A few weekends ago, Jenni and Robert from the AWT were joined by a small team from the Channel Island ringers, led by Chris Mourant. The main focus was to catch and ring our smallest breeding seabird on Burhou – the Storm Petrel. These tiny birds breed in the crevices of rocks and burrows in the ground and are about the size of a house sparrows!
One of the adult Storm Petrels breeding on Burhou
The birds were caught using fine mesh nets called mist nets and were carefully extracted before being taken to the ringing station to be measured and ringed. Using the ringing data we can make estimates of how many breeding pairs we have on the island as all the birds we caught were mature adults who were coming back off the sea to feed their chicks. Up until a few years ago there was only thought to be 20+ breeding pairs of Storm Petrels on Burhou, recent calculations estimate there to be more than 1000! During the weekend, we caught and ringed over 400 new birds and over 100 re-traps (birds that already had a ring on). It was a truly unforgettable experience for everyone involved. A huge thanks must go to the Channel Island ringers for coming over to Alderney and to the Channel Island Ringing Scheme for supporting us with the ringing process.
~ Jenni
Dear Jenni
My friend, Mary who lives in Vale first put me onto the website, way back in April. At first, I only saw rabbits, one in particular was very stage struck! Then the puffins started arriving, and over time I was able to watch them, photograph them and be totally enraptured by their antics. I have passed the site onto many friends and family, all of whom have been captivated. I was not impressed when the gulls decided to poke their beaks into the puffins nests (nor I suppose were the rabbits). But a wonderful educational experience for me and many others. Thank you for all your efforts..I will continue to watch with interest. Kind regards to the team, Gee Noon.
Hi there – thank you so much for getting in touch! Really glad you enjoyed puffin cam last year and hope you are again this year
Dear Jenni
I forgot to say I live in Lincolnshire……
Gee
There’s definately a great deal to know about this topic.
I love all the points you have made.