So it’s the end of another busy week here on Flat Holm
Island. The week has seen 2 reasonably sized groups of visitors visit on the
Westward Ho from Western-Super-Mare, and for the best part of those visits the
weather played ball and was very pleasant.
The gull colony is now pretty much empty and will stay that
way through until the spring when the breeding season begins all over again.
Hopefully we will see some of the chicks that were ringed this year return to
the island as the colony reassembles next year.
There were slightly fewer butterflies recorded on this
week’s survey, but the island was packed full of other wildlife during our
invertebrate survey. The team found Cave Spiders in the underground ammunition
stores, several species of Dragonfly on the Elder bushes and a couple of new
day flying moths.
A Migrant Hawker Dragonfly on the Elder bush
On the bird front we have noticed a large number of Oyster
Catchers visiting the island’s West Beach at dusk every night. Now that their
breeding season is over it seems that they no longer return to the site at
which they nested, and are using the island as a congregation point. In recent
nights we have seen up to 80 Oyster Catchers arrive on the beach, while we have
previously only observed 10 using the island as a nesting site. Unfortunately by
the time that they arrive the light is low and the black birds against the
black rocks doesn’t make for a good picture!
It's much easier to spot Oyster Catchers during the daytime!
Although the breeding pair of Peregrine Falcons have now
left the island with their fledged chick, a pair of Peregrines were spotted flying
over the island this morning. There are of course still plenty of pigeons that
they could pick up here as a tasty snack!
Work on restoring the old building directly above the jetty
is now complete with Molly and Harriet putting in a lot of hours to get the
project finished while the rest of the team were otherwise occupied. The
building now looks great and is a much better first impression for those who
step off the boats and up the jetty.
Before...
After...Looks much better
This weeks funny story comes from China. With our placement coming to an end on the island at the end of September we are still looking for a new job to take on afterwards. Something tells me that I won't be taking a job enforcing this new law in one of the southern cities....
See you all next week!
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