Lucy Quinn and Nick Richardson give us an update on seabird monitoring on Rathlin Island! Kittiwakes, fulmars, razorbills and much more...
Seabird monitoring on Rathlin Island
Hello from Team Rathlin! (*previously known as Team Great Saltee…) We are continuing from Team Colonsay’s previous blog to give a little insight as to how things have progressed.
I suppose a blog about working with birds for the RSPB should really include a fair few birds. Happily, when carrying out research on seabird colonies there can often be more than a fair few of them; the cliffs at the west lighthouse here on Rathlin Island are starting to fill up nicely, after an apparently slow start this year, with tens of thousands of very vocal auks, nest-building kittiwakes and sitting fulmars.
Since arriving on Rathlin Island on May 16th, Lucy and I have been doing our best to get to know this beautiful island. We’ve walked most of the accessible cliff tops, “uphill and down t’ Dale”, when the weather has allowed, scanning every cave, stack and crag for signs of breeding activity and looking for birds that we might be able to work with and access safely. These descents have been a tad tough on the knees-many of the basalt and limestone cliffs are over 200 feet high-but the views of the island and its unique flora and fauna have been more than worth it. In addition to a varied array of birdlife, Rathlin is home to the Golden Irish Hare, which we often see in the fields jogging around in circles with their pals, amongst the fine floral colours of Early Purple Orchids and Pyramidal Bugles. We are indebted to Liam McFaul, RSPB Rathlin site manager, for his fantastic knowledge and advice about the island and are grateful to all the landowners who are letting us tramp across their land to get to the cliff-faces. It has also been great to meet the other RSPB Date with Nature staff based over here too.
View of Rathlin’s North Coast
So far, we have seen a few razorbills and guillemots on eggs, some predation of eggs by resident ravens and large gull species, and fulmars with an uncomfortable demeanour as if they’re sitting on something eggy (very scientific observation I know!), but in general everything on the cliffs seems to be very delicately balanced at the moment and later in starting than previous years. During a bout of strong north-westerly winds and rain on Thursday many of the auks abandoned their nests, so fingers-crossed they will be back on quickly and starting to lay soon all being well. As we wait for the birds to lay, this coming week we have the opportunity to get to know the Rathlin community more by attending the Rathlin Sound Maritime Festival with its art exhibitions, music, talks, and a Viking long-boat arrival amongst other things to look forward to. Of course, we are eager to start putting loggers on the birds and do what we’re here to do, but it will only happen when the time is right, so in the meantime we will just sit tight, prepare all our kit and wait for nature to take its course…
The price you pay for science: being poo-ed on frequently
*Before arriving here on Rathlin, we previously spent a few weeks in the field working with European shags on Great Saltee, off the South-east coast of Ireland. In short, this trip provided us with a classic example of the ups and downs of a seabird conservation science expedition. In no particular order, the following significant events occurred: Gale force winds (x lots), un-seasonally harsh ground frost, rats, snapped tent pole, snapped catching pole, cancelled boat trips, chocolate consumption way above healthy lifestyle guidance limits, warmth of Irish humour, unique working conditions at a stunning location, rewarding encounters with the islands shags and their young, and importantly 5 logger recoveries, all data intact!
Leucistic shag sighted on Great Saltee.
We left Great Saltee feeling very grateful to the shags that had been good enough to allow us to catch them and retrieve the valuable data from their backs, and aware of how important each and every logger that we manage to get back could prove to be over the course of the summer. We are certainly privileged to be doing what we are doing, and we are sure the other RSPB seabird tracking teams feel the same!
Our fieldwork helper for the season, Jack, who guards the house while we are away and enjoys the view from the garden on Rathlin!