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!