All in a flap

THERE’S a rule in birdwatching: the smaller the island, the fewer the number of breeding birds. That’s certainly true of Guernsey, with only 80 species that nest regularly. However, it’s also true that small islands have a happy knack of attracting interesting and often rare migrants, which is also the case with Guernsey. Among the rarities that arrive regularly are honey buzzards, rose-coloured starlings, short-toed larks and both melodious and yellow-browed warblers.

The island has a long history of unlikely birds turning up. Perhaps the most remarkable is the griffon vulture that spent four days on Guernsey in August 2000 (it was also seen on Sark). Previously, the last record of a griffon from mainland