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2015 Skokholm Seabird Report

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2015 Skokholm Seabird Report A summary of breeding seabirds on Skokholm in 2015. Total Productivity (2014 & 2013 in parenthesis) (2014 & 2013 in parenthesis) Fulmar 179 aia (179, 170) 0.47 (0.53, 0.34) Manx Shearwater 247 responses in 7000m2 (217, 214) 0.68 (0.63, 0.75) Storm Petrel 130 responses in transects (121, 129) 0.55 (0.69, -) Puffin 6665 adults (5070, 4834) 0.55 (0.50, 0.49) Razorbill 2382 aol (2052, 2294) 0.23 (0.39, 0.67) Guillemot 3603 aol (3512, 3466) - (-, 0.55-0.61) Lesser Black-backed Gull 1486 aia (1565, 1476) 0.15 (0.30, 0.16) Lesser Black-backed x Larus hybrid 1 nest (2, 2) 0 (0, -) Herring Gull 289 nests (300, 263) 0.66 (0.70, 0.72) Great Black-backed Gull 83 nests (84, 74) 1.66 (0.93, 1.80) Cover: Storm Petrel over the Knoll © Bart Vercruysse over Knoll the © Storm Petrel Bart Vercruysse Cover: Fulmar Fulmarus glacialis Aderyn-drycin y Graig Fairly Common Breeder first bred in 1967 1936-1976: 34 trapped Birds were present on ledges from the return of staff on 5th March. Colony attendance fluctuated during the remainder of the month, with all of the birds from different subcolonies departing on different days. There were high counts of 128 on the 19th, 115 on the 13th and 92 on the 27th, but on the 13th there were no birds in Peter’s Bay and on the 27th there were no birds around South Haven and only ten at North Gully. There were lows of 14 on the 12th, 34 on the 14th and 36 on the 31st when the majority of subcolonies were empty. The prevailing weather had a significant influence on colony attendance; during gale force northwesterlies on the morning of the 26th there were only three birds in North Gully, but as conditions ameliorated in the afternoon the count increased to 35. However good March weather does not always increase attendance; seas were calm and the wind a light southeasterly when the 34 birds were logged on the 14th. Birds were mating in Hog Bay on the 29th. April attendance was less sporadic, with 12 days of three figure counts (11 in 2014) and peaks of 134 on the 11th and 24th and of 163 on the 29th (the April 2014 high was 171 on the 27th). From the 6th onwards the only counts lower than 80 were 72 on the 17th, 54 on the 18th, 47 on the 26th and 71 on the 27th (all days with light winds). In May counts did not reach three figures until the 17th, with lows of 41 on the 5th, 36 on the 6th and 44 on the 8th all coinciding with gales. Numbers increased towards the end of May and the first egg was noted at North Gully on the 21st (the 28th in 2014). 2 | Skokholm Seabird Report 2015 The three study plots counted annually since 2006 were visited on ten dates between the 4th and 14th June. The mean plot count between 2008 and 2014 has consistently been three or four pairs above the lowest single visit count (see table below). However this year, during a ten day period of fine and consistent weather, there were 26 apparently incubating adults recorded on three dates, 27 on four dates, 28 on one date and 29 on two dates. Although the difficulties in accurately identifying a sitting bird are still apparent, this was a tight spread compared with previous years. The mean number of apparently incubating adults was the same as logged in 2014 and the highest recorded since the plots were instigated in 2006. Although the total was the same as in 2014, there was one less pair at Little Bay Point (for a second consecutive year) but one more pair at Middle Rock (also for a second consecutive year). The whole Island totals (apparently incubating adults), mean plot totals, range of totals over the ten study plot visits and the percentage of the Island total made up of study plot birds. 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 Island 142 135 119 116 118 128 136 170 179 179 Plots 26 23 19 20 20 19 20 25 27 27 Range (16-25) (16-27) (17-24) (16-22) (16-25) (22-28) (23-29) (26-29) Plot % 18.3 17.0 16.0 17.2 17.0 14.8 14.7 14.7 15.1 15.1 The whole Island count of apparently incubating adults mirrored the study plot counts, with the plots again making up 15% of the Island total. The total of 179 pairs was the same as observed in 2014 and is the highest recorded on Skokholm, exceeding the previous peaks of 170 in 1997, 176 in 2002 and 170 in 2013. The 2015 whole Island count again includes approximately 40 pairs which would be difficult or impossible to see from the Island itself (birds north of North Gully, near Wreck Cove, on the Little Neck and in the hidden coves of Near Bay and Far Bay). The dip in numbers observed between 2006 and 2012 may perhaps be linked to a lack of boat access. It is possible that the increase in Fulmar numbers may affect other species; a heavily Fulmar-oiled Herring Gull was found on its South Haven nest on 30th May and four days later a Fulmar pair had occupied the nest site and the Herring Gull chicks lay dead. The total number of apparently incubating Fulmar recorded on Skokholm since breeding began in 1967 and the number within the study plots since 2006. 180 160 140 120 100 80 60 40 20 0 1968 1988 1995 2015 1966 1967 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 1965 On 1st June 47 incubating adults were selected for productivity monitoring (ten at Twinlet, six at North Gully, 20 around Little Bay Point and 11 at Peter’s Bay). Of these 15 failed at the egg/small chick stage, two failed having produced a chick (in both cases the chick was only seen once) and a further eight failed having reared a chick to 20 days or more (with one failure after a minimum of 20 days and further failures at a minimum of 26, 29, 34 (two), 39, 41 and 47 days). Although the cause of a failure was generally not apparent, a dead chick in Peter’s Bay decomposed in the nest (dead at 3 | Skokholm Seabird Report 2015 34 days) whilst the remaining seven large chicks disappeared. Although the largest two chicks had reached an age where fledging has been noted at some sites, neither was sufficiently developed to fledge. Thus 22 (46.81%) of the monitored attempts produced a fledgling; a productivity estimate of 0.47 fledglings per pair is 11.3% down on the 0.53 logged in 2014 but 9.3% up on the post 1972 average of 0.43. The 2013 and 2014 figures were heavily influenced by poor productivity at Peter’s Bay; Peter’s Bay productivity in 2013 was 0.06 (compared with an overall figure of 0.34) and in 2014 it was 0.33 (compared with 0.53 overall). This year again saw productivity considerably lower than the Island as a whole, with a figure of 0.18 obtained from 11 monitored nests. The reason for this discrepancy is unclear. Fulmar productivity (total number of fledged chicks per monitored pair) for each year that it has been calculated between 1972 and 2015. 0.70 0.60 0.50 0.40 0.30 0.20 0.10 0.00 1977 1984 1991 1998 2005 2012 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2013 2014 2015 A tiny chick was found on 17th August, 48 days after the first chick sighting of the season; this attempt went on to fail. The first two fledglings could fly by 20th August (23rd August 2014 and 25th August 2013). The number of birds around the cliffs dropped rapidly as the fledglings departed, with no more than 49 noted in early September and only single figure counts from the 10th (when the last productivity sample chick departed), although census totals were bolstered by 17 off the Lighthouse on the 12th and 18 at sea on the 13th. The last bird left the cliffs on 20th September and up to six were seen at sea on four dates to the end of the month. Singles on the 7th and 21st October were the only records until the 23rd, from when 39 birds were logged over five dates until the 31st (with a high of 21 on the 25th); this was a similar absence to that noted in 2014 but contrasts with the higher counts 4 | Skokholm Seabird Report 2015 logged in late October 2013 when numbers peaked at 155 on the 30th. In November there were 49 in Broad Sound on the 4th and 50 the following day included birds sheering the cliffs but not landing. There were then daily records from the 7th until the departure of staff on the 26th. A single landed on the cliffs on the 11th and up to 78 birds occupied ledges on six further dates.
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