Tony Taylor and Richard & Rebecca Taylor were on Lundy from 30 August to 10 September to ring Manx Shearwaters. They were joined for shorter times by Claire Young and Dave Jones, Rosie Hall, Tim Frayling and Davy & Siobhan Still. Lundy Warden Beccy, Assistant Warden Conor, Lofty and Kate Weld, on the island with two students from Petroc College, also joined in on one or two nights.
In spite of cancelling on two nights and curtailing another three because of bad weather, it was a very productive visit. The team ringed 247 chicks and 19 adults, as well as recapturing 20 adults ringed in previous years. These had originally been caught from 2009 onwards, and have been encountered up to five times since. Three of them were ringed as chicks, one in 2010 and two in 2011.
The general impression from the number of birds seen was that the population is continuing to grow, and that the bad weather in their South Atlantic wintering areas last year has not had a noticeable effect.
Five chicks were found sheltering in the village after attempting to fledge on very windy nights, and one of these had been ringed at its burrow near Benjamin’s Chair eight nights before. They were all released successfully later.
No comments:
Post a Comment