards and away, bunched together tightly. I reckoned in retrospect, given their direction etc, that they were using the hot air from the funnel and engine room to gain height."

Update 22 Apr – two flying north seen from MS Oldenburg just as the boat was entering the Landing Bay (C. McShane). Record accepted by the Devon County Recorder – only the second spring record for Lundy (the other being a single bird on 5 May 1996).

Update The seabird census in late May recorded 3,302 individuals, representing a substantial increase of 42% since 2004 and the highest level since the current survey began in 1981 (David Price et al./RSPB).

Colour-ring sighting 14 May & 13 Jun – an individual seen at St Philip's Stone bearing a metal ring on its right leg and a blue darvic ring with white lettering '74A' on its left leg had been ringed as a chick on the small Swedish island of Stora Karlsö (in the Baltic Sea a few kilometres off south-west Gotland and 1,609 km from Lundy) on 2 Jul 2002. While unusual, this movement is by no means unprecedented. The BTO Migration Atlas (Wernham et al., 2002) reports 69 foreign-ringed Guillemots recovered in Britain, including a chick ringed in the Baltic that later bred on Skomer (off mainland Pembrokeshire).

Update The seabird census in late May recorded 1,045 individuals, representing an increase of 24% since 2004 and the highest level since the current survey began in 1981 (David Price et al./RSPB).

Update The first of the year was on 8 Apr, when one was seen on the water near St Philip's Stone. The highest daily count of 16 individuals occurred on both 4 and 29 Jun.

Most records came from St Philip's Stone and Jenny's Cove (see below for details of breeding) but birds, either singly or in small groups, were seen on the water in several other areas, including the South End, Pilot's Quay, North East Point and Gannets' Bay. It is likely that some of these groups included both breeding and non-breeding birds. As there was no simultaneous census of all sites, it is not possible to estimate with accuracy the total numbers involved. While Saunders & Wheatley (in prep.) suggest a maximum population of 40 (including both breeders and non-breeders), they recognise that this might be an overestimate.

There were five active burrows during the breeding season at St Philip's Stone and birds were also seen at burrows at two sites in Jenny's Cove – the first time that Puffins have been seen ashore here since 2000, when a pair was observed mating. Chicks were seen at two of the burrows at St Philip's Stone – proof of breeding success here for the second year running – and adults were seen carrying fish into two of the other burrows at this site. An adult was seen carrying food at Jenny's Cove on 7 Jul but it is not known whether any breeding attempt here was successful. The last sighting of the season was of four on 1 Aug.

Grant Sherman captured digital images of one of the chicks at St Philip's Stone and these can be viewed at this YouTube site.)