Rockablog 4 – A “Tern” of Events

Life on the island has been busy of late. On Thursday the 6^th of June we had a visit from the conservation team at the EU LIFE project. They came out for a few hours to see the island and were fortunate that the same morning, we had our first Common Tern chicks hatch on the island.

Common Tern chicks in their nest . Photo taken by Lorna Gill under NPWS licence.

Following the EULIFE visit, with the help of Anita Donaghy, we conducted the first nest census, where we take a record of every breeding birds nest on the island which includes Common Terns, Arctic Terns, Roseate Terns, Black-legged Kittiwakes and Black Guillemots. We will conduct a second nest check in about a week’s time to insure no nests are missed or if any are laid in the interim. As of our first count we have 1,446 Roseate Tern pairs breeding on the island.

Emma Tiernan and Andrew McManus, both with a Common Tern resting on their heads as they conduct a nest census. Image taken by Lorna Gill under NPWS licence.

We began recording egg length and width. When the chicks hatch, we ring them, which allows us to ID them as they begin running around. We then began to record chick weight and wing length daily within our study areas so that we can measure their growth. This data allows for comparisons between years.

Nest marked with a peg for the Nest Census with a Common Tern chick and two eggs. Photo taken by Lorna Gill under NPWS licence.

During the nest census we took a trip over to the Bill. This allowed us to get a different view of the Rock than we are used to. Black Guillemot nests were found and recorded. This year no Arctic Tern nests were found on the Bill.

View of 'The Rock' taken from 'The Bill'. Photo taken by Lorna Gill under NPWS license.

 

On Saturday the 8^th myself, Andrew, Emma and Stephen were on RTE Radio One’s program ‘Country Wide’ where we were interviewed by Suzanne Campbell. The show is now available to listen to on the RTE website.  

https://www.rte.ie/radio/radioplayer/html5/#/radio1/21566549

On the 9^th of June we found our first hatched Roseate Tern chicks.  

Roseate Tern chick and egg in nest. Photo taken by Lorna Gill under NPWS license.

That is all the updates we have for now - keep an eye out soon for a blog with the results from our nest census!

- Lorna and the Rockabill Team.