Moths and Razorbills

A view over the bay from the Harold Stone

As I write heavy mist shrouds the island, so that I can see little out of our kitchen windows beyond the wall of the courtyard.  Luckily I managed to survey most of my Razorbill sites before the cloud drifted in off the sea; I have five new chicks at High Cliff, and two at the Wick.  The parents guard them closely, tucked in under their bodies with a tiny beak occasionally visible, poking out between the wing and the back of the adult.  One or two were still casting of sections of white egg shell as their parents fidgeted, adjusting themselves from incubating an egg to looking after a chick. 

The Guillemot eggs are not due to start hatching for another day or so, and then I will have a few intense days keeping track of all the changes!

A tracking device is attached to an adult Razorbill

While eggs are hatching on the ledges, research into the behaviour of adult birds continues for the Ph.D. students at North Haven.  At the moment, as well as carrying out work on the behaviour of Shearwaters and Puffins, they are attaching tracking devices to Razorbills which allow them to investigate the movements and feeding behaviour of the birds.  Sarah and I joined Akiko, Andrea, and their supervisor Tim as they went over to the Garland Stone to find adult birds to attach the devices to.  The tracking systems used are small and light, and do not harm the birds – they are designed to fall off naturally if an individual is not re-caught.  Razorbills nest in rocky crevices around the coast line, some on inaccessible cliff faces; others on grassy slopes that are easier to reach.  Close to the Garland Stone several inhabit some of these easier-to-reach locations, and with the help of a wire to hook the birds by the feet they can be gathered from their hiding places, have the devices attached, and be released within a few minutes.  The birds remain surprisingly calm while being handled – once their heads are covered with a light cloth bag they lie still and relax (although the unwary can be caught out with a sharp nip from their formidable beaks).  I watched on as the others worked – special licences and careful checking of methods are required before someone is allowed to undertake this kind of activity.  The GPS device is attached to the back of the bird, a small plastic tube that records water depth goes onto one leg, and a BTO ring is also attached.  Thus equipped the birds are weighed and released, flying low over the grass and back out across the bay.

A Razorbill is weighed before release (below)

It was a pleasant, sunny evening, with views north to Ramsey, and a warm breeze off the sea.  I sketched the same view on my day off last weekend – the rough attempt below is a crude representation, but gives a feel of the bay, Ramsey, and the Clerks and Bishops islands off its westerly tip. 

A sketch of the view from Pigstone Bay towards Ramsey Island

Another summer activity is becoming more fruitful as the weather warms – the daily routine of putting out the moth trap is producing dividends.  Below are a few of the catches from a couple of days ago – released after identification.  In the third photo the moth is vibrating its wings – a method of warming itself before take-off.

White Ermine moth

Spectacle moth

Lychnis moth

Knot Grass moth

26th to 28th of May

As afternoon drifts towards evening I sit up on the rocks beyond the Harold Stone, with St Brides and her brood of supertankers awaiting entry to Milford Haven laid out before me in the hazy sunshine.  Another milestone passed for the season today - my first Razorbill chick at High Cliff.  I watched its parents fussing over their new offspring as another parent - an Lesser Black Backed Gull - skimmed over my head, deciding that, despite my daily presence since last April, I was now a threat to her nest. Further above me a Raven and a particularly scruffy Buzzard tangled briefly before going their separate ways.

The last couple of days have passed quickly.  I finished the last of my early season Fulmar surveys (I visit them three times to record the number of active sites, returning in August to count the number of large chicks).  On The Neck too the Lesser Black Backs are in combative mood; close to the trace of a path that winds between the Manxie burrows were nests harbouring tiny downy chicks, their discarded egg shells close by.  There is a certain peacefulness to that part of the island - no large paths, no people, only echoes of a distant past - prehistoric earthworks and, to the east, a stone circle, although I have never been that far round - the ground is very fragile.

It is much cooler now than on Friday, when I swam for a long time in the bay - a cold southerly wind blusters over the back of the island.  From where I sit, clumps of pale daffodils pierce the bluebell swathes, signs of spring that are lingering long this year.  Rabbits lollop over the turf and an occasional swallow arrows by, low over the vegetation, and below my rocky perch.  Time to head back  to the farm and make some food...

New Photos!

Very hot here! I've added some more photos of the Curlew chicks below, and there are new entries on the Creative Writing and the Thoughts and Comments pages...

Curlew chicks and Fulmars: 23rd of May

Wednesday was a busy day; I completed a full round of my Razorbill and Guillie sites before heading off to survey the Fulmars.  The Fulmar surveying offers me a chance to move around the island, with relatively quick checks of a number of sites, from the Amos in the West to a trip out onto The Neck to the East.  I was accompanied by Will, the long term volunteer on Skokholm, who was on Skomer for two days before he headed back out to the other island; it was good to have company, and to be able to compare notes on the monitoring being undertaking on our sister island.  On the isthmus seperating the main island from The Neck, my surveying spot is pretty precarious - out on a narrow spit of land (see photo below) where I sit close to the cliff edge and try to pick out nest sites, while being mobbed by Herring Gulls who have a clutch of eggs right on the promontory.

Herring Gull eggs near my Fulmar site

Later, up at the farm, I joined Sarah, Lewis, Tom and Aaron on a trip to ring the Curlew chicks that have been spotted on Gorse Hill, south of the farm.  Myself and Aaron watched on and took photos, as the others ringed the birds (bird-ringing requires a licence, and there are careful rules to be followed in handling the chicks and applying the rings.  Ringing does not harm the birds, and is important in monitoring movements and survival).  The Curlew chicks are strikingly patterned, lacking the adult's long, curved beak, but making up for it with their over-sized grey legs.  Despite their bright plumage, they can be hard to find among the mosaic of grassland vegetation; important with so many hungry gulls about!

A Curlew chick, sporting a new ring!

May 16th to the 21st

21/05/12

Another sunny day on the island, and close to one of my survey sites at the Wick Scarlet Pimpernel is in flower. Under blue skies the Red Campion and Bluebells in South Stream valley were stunning; hard to capture the full effect, but hopefully the attached pictures give a flavour of the sweeping colour of the island at the moment...I have also had time to add photos to yesterday's post below.

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Scarlet Pimpernel

Bluebells and Red Campion close-up, and the view of the flowers looking North East into South Valley...

20/05/12: As I write I am sitting in the library at North Haven, with the early evening sunshine streaming in through the windows and the sound of the sea lapping at the shore below. I have just returned from the first swim of the year, with Annette and Aaron; very cold, but refreshing, and good to be amongst the puffins, close enough on the waves for even my short-sighted eyes to make out! Today it really feels as if summer has begun - it is much warmer, the Puffins flying in from the sea have beaks loaded with shining silver sand eels for their chicks, and at the Amos (left) I saw three Fulmar eggs. In contrast to the mottled eggs of Guillemots and Razorbills, those of the Fulmar are pure white, and seldom seen, as the adults sit tight on them while incubating. Dave spotted the first Kittiwake egg of the year, also at the Amos; all over the island these delicate gulls are working on their nests - there will be many more eggs in the coming days.


On Friday I enjoyed a trip ashore with Chris and Sarah. After the usual food shopping I joined the others for a pub lunch at The Swan in Little Haven. There you can eat while taking in views of the sandy cove around which the village lies, and with a pint of ale and a good lunch of fish, chips and mushy peas there a few better ways to spend a Friday afternoon! Later we strolled up through the woods on the other side of Broad Haven, enjoying the smell of wet earth, the luxuriant mainland vegetation, and the novelty of standing in the dappled shade of fully grown trees (on Skomer a few low Willow and Elder bushes are the closest things to trees). Even a fine misty rain did not dampen our spirits, or prevent a spot of paddling on Broad Haven beach, with Sandwich Terns wheeling and diving into the sea only a few hundred yards from the shore.
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Sarah, Chris and I brave the elements at Broadhaven

Then it was back to the Youth Hostel at Marloes, and with a couple of pints in the Lobster Pot in the evening, a really enjoyable day; even driving to Milford in the fog for takeaway seemed more of an adventure than a chore! We returned to the island on the morning boat, in time for me to get in a day of surveying, although after all the relaxation I was pretty tired!

18/05/12

After a late night at the BBQ (really good home-made burgers, loads of pasta and salad, and a few beers) I made my way out to High Cliff to begin the day's surveying at about nine; it was cooler, with light cloud, and a cold breeze blowing in from the South East. I managed to see a couple more Razorbill eggs on the plot, before moving round to the Wick.
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High Cliff, with Skokholm behind

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Puffins rest near me on the cliffs

The Puffins were out around their burrows - often in the afternoon they gather on the slopes of Sea Campion, pattering around, in and out of their burrows, curiously examining anything of interest near them, perhaps taking new nesting material underground, or clearing out bits and pieces of which they disapprove. It is a pleasure to be working surrounded by these charismatic birds, the whirring sound of their flight close over my head, and their low calls punctuating the higher cries of the Kittiwakes and the hoarse growls of Razorbills and Guillemots.

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Puffins amid the Bluebells and Sea Campion on the Wick

With my surveying finished I headed back to the farm. On the way I caught a glimse of a Goldcrest in the willow scrub at Moorey Mere, and the Moorhens there have at least two black, fluffy chicks, hiding in the deep undergrowth away from the attentions of the gulls.


16/05/12


Today summer sunshine made surveying at the Wick a pleasure; for the first time I was not chilled by the biting winds that have played across the island for the past few weeks. It was a good day for viewing both the Guillemots and the Razorbills. The former in particular now have many eggs, their colours ranging from turquoise to white, each mottled black. The Razorbills are a little more elusive, often hiding in crevices between rocks, and under streams of trailing grass on the cliff face - their eggs are always white, and when they have become muddy they can be hard to distinguish from the surrounding rocks. As I surveyed three ravens soared above the Wick - there is a nest with four fledglings over at the Mew Stone, and I presume they were part of that family group.


I made my way home in the warm afternoon sun; the island vegetation is still low in comparison to last year, but the bluebells and the first of the red campion are adding swathes of colour. I have seen Spring Squill on South Plateau, and apparently there is more around The Basin. Heading back towards the farm I stopped off at Moorey Mere Hide, where a couple of Sand Martins and several swallows cut the air above the pond in elegant sweeping flight, gathering insects and occasionally taking on water. Eleven Canada Goose chicks dotted the far bank, bright yellow-green, guarded by their heavy-set parents. On the other bank a Curlew washed, and a Pied Wagtail skipped across the logs in front of the hide. Sedge Warblers are everywhere, in the willow scrub and adorning bramble bushes all over the island, their rough, scratchy song rising all around you to the south of the island. Whitethroats are also in abundance, and there is still the odd Willow Warbler around, although not in the numbers of a couple of weeks ago.


Now I am back at the farm, and looking forward to a communal BBQ, for once timed to coincide with good weather - a rare thing! Below I have added a map of the island, so you can match up the names I mention as I go along...