Whilst the
seals have been providing plenty of entertainment
recently the main focus for Lucy and I has been the start of the 2016-17 bird
season. For us that means looking for signs of each species returning, mating,
nesting and eventually laying their eggs!
Fieldwork began on the 1st September but the
unusually long winter down here has meant that ice and snow cover, plus the
frozen ground, has interrupted the start of the season slightly. Many of the
birds are a bit late in returning or breeding. Consequently Lucy and I have
been able to spend more time preparing for the season finishing off important
tasks like: painting quadrat markers, painting inside the field huts, getting
all nest tags and marker stakes up to the study areas, checking our field equipment, preparing all the data
documentation etc.
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| 132 rocks needing a yellow makeover at Big Mac - no problem for team bird! |
Luckily the birds weren’t too late and recently they have
started their seasons. Our first sights of grey-head and black-browed albatross’ were
on the 10th September (actually early for the black-browed!), whilst the first grey-heads returned to one of
the regular study colonies on the 16th September. It is amazing to
see and hear these pretty birds back on the island!
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| Return of the grey-heads :) |
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| Pure joy! - Lucy has her grey-heads back |
Meanwhile my main study species, the giant petrels, have
been around in small numbers all winter but they are now coming back in full force and showing nesting and
breeding behaviour.
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| Catching up with old friends! - I'm now spending plenty of time with my geeps |
The first northern geep egg was found on the 17
th September
and there will be plenty more over the coming weeks!
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| The first geep to lay her egg :) |
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| The first of so, so many field notes! |
Besides our main study species of albatross, petrels and
penguins (for whom monitoring will soon begin in earnest as well!) there are
plenty of other birds around for us to start work with. Pintails, skuas and
pipits are all being closely watched whilst we are awaiting the first signs of
the burrowing petrels returning. But the star of the show at the moment is the
blue-eyed shag. In a quick check of one of the colonies we were very surprised
to have a shag land on a nest just above our heads and place some nesting
material down as it starts its season!
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| "Ermmmm... that didn't fill my nest much! Time to go get some more!" |
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| Absolutely stunning birds! |
With so much going on at the moment the field season is
getting us all very excited! We are certainly glad to be back out in the field
every day working with such amazing birds! Plus when we come back to base there
are still plenty of seals around to add yet more entertainment!
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| "I'm bigger than you, stay away furry!" |
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| "Oh yh?! We'll see about that ellieblob!" |
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| Lucy and James very happy to spend an evening with a big ellie - although this guy is still small by ellie standards! |
Bird Island is certainly one of the best wildlife
experiences and we are all very privileged to be working here!
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| "Oh my god! It's a lep!" - The leopard seals are still around in good numbers, but never less than exciting to see! |
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