Hi again, I have not written for some time. During the winter months I am not required as often as a volunteer and basically have nothing to write about.
I was in at South stack on Monday the 19th, it was a very nice day especially for this time of year. I expected to be overrun by visitors but surprisingly it was a very steady day.
I was running a children’s competition were they had to go around the site and identify various items that were to be found on the reserve. On their return they were given a bag of goodies that were dependent upon their age. There were not too many children turned up and to boost sales I tried to sell lucky bags to some adults without success, perhaps sales is not my strong point!
An American family approached me and asked about the reserve and in particular what the were expected to see. They were originally from California but now living Oxfordshire.
I explained about the reserve in general, Ellin's Tower the Chough, the Guillemot Cafe Etc. The we're originally from Calafornia but now live in Oxfordshire. They duly went with their two children down to Ellin's Tower to see the Guillemots. They saw exactly what I saw : read on !
Shortly afterwards Jon our catering manager asked me if I would go down to Ellin's Tower and do a count of the Guillemots. We have been getting quite large numbers coming in which is unusual this early in the year.
Fortunately I had taken my scope with me and I was looking forward to seeing my first Guillemot of the year. My scope together with my tripod are quite heavy. Jon had advised me to count them in groups of ten (this is to make large numbers easier to count).
After walking down to the tower (no easy task) and after several gasps for breath I set down my scope. Using my binoculars I proceeded to scan the roost (remembering Jons's advice) I must confess I didn't even manage to count to ONE ! The cupboard was bare,
someone had obviously told them that I was coming!
I met up with my American family again down there, they had obviously counted as many birds as I had.As a consulation I explained about the Spatulate Fleawort! It is all in the training?
Recently some rock climbers have re-installed the remote cameras. These are used during the nesting season in order to remotely view the breeding birds especially the Chough. I have included below some pictures showing this, just looking at the pictures gives me goose bumps. The pictures were kindly given to me by Kathy who is a RSPB member of staff at South Stack reserve. She has also provided me with some pictures of the heather burning which I have also included.
The heather burning is carried out in order to promote new growth amongst other things and looks very dramatic. One or two of the pictures would not look out of place framed and displayed on your wall. I seem to have run out of room for more pictures?