30 September 2007
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on the island and how the various conservation projects are progressing.If you would like us
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Sooty Terns
 Well
it seems that at least three quarters of the colony has left the island
already. It has been lovely to watch the fledglings in the last couple
of weeks taking flying lessons with either parent. You often see them go
by the front of the lodge along towards the south point and it seems as
if they are being taught how to maneuver close to the water whilst
staying close to the wing of the parent and following their every move.
It has been fascinating to watch. Having taken a walk through the middle
of the colony it does appear that there are noticeably fewer remains of
chicks than last season compounding our thoughts that it has been a
particularly good season for the colony. Last year we had a lot of
stragglers, even until December and it seems that this will not be
repeated this year. We wish them well on their journey and hope to
photo by Jurgen Schneider
see them return in March next year for another season.
Turtle Season
The first Hawksbill of the season came up to
lay her eggs on the 7th which is a good two and a half weeks earlier
than last season. To date we have had five Hawksbills come up to lay
which is a little slow but still a good sign that they
recognise a good nesting site when they see one! We have started to
brief all of the guests as they arrive on the island
as to the procedure if they come across a turtle either on the beach or
in the shallows. It is always so frustrating to see a turtle turn around
and return to the sea when she is disturbed by a client who is just too
keen to get that great photo and so we hope that by involving them more
and educating them more they will understand why it is so important to
follow the guidelines. We are now starting to see some of our volunteer
tourists arriving for the peak of the turtle season. It is very popular
even with other regular guests who are intrigued as to what the
volunteers get up to with Roby during the day and we hope that the
programme will grow as more people become aware of it.
Migrant Count - Since last News Update:
Robbie's weekly count with the
maximum number of birds seen on any day in the month of September is below:
September
210 Frigatebirds, 16 Grey Plovers, 9 Lesser Sandplovers, 10
Greater Sandplovers, 0 Crab Plovers, 42 Whimbrels, 210 Turnstones, 8
Sanderlings, 18 Curlew Sandpipers, 2 Golden Plover, 0 Ringed Plover, 1
Bar-tailed Godwit, 2 Greenshank, 15 Crested Terns, 310 Bridled
Terns, 210
Saunders Little Terns, 1 Common Sandpiper, 21 Red-footed
Booby, 0 Eurasian Curlew, 0 Red-billed Tropic Bird, 30
Moorhens , 0 Brown Booby, 0 Grey Heron, 1 Blue Pigeon, 1 Little Stint, 1
Mascarene Martin
photo by Jurgen Schneider
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