Guernsey

In April last year I went to Jersey just to see what it was like. Very nice as it happens. That was just a day trip, an early start, a wander around, and then an afternoon flight back. This year, last month in fact, I went to Guersey for the same reason. I was there for approximately the same amount of time but the flight times required an overnight stay which pushed up the cost a bit, and whereas on Jersey I had walked everywhere as I had no luggage, this time I did need to bring a bit more stuff and so hired a car. And this time my travelling buddy Mick came along as well. He pops up on here all the time as, like me, he thinks travel is great and so is almost always up for a trip. Far more fun than mooching around in London. We have been all over the place over the years, to virtually all continents. South Africa, The Gambia and Senegal, Brazil, Mexico, Hawaii, contintental America, the Middle East, Thailand and of course all over Europe including lots of islands. Guernsey was a first for both of us.

We arrived just after lunch and picked up the car. We paid a nominal amount for fuel up front, barely any of which we used as the island is so tiny, were told that junctions were whoever got there first and that there were no parking charges anywhere on the island. Perfect. Let's go birding.

First stop La Clare Mare on the west side, where there is a hide overlooking a small reed-fringed pool. It was a nice way to get a feel for the kind of birding we would experience, with a handful of Mallard, some Stock Dove, lots of hirundines and a few other bits and pieces. Nothing rare or exciting, no large numbers of anything, but Guernsey isn't about that and we knew before we came that we were unlikely to come away with a massive tally. It was all very pleasant in early May, felt very green and verdant, and indeed everywhere we went there were lovely gardens and frankly enormous greenhouses, greenhouses that put mine here in London to shame. They can also grow Araucaria heterophylla outside (the Norfolk Island Pine) which made me insanely jealous. I suppose it won't be many years until I can too...

We had a look at the coast, the tide was out and there was a huge expanse of rocky shore. Waders were thin on the ground, just a few Oystercatchers and six Whimbrel. We drove up to Pleinmont to gain some height and have a look at the sea. I don't think either of us had been expected to see Manx Shearwater from here, but there was a reasonbly sized flock feeding with Gulls some distance out - good that I had brought my scope. We also picked up some Gannet and a single Fulmar. Linnet and a single Whitethroat were in the Gorse, and the cliffs had a large Herring Gull colony.

Some locals we met directed us to Rue Des Bergers NR, another small pool. Here we picked up a few more passerines, including Cetti's Warbler, a Greylag Goose, Moorhen and Coot, but we were beginning to understand that we were not going to be seeing a ton of birds everywhere we went and that it would instead be a series of nice rambles in the sunshine picking up singles here and there.

We turned to eBird for assistance. What had been seen recently? This took us to Le Grand Pré NR, a miniscule reserve where a full circuit took under five minutes! Various good things had been seen here over the past few days but they had all departed. We added Great Tit and a Dunnock I think!

Out on the coast at L'Ancresse we explored another series of bunkers and bits of old concrete. In addition to greenhouses Guernsey seems very keen on bunkers, the result of rapid fortifications by Germany when the islands were occupied during the Second World War. Many of these still exist today. One of them had a Wheatear perched on all these years later. Probably Wheatears perched on these in the 1940s as well. Our first Stonechats were seen here, the habitat looked absolutely perfect for them to be fair, and Whitethroats and Linnets were also here.

At Vale Pond we looked for Cattle Egret without luck, but joy of joys two Barnacle Geese were present. Ahem. We put them on the list with a question mark and the eBird police have not yet been in touch...

At last knockings we went back the where we had started, Clare Mare NR, this time finding a Snipe that had no doubt been there the whole time but only ventured out in the evening. After this we also went back to Pleinmont for the sunset where the Manx Shearwater were still present in the bay and a Marsh Harrier quartered the fields. What with all this birding we arrived in St Peter Port so late that we missed all food options and dinner was a pack of crisps, half a bag of peanuts and a pint. Nice. Hopefully breakfast would be better.

Les Hanois Lighthouse

The next day...

Up early to bird St Saviour Reservoir before said breakfast. This was great, with Firecrest and Short-toed Treecreeper in the mature trees on the western side of the dam. By now and getting a feel for Guernsey birding we were just playing the numbers game, how many species could be get before we had to leave. When we got back to the hotel a couple of hours later there was a Firecrest singing outside it....

After breakfast we followed a lead to some extreme island rarities, Blue Tit and Long-tailed Tit at La Mare nature trail. This is a small woodland nestled between houses and a school, and a short walk netted them both! We were on fire! At nearby Fort Hommet we found Meadow Pipit alongside Wheatear and Stonechat, again favouring WW2 era fortifications. Back at La Clare Mare we found a Sparrowhawk, and scoping out towards L'Ereé Headland found a Peregrine on a rock spire. If you think I am hurrying, I am. We had a flight to catch! 

And so at lunchtime on Sunday we departed having seen a magnificent 61 species. This is comparable to my Jersey list of 53 species. Ie not many. But it was as much about exploring a new place as birding. They're funny places, both remind me strongly of a posh Isle of Wight, but with French names. But they're miles away from being French from what I could see, it was all about pubs, fish and chips, cobbles, neat gardens. Then again the landscape reminded me (unsurprisingly) of Normandy and Brittany, huge expansive beaches, rocky shores, rolling hills sloping up from the shore. Nice place, might go again in winter.