Another quiet day for migrants, but instead the change in weather allowed for some much-needed Manx Shearwater productivity monitoring. Efforts today were placed on identifying some of the adults from the productivity burrows, to get an idea of which whether the same burrows are being used by the same adults from year to year.

A small passage of 1039 Manx Shearwaters was noted out to sea, with this number being pulled from just a brief seawatch it’s easy to imagine that tens of thousands pass by out to sea each day around this time of year, a mixture of migrant and resident birds. On the shorelines just two Curlews were recorded. Whilst inland, the breeding hirundines cumulated to 10 Swallows and four House Martins. A Chiffchaff was once again heard singing at the Observatory and 11 Linnets were scattered across the island.

Monitoring the Manx Shearwaters is a sensitive and careful job, especially when undertaking the preliminary work of identifying the adults.

The first step is to remove the egg carefully from the burrow and place it in a pot lined with cotton, to make sure the adult doesn't scratch the egg when you remove it 

 Once you've removed the adult from the nest, the ring number is read

 The wing is measured

 The bird weighed

and finally the adult is returned to the nest, promptly followed by it's egg