...at last, the visit in 2021 gets closer.

Already two groups of others have visited Nan Ron in order to ring Storm Petrels. Our visit gets closer, with much anticipation following our Covid induced absence of 2020. So far twelve are billed to attend with four being new to island and nocturnal ringing. 

This year, following a small grant from the Seabird Group <www.seabirdgroup.org.uk> we shall be undertaking some stormie sexing studies, in addition to our usual biometrics and ageing. Sexing of storm petrels is 'challenging', to the extent that many do not undertake it, and ageing is subjective, so again missed. It is our hope that we can produce some guidelines and morphometrics (including photographs) to enable the ageing and sexing of storm petrels around the latitudes of northern Scotland.

....Barn Owl still eating...

 The ringers from Belvide have visited Nan Ron over the last week or so. Averaging about 300 new birds a night with about 20% more due to retraps, including some Norwegian ringed birds, they also collected some Barn Owl pellets and looked for rings. They found nine Storm Petrel rings of birds originally ringed on Nan Ron - in 2006, 2012, 2013, 2015, 2016(3), 2017, and 2019. If convention is followed all of the birds, except the bird from 2019, must have been adults breeding on Nan Ron.

So the Barn Owls are still present on the island, and they are still eating Storm Petrels as part of their diet. Hopefully, might be able to update this.....