May is the month where breeding is well underway with our commoner species, the later summer breeders are just getting started and most of the spring migrants have passed through.
But that doesn’t mean the month was quiet, as usual with May some of the rarer species turn up throughout the May and it started off well with a Black Kite, a Hoopoe and a Purple Heron all being seen on the 1st, an Osprey followed suit on the 2nd, then a mega rarity! A female Ferruginous Duck was seen at St Ouen’s Pond on the 3rd, only the second ever recorded in Jersey.
It didn’t stop there, several Cuckoo were heard over the following days, another Hoopoe, the twelfth of the spring was in Grouville on the 5th, a White Stork flew over Jardin d’Olivet on the 8th, a Turtle Dove in St Ouen’s Bay on the 11th was the first record for a couple of years of this once summer breeder, another was seen at Noirmont on the 16th, and to finish it off a European Bee-eater flew over Beauport on the 14th.
Most exciting of all for May was the release of the 2024 Jersey Bird Report! So make sure to go grab yourself a copy.
Photo credit : Mick Dryden
