Northern snippets

Choughs, The Oa and a fat, juicy tipulid larva.

A welcome change of scenery last week looking at reserve issues on Islay, with The Oa and Loch Gruinart being the main sites visited.  An Otter in the bay below the campsite at Port Charlotte was a good start.  Management for Chough was one focus of the visit.  They prefer places with short, grazed pasture, less than 5 cm in height, and soft soils where they can probe to find food.  A specialist feeder on invertebrates, they will take beetles and their larvae, fly larvae (especially tipulid (Cranefly) larvae), ants, their grubs and pupae, and spiders.  Dung invertebrates are an important source of food.   Such food resources can be patchily distributed, as we found by sampling various areas of turf but we did turn up some particularly juicy tipulids in a key feeding area.

Marsh Fritillary butterflies are locally frequent on Islay. Attack by parasitoid wasps appears to have an important effect on the population dynamics of the butterfly and may help to explain its requirement for large habitat patches. Two parasitiod wasp species, Cotesia bignellii and C. melitaearum, are present in the UK  and are of conservation importance in their own right, one being specific to the Marsh Fritillary. Studies suggest that the parasitoid and its host may have a shifting metapopulation distribution, with the butterfly 'escaping' parasitism in some areas by dispersal and colonisation, with local extinctions occurring in other areas.

A Marsh Frit caterpillar with cocoons of emerged parasitiod wasp larvae.

Highlights of the trip included 30+ Chough, 6 crekking Corncrakes, 4 Golden Eagles, Hen Harrier, Tystie and Great Northern Diver.  Loch Grunart produced Corncrake and Quail calling together in front of a pair of Whooper Swans.  As well as an approachable flock of 20+ Chough, Ardnave Point also produced a typically tame migrant Dotterel.  And all this sandwiched between a daily menu of various local delicacies; from full Scottish breakfast with ‘square’ sausage and tattie scone through to sampling the local whiskies.

Manx joeys

Was it a dream or did I just see an orchid meadow being grazed by Wallabies? No, I've been on the Isle of Man and my collection of British wildlife poo has just increased by one. A population of around 100 Red-necked Wallabies is now claimed after an initial accidental release of a pair from a nearby wildlife park around 1970.  There are surely more; we easily saw at least 5, including young, and there were droppings everywhere. There is a relaxed view on the presence of these animals. They appear to be mildly beneficial through their grazing activities - at the moment! They are certainly amusing, hiding low in vegetation before bounding away at the last moment, thumping the ground.

This was the beginning of a 4-day tour of the Isle of Man looking at some key conservation issues. Choughs are doing well on the island; around 160 pairs. Where natural cliff sites are absent, the birds are known to nest in artificial sites. However, of interest is the recent use of active farm buildings, such as barns, rather than disused or derelict buildings. Nesting birds are being carefully monitored by Manx Birdlife.

In contrast to the tolerance of wallabies, a Brown Rat control programme to benefit breeding seabirds has been progressing on the Calf of Man. After becoming extinct on the island that gave them their name, Manx Shearwaters returned to breed in 2000. With a reduction in Rats, the population has increased to around 100 pairs. Total eradication of rats must surely be the aim to maintain this iconic bird on the island.

At Close Sartfield meadows excellent restoration work by the Wildlife Trust using green hay following scrub removal has created the spectacle of thousands of orchids of six species.

The uplands hold Curlews, Red Grouse and a good, but declining, population of Hen Harriers. Looking at various areas of moorland, we stumbled (literally) over good numbers of Lesser Twayblade and also abundant Moonwort around the old lead mines.

Below - nestbox (upstairs Chough, downstairs Muscovy Duck), Choughs calling to young, ringing young Chough (under licence).