Welcome to the second weekly newsletter from Ramsey.
A world first – You may have seen on our Twitter page that we now have two pairs of shearwaters that have laid eggs in our artificial nest boxes. These wooden boxes have 100 mm plastic drainage pipes for tunnels and are dug into the ground on the north east coast of Ramsey. These boxes have hinged lids that can be opened so that we can more easily monitor the progress of our birds through the breeding season and will also allow us to fit birds with GPS tracking devices so that we can look at where they go to fish. To the best of our knowledge these are the first box nesting Manx shearwaters anywhere in the world!
Short-ears – We have now confirmed two pairs of Short-eared Owls are breeding on the island this year. They are currently feeding young in the heather and can be seen hunting by day. You are most likely to see the pair that are nesting on our northern hill (Carn Ysgubor) as they hunt out over the sea-watching hide on Ramsey’s north west corner.
Quiz – The reason for the breeding owls and kestrels this year is the high number of bank voles that we have on the island. They are the favourite food of both birds. But can anyone list the other SEVEN species of land mammal permanently resident on Ramsey??