Very little to report from the island - few people have booked in, probably put off by the late spring and the continuing northerlies. Only 22 days have been manned during the first 2 months. Birds were predictably scarce to non-existent except for the two good weekends in April. The last weekend of May was typical. Our old hands all knew that there would be no migrants and in total, only one bird was caught all weekend, and though not a migrant, it was quite special. The IMG attachment has a photograph of it – a Great black-backed Gull. It is many years since one has been ringed. This species has become quite scarce since the gull numbers crashed due to botulism. They are potentially very dangerous birds to handle and one of the most majestic birds to be privileged to have in the hand. No wonder it is known in County Kerry as the Royal Gull.
Shearwater tracking
Kerry Leonard and the team from
Oxford have been continuing the shearwater tracking work during the
first two
weeks of June. It now seems that the feeding grounds vary from year to
year, which begs the question – how do they know where the food is?
Terns
The islands birds are now well
through the breeding season. While the predation by Hooded Crows has
been a
distressing feature of the year again, generally the gulls are doing
quite
well. Unfortunately, no terns are attempting to breed on Mew Island this
year.
On Big Copeland, the Arctic Tern colony is progressing on schedule but
the eggs
are not due to hatch for another week or two yet.
Learn how to handle
Shearwaters!
There is to be a special
weekend for trainee ringers to experience the handling and ringing of
shearwaters on the weekend of the 9th July. The best time to see and hear the shearwater colony
this
year will be the first half of August, close to the new moon.
Eiders
Kerry Leonard and the Eider
team have continued the nape tagging of a sample of Eiders form the
islands.
Last year’s study was very useful in showing where the ducklings are
taken to after they leave the nest. Family parties were located up to 20
miles
away from the nest site. If you happen to be at the coast over the next
month
or so, anywhere between Glenarm and Portaferry, and see female Eiders
offshore,
please have a look at the back of their heads to see if you can see a
coloured
marker with a number or letter on it and report it to Kerry. He would be
particularly pleased if you would go out searching for marked Eiders.
They are
easy to see with a telescope but even with binoculars, you should have
some
success. Kerry can be contacted at kerrysleonard@hotmail.com
or he can be phoned or texted on his mobile 07975648221. The tags will
fall off
in the next month or so when the birds moult.
Common Gulls
Shane Wolsey is continuing his
study of Common Gulls. He has colour–ringed 12 of them. The rings have
letters or numbers on them which should be easy to read with binoculars.
Common
Gulls from the Copeland Islands can probably range over the same area
that the
Eiders might be found, so why not take a trip to the coast and have a
look for
some of these birds? Shane can be contacted on (028) 9146 7947.
Visiting
If you are thinking of going to
the island for a weekend or longer, please phone me or e-mail for
availability
of weekends or weeks. Most weekends from mid July to late October will
be
operated. If you want to see and hear the shearwater colony at it
noisiest
best, early August is the prime time. Help and company is always welcome
during
the Shearwater chick ringing time which is the first three weeks of
September.
The autumn migration runs all the way from mid July to the end of
October.
Seawatching is good throughout this period. There will also be some
shorter day
or evening trips, to be organised at short notice. .We hope to see many of you soon on the island!
Neville McKee
T: (028) 9443 3068; M: 07770 368856; E: neville.mckee@btinternet.com
