This week we have been mainly stranded! It serves me right for getting exited about getting back to the mainland in time to watch the football (which incidentally Dover lost after a valiant fight). 2 attempts to get off of the island have been thwarted by the weather which has been blowing a gale since Tuesday night, and so we decided to abandon the idea of shore leave for now and just carry on working as normal.
Our main project during the week has been caring for the sheep to ensure that they remain healthy over the coming weeks as the weather starts to warm up (in theory!). To do this we have needed to trim their hooves, trim the fleece around their backsides and spray them with an anti fly-strike solution.
It turns out that moving a sheep is a lot harder than you would think it is, and "tipping" them off their feet to trim their hooves should be reclassified as "wrestling" them off their feet. Over the course of a day though we managed to work our way through all 23 sheep with the efficiency of the Red Bull Formula 1 pit crew.
In order to try and speed up the composting process on the island Vicky and I decided to build a rotating compost bin out of some wooden pallets and an old plastic drum. The wooden structure that I was working on to act as a base was destroyed in the storm before I could finish it, but second time lucky I was able to get the job done. Vicky was the mastermind behind the drum section, and together with a little help from Bob (the volunteer warden on the island) we now have a fully functioning compost bin!
This week we conducted our first Shelduck survey on the island, finding a total of 17 birds during the process. This is not as many as there have been seen on the island, but the extremely aggressive wind seems to have them laying low for now. The Shelducks should be nesting soon, and they use the previously created burrows of other animals (in our case the rabbits) to lay their eggs out of sight of predators (in our case the gulls).
One plus side, being stranded on the island meant that we were able to catch our first look at one of the Peregrine Falcons that are nesting on the East side of the island. Until this point we had only seen the remains of the Peregrine's victims rather than the bird itself.
In all honesty we haven't looked at a lot of news this week, but this article did catch my eye. What does your use of grammar say about you? http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-22403731
See you next week!
Our main project during the week has been caring for the sheep to ensure that they remain healthy over the coming weeks as the weather starts to warm up (in theory!). To do this we have needed to trim their hooves, trim the fleece around their backsides and spray them with an anti fly-strike solution.
It turns out that moving a sheep is a lot harder than you would think it is, and "tipping" them off their feet to trim their hooves should be reclassified as "wrestling" them off their feet. Over the course of a day though we managed to work our way through all 23 sheep with the efficiency of the Red Bull Formula 1 pit crew.
I know it looks dead but I promise it's not. This sheep's in for a pit stop!
In order to try and speed up the composting process on the island Vicky and I decided to build a rotating compost bin out of some wooden pallets and an old plastic drum. The wooden structure that I was working on to act as a base was destroyed in the storm before I could finish it, but second time lucky I was able to get the job done. Vicky was the mastermind behind the drum section, and together with a little help from Bob (the volunteer warden on the island) we now have a fully functioning compost bin!
The finished compost bin
This week we conducted our first Shelduck survey on the island, finding a total of 17 birds during the process. This is not as many as there have been seen on the island, but the extremely aggressive wind seems to have them laying low for now. The Shelducks should be nesting soon, and they use the previously created burrows of other animals (in our case the rabbits) to lay their eggs out of sight of predators (in our case the gulls).
One plus side, being stranded on the island meant that we were able to catch our first look at one of the Peregrine Falcons that are nesting on the East side of the island. Until this point we had only seen the remains of the Peregrine's victims rather than the bird itself.
In all honesty we haven't looked at a lot of news this week, but this article did catch my eye. What does your use of grammar say about you? http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-22403731
See you next week!
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