Greg Morgan is Site Manager for Ramsey Island, his role also has responsibility for Grassholm Island, 8 miles off the Pembrokeshire coast. This is his 3rd and final special blog on the seabirds of Ramsey and Grassholm and which species have been affected by the storms this winter.
In my previous blog post I focused on our special population of Gannets on Grassholm. My blog before that covered the affects of the winter storms on Ramsey’s seabirds including razorbills and guillemots. Ramsey Island is also home to a number of other seabirds which breed here including fulmers and Manx shearwaters.
Fulmars live on the cliffs of Ramsey for most of the winter. They spend the longest of any UK seabird at its nest site. After a brief 4-6 week absence in autumn when they undertake a full moult at sea and become flightless for a time, they are back on their ledges by November and are then with us on and off right through the winter. We have been sharing the Island with them through the stormy winter weather.
Fulmars deploy a very different tactic to Manx shearwaters another species which breeds here on Ramsey. While the fulmar has evolved to breed on cliff ledges and spends 90% of the year at the breeding site, the Manx shearwater nests underground in burrows (visiting the colony by night only) and then spends our winter off the coast of Argentina!
The first shearwaters returned to UK waters in late February. A few brave individuals made landfall in early March and we are now starting to hear them in increasing numbers on the island on dark nights. Around the new moon periods in April we will venture out at night, the air should be filled with their unmistakeable cry as birds head to the exact same burrow they bred in last year and possibly for the past 30 or 40 years before that too!
Manx shearwaters are a seabird success story on Ramsey. After the eradication of introduced brown rats in 2000 the population has grown from 850 pairs to 3,835 at the last full census in 2012. To truly appreciate this species an overnight stay at one of the giant colonies is needed. Nearby Skomer and Skokholm, managed by the Wildlife Trust of South and West Wales, provide such an opportunity (a visit around the new moon is best). Skomer accounts for 315,000 pairs and Skokholm 41,000 pairs. In total the UK is home to 90% of the world population of this species!
Image by Dave Boyle
Seabirds are amazing animals that overcome seemingly insurmountable odds to return to their breeding colonies year on year. Wales and the UK as a whole holds internationally important numbers of some species but not all are faring well and under increasing pressure for a variety of reasons. In the last blog I spoke about measures the Welsh Government have taken to improve protection at sea and discussed additional measures which are still needed. If we want to be writing about seabirds in Wales in years to come we must not pass up this opportunity to improve protection at sea.
Ramsey is open to the public for day visits from 1st April to 31st October. A visit at any time of year is special but the best time for seabirds is late May through to early July. For boat booking details contact Thousand Islands Expeditions on 01437 721721 You can follow us on Twitter @RSPBRamsey