Sunshine and Shearwater Updates!

 There has been plenty of sunshine this week which has been welcomed by all and meant the island can dry out a little after all the heavy rain in March. 

Views of the East Coast in the glorious sunshine on the 28th © Alys Perry.

Griff the island sheepdog cooling off in a trough after a morning walk in the sunshine © Alys Perry.

In between welcoming more visitors to the island we received and sorted a delivery of new gates and gates posts which will be put in later in the season. We finished cleaning the volunteer accommodation so it is now ready for our first volunteers to arrive this weekend. We monitored more chough nest sites and checked our Manx Shearwater study plots too. In addition, we held our first in-person team meeting of the season which was great and meant that Greg could get out to Ramsey for the first time this year. 

We also welcomed Duran to the island who will be conducting invertebrate surveys for us in collaboration with previous research work conducted here by Sarah Beynon at the Bug Farm. This is a very exciting project and we are very pleased to have Duran to undertake it for us. The aim of the project is to assess if the coastal invertebrate populations and assemblages have changed over the last 10 years since the publication of Beynon's report from Ramsey in 2015. This will help to ensure that we are managing the grazing and habitats on the island effectively for invertebrates.  

Greg & Duran leaving after a night on the island on the 25th © Alys Perry.

Weekly Wildlife Round-Up

Our Manx Shearwaters in our study plot have been busy again this week. A pair that was in box 84 last year but sadly didn't breed is back again in the same box this year. One of the pair was originally ringed on Ramsey as a fledgling in 2012 and the other was ringed as an adult in 2023. Making at least one of the pair 12 years old! We are hoping that this pair will try for a nesting attempt this year and we will keep you all updated if they do. 

One of Manxies from our study plot on the 23rd © Nia Stephens.

Another check of our Chough nest sites this week revealed that 8 pairs are now incubating! 

A busy male Chough foraging for insects to feed its partner on the nest 29th April © Alys Perry.

It's been a good week for migrants with our first Sedge Warblers, Bar Tailed Godwits, and Ring Ouzel spotted on the 27th and surprisingly our first Whitethroat of the season on the 28th. There are still plenty of Willow Warblers, Chiffchaff, Blackcaps, and Goldcrests hopping about the island as well. 

A Whitethroat sheltering behind the stonewalls on the 28th © Alys Perry.

The resident House Martins reappeared on the 25th with several pairs busily going in and out of the nest boxes above the Farmhouse Shop. 

A few of our crow pairs are now on eggs and are becoming increasingly territorial to any possible avian threat that flies nearby. Unfortunately, that means a few of the Red Kites that have come across from the mainland have been in the line of fire. 

An updated view of the Central Fields crow nest from last week © Alys Perry.

A Red Kite being mobbed by an unhappy crow on the 27th © Alys Perry.

Other sightings this week have included Short Eared Owl, Curlew, Whimbrel, Merlin, Mallard, Teal, Turnstone, and Song Thrush. 

The Wildflowers are also making the most of the sunshine with records of Wild Primrose, Bluebell, Bugle, Forget-me-nots, Scarlet Pimpernel, and Spring Squill. 

A Bugle on the South taken on the 24th April © Alys Perry.

Spring Squil on the Northern Coast 29th April © Alys Perry.

Until next week!

Assistant Warden

Alys Perry