June is always a quiet month in the birding world, the breeding birds are well into raising their families and the migrants haven’t started moving yet.
Members of the Ornithology section spend this month surveying some of our rarer breeding species, annual surveys are done on species like Long-eared Owl, Marsh Harrier, Skylark and Puffins to name a few.
It looks to have been a good breeding year for some species but others have declined a little bit. The results of previous surveys can be found in the Bird Reports.
Our first migrants as usual are the small Gulls, non-breeders and failed nesters return early with the first Black-headed Gulls seen back here on the 10th and a Mediterranean Gull on the 17th.
The strangest sighting of the month was of five Canada Geese loafing around Ouaisne bay on the 25th, only the tenth record of this species for the Island.
July will bring us more migrants, starting with more Gulls and the first Terns, followed by waders and seabirds by the middle of the month and the biggest thing to look out for during July will be the arrival of the 2023 Jersey Bird Report, make sure to keep checking your emails and social media for the date it drops.
