Typical bank holiday weather returned and after nearly 2 weeks of uninterrupted boats and increasingly settled weather, low pressure is back and with it strong northerly winds that meant no landings on Ramsey today.
We took the opportunity to get our puffin sound system and decoys in place for the season. Puffins used to breed on Ramsey in the 1800's but with the arrival of rats through shipwrecks their days as a breeding species on the island were numbered. Rats are voracious predators and when they find their way onto seabird islands their impact is devastating. Millions of years of evolution have seen some species of seabird adapt to breed in burrows underground. This allows them to avoid avain predators such as gulls but when you suddenly introduce an alien mammalian predator to which they have no defense the impact is catastrophic.
Luckily sterling work 14 years ago by RSPB and Wildlife Management International meant that the introduced rats were finally eradicated. The response of Manx shearwaters has been impressive with an increase from 850 pairs in 1999 to 3,835 pairs in 2012. Storm petrels were recorded breeding for the first time in 2008 but puffins have not made it back yet
Following the success of a similar project on Copeland Island a couple of years ago we decided to try it on Ramsey. Nigel Butcher, ace technician in our Conservation Science department at the RSPB made the sound system which plays the call of a puffin on a repeat loop from a loudspeaker (very loudly!). German technology then completed the outfit when Michael Hoffman, one of our regular and very talented volunteers made a sturdy frame on which to securly site the device plus a solar panel to keep the battery topped up.
To accompany the sound system are some decoy puffins, made by Ed Tycer. It is hoped these will act as an added attraction if birds make landfall.
We trialed the sytem last year for a short 4 week period with some success whilst dealing with early teething problems. Birds were recorded making landfall on low tide rocks below the speaker and on one memorable occasion 8 birds landed on the cliff tops among the decoys. With the device out for a full season this year it is hoped we can build on this success and see puffins return to their rightful place on the Ramsey Island breeding bird list.
Below are some photos from this morning
Step 1: Volunteer Michael positions the base and car battery
Step 2: The speaker is connected and solar panel board attached
Step 3: Solar panel is wired up to complete the job
The decoy puffins are assembled on the cliff top to try and resemble a busy colony amongst ready dug rabbit and shearwater burrows
Volunteers Michael, Iris and Lesley with Reserve Assistant Amy braved the biting Northerly wind to get the job done. Fingers crossed for success......