06 January 2010

Seabird ringing opportunities on Shiant Isles

At 34 years old, the oldest Puffin in the British Isles was retrapped on the Shiants in 2009. (c) Alex Borawska

The Shiants Auk Ringing Group is running its annual trip to the Shiant Islands and we still have some spaces in the party.

We will be mainly ringing & surveying auks, Shags and Storm Petrels, plus gulls and Bonxies & some passerines. In 2009 we ringed more than 2,000 seabirds. Also, we will also be doing seabird colony counts (particularly in the first week). The terrain is quite rough and you will need a reasonable level of fitness. The dates for the trip are 19 June to 3 July 2010, and we will cross to the Shiants from Uig on Skye in a charter boat.

The costs for one and two weeks are £325 & £475 respectively. This includes the boat, food and rings, while on the trip. The owner's website is very good and explains what it's like to stay there: http://www.shiantisles.net/ . Also, one of last year’s team members, Emily Scragg, has done a bit about the trip on her blog; see http://c-ringing.blogspot.com/ (you need to scroll down).

Please let me know as soon as possible if you want to join us on the trip. If you have any queries, I am very happy to answer them by either posted comments, email or messages can be left on my mobile (07900 608037), which I check every couple of days.


Jim


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1 comment:

  1. Joanna LoughreyMarch 5, 2010 at 12:52 PM

    Dear Jim and Elaine,

    I wanted to get in touch with you re. a project I'm setting up for SNH to look at the potential connectivity between SPA seabirds and sites under speculation for underwater marine renewable energy devices (wave and tidal turbines etc.)

    My priority species are kittiwake, fulmar, shag, guillemot and razorbill, and my priority aras are the Pentland Firth, Moray Firth, the outer Clyde Estuary and the Minch. The methodology I have in mind is to fit tracking tags to individuals of the above species at, ideally, SPA colonies in the above areas...hopefully in time for this breeding season(!).

    So far, the following people have offered to accommodate our involvement in their study sites and fit tracking devices to priority species where possible: Robin Ward (Treshnish), Bob Swann (North Sutor and Canna), Tony Crease (Cape Wrath) and Jez Blackburn (Sule Skerry).

    So I was wondering whether you might also be interested in being involved with fitting tracking tags to your birds at the Shiant Isles? This colony would be perfectly located within an SPA area and close to where renewable energy devices are being proposed for the Minch.

    Are there any places left on this year's Jun-Jul trip? I don't know how you might prefer to work things...we could supply one or two experienced and suitably licenced ringers, or if you prefer your own team to carry out the fitting of tags then I'm sure that would be fine too. We would, of course, cover our own costs plus any extra time or effort carried out by your own team.

    I'm afraid I can't offer much information on tags yet, as I'm still organising this. But I can hopefully give you more details soon, if you're interested.

    Looking forward to hearing from you!
    Best wishes,
    Joanna

    Joanna Loughrey BSc(hons), MSc
    Ecologist, RPS Planning & Development Edinburgh
    Joanna.Loughrey@rpsgroup.com
    0131 555 5011
    07778 207063

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