The following is a brief account by Jonny Cooper of his recent trip to Iceland. As a trainee ringer, he is certainly packing a lot of high quality experience through his contacts within the various conservation organisations for which he volunteers - especially the Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust.
I had the pleasure of spending 10 days undertaking fieldwork in Iceland from 15th – 24 July. The base for the trip was the island of Flatey in the Breiðafjörður in north-west of the country. Representatives from the Icelandic Institute of Natural History have been undertaking annual trips to Flatey to survey, monitor and ring the seabirds and waders in the area.
The central focus of the trip this year was satellite tagging of Kittiwakes to investigate their foraging habits. Over the first two days 16 birds were fitted with tags and marked to allow easy identification within the colony. The tags were left on for 3 – 5 days and then attempts were made to retrieve them, 13 tags were retrieved. The data revealed all but one of the birds foraging much further to the south, outside of the Breiðafjörður area. This is the third year of such tagging and a picture is being built up of how these declining birds use their habitat, as can be seen from the graphic below:
Other species surveyed and ringed included: Fulmar, Arctic Tern, Ringed Plover, Shag, Puffin, Snipe and Oystercatcher. In addition to this on the final day we had a session flick netting Red-necked Phalarope which congregate in large numbers in the tidal bays around the island. It is amazing to think these tiny birds will spend the winter on the beaches of South America.
My personal totals for the trip were: Ringed (Retrapped) [Pulli]: Kittiwkake 5(5)[139]; Puffin 1(3)[3]; Shag [22]; Arctic Tern 8[33], Ringed Plover [5], Black Guillemot [9]; Snipe 1(1), Oystercatcher 1; Fulmar 3[1], Red-necked Phalarope 20.
Puffin: Red-necked Phalarope:
