Project LOMVIA

Despite the amount of species and sights I have described in my previous blogs on Iceland I spent the majority of my time there working on the LOMVIA project; a study of Brunnich’s and common guillemots by BAS and its partners. More details can be found here but I will explain it briefly:

Common guillemots.

As climate change impacts the oceans via warming temperatures the distribution of species alters. This has been noted in the movement of prey fish species, such as sandeels and capelin, whose distribution changes can disrupt seabird populations.

Common guillemot with capelin.

As prey species distribution changes the distribution of seabirds may change as well, causing competition between species that wasn’t so prevalent in the past. The LOMVIA projects aims to ascertain if there is any competition caused between two closely related species – the common guillemot and the Brunnich’s guillemot – brought about by these changes in the environment.

The two guillemot species, Brunnich's sat just above the common.

Common guillemots are a temperature species; spread across the North Atlantic and North Pacific they live in areas closer to warmer waters but do range far north to places like Iceland and Norway. Brunnich’s guillemots are a colder water species, preferring the temperatures of the Arctic and so have a more restricted range. But the two species do overlap in areas where warm and cold ocean currents pass each other and mix – this is very noticeable in Iceland and our reason for being here.

Spot the Brunnich's!

Common guillemots are a very dark chocolate brown colour and have a long, pointed beak. Brunnich’s are darker, closer to black, have a pointy beak but one that is noticeable shorter and have a white stripe along the edge of the beak (to me, Brunnich's look like a common guillemot has dressed up as a razorbill for a fancy dress party but not done a very good job!).

The study we conducted collected a lot of data, focusing on where the two species were foraging for their food and what they were eating. We collected the data in a number of ways, predominantly through tagging work and diet observations; but first we had to find suitable locations to work in.

A guillemot colony on the edge of a heavily populated puffin area. Some work could be carried out here but another location was better.

The main common guillemot study ledge on Papey, birds were accessible for deploying tags and observations of diet - a perfect combination.

The tagging work consisted of deploying devices on the birds for a short period of time. These devices are carefully attached to a few feathers, can be simply removed and are incredibly light – all so as to not harm the bird in any way.

Devices deployed on common guillemots.

We utilised two types of device: GPS and TDR (time-depth recorder). The GPS tells us where the bird is and the TDR tells us its depth in the water. More specific information can be gleaned by combining the two on one bird, thereby establishing its behaviour along the entirety of its journey from the colony and out to sea to fish.

TDR attached to the belly so as to be in contact with water more often, GPS attached to the back to map the constellations.

Each bird was given a unique mark; a coloured shape on the GPS tag, which was repeated on a bit of tape covering a few feathers on the head. This head flag allowed us to see which of our birds were present in a busy colony, even if the tags themselves were not visible, so we could watch their behaviour and recover the tags.

For some birds the devices couldn't be seen from the vantage point, but the head flags could.

Once the tags were removed from a bird the head flags remained so that we could identify individuals we had already studied and so did not bother them again later in the season when deploying more tags. If we were unable to recover a tag the birds would gradually preen them off anyway, in this way no bird was left with devices on it after a week.

The tagging work was one main focus, the second was diet observations.

Studying diet is primarily done by direct observation; then, by combining such observations with the tagging data we get a fuller workup of what the birds are doing away from the colony. The adults bring a whole fish back to their chicks in their beaks. By watching the colony the species of fish can be identified as we watch the adults bring back a meal. Each fish has its own characteristics that we look out for.

The wide silver body, blue edge and (out of sight) forked tail of a small herring.

The thin silver body, forked tail and brassy sheen at the base of the tail of a capelin.

The thick body and orange/brown colouration of a gadoid (a young cod).

The brown speckling of a benthic fish, most likely a blenny.

By being able to observe the birds we were working with we could at times get a full dataset for one individual. The tags tell us where the bird went and when and how deep it dived, and the observation of it bringing a fish back to the chick tells us what it caught on the last dive it did in the foraging trip. So much vital information in understanding the ecology of these birds for conservation purposes!

The perfect sight, a tagged bird bringing back an identifiable fish (a capelin) for its chick!

By ascertaining the foraging range and diet of the two species we can determine if the distribution of the temperate species – the common guillemot – is altering as the seas warm and, if these changes are occurring, are they causing clashes with the arctic species – the Brunnich’s guillemot.

Initial results are interesting but for that information you will have to watch out for publications from the LOMVIA project over the next year or so. For now though, it was a privilege to be involved in a study at the forefront of this area of research, with a great team in a stunning country. And of course, working with such amazing birds is always the highlight!

Brunnich's guillemots with chick.

Common guillemot chicks ready to fledge.

The chicks fledged at the end of the season and hopefully they continue to grow well!

A Tale of Two Islands - Skrudur

If Papey was a pleasure then Skrudur was a challenge!

Skrudur Island.

Much steeper than Papey, Skrudur rises quickly from sea-level so that the island is a mixture of large cliffs and steep inclines. Traversing the island often meant using ropes and walkways so as to get to the study colonies safely.

Challenging terrain but a spectacular island.

The landing site in the bay at the bottom and the pathway to the field hut.

Unlike Papey, Skrudur is uninhabited but does have a place to stay for the owners when visiting the island. This is in the form of a basic field hut sheltered from the elements by a large overhang in the rock.

Accommodation on Skrudur.

Although a challenge to work and stay on, Skrudur is the type of island I always enjoy visiting. Seabirds are an incredible group of species that live and breed in some of the most trying circumstances and I always enjoy it when working with them requires that feeling of wild living and accomplishment.

Accessing the colonies on Skrudur means setting up rope systems to safely work on steep slopes above cliff edges.

Skrudur was another great site to work with guillemots, but, as with Papey, Skrudur is a seabird island and the other species certainly put on a show.

Fulmar.

The fulmar eggs were beginning to hatch.

A young and fluffy fulmar chick.

Fulmar in flight with the perfectly straight wings indicative of the tubenose (albtaross, petrel, shearwater, fulmar) family.

Not as many as on Papey, but still an incredible amount of puffins.

Skrudur had two particular elements that were quite special: a gannet colony and a puffin cave! Puffins burrow underground so as to lay their eggs in a location that is safe from predators. Hiding away is the important part, so if there is a way to do this without expending energy on digging a burrow then they utilise it and Skrudur has a cave in which they can do this!

The entrance to the cave looking back out. On the ground are tracks made by puffins entering the cave.

Looking into the cave gives a sense of just how dark it is in there, but not how big!

Inside the cave expands from the entrance in to a large cavern. The ground is all rock so there is no place to burrow, but there is no need to either. In the pitch black the puffins that have chosen to nest in the cave can do so safely on the ground!

Puffin and puffling in the cave.

Puffling in a way that I have never seen before.

The puffins do put on quite the show and it was great to see them in the cave, all around the island and in the air.

Puffin.

But the main spectacle of Skrudur lies in its gannet colony. There is a gannet colony at Langanes as well, but the one on Skrudur was alongside our guillemot colonies and so seeing it so closely is always a privilege.

Gannet colony.

The gannet chicks were still fairly young but growing quickly.

In such a colony the activity is always big!

The gannets were constantly flying past.

As one of the largest seabirds in the northern hemisphere gannets are always impressive to see.

Gannets are powerfully built for diving in to the water at high speed.

The piercing blue eye is quite charismatic!

Skrudur and Papey made my time in Iceland as memorable as it is. They were both incredible seabird islands in very different ways and it is always a privilege to be working in such locations. Of course, after all the distractions both Papey and Skrudur, along with Iceland itself, offer it is about time I wrote about the guillemots I was working with…!

A Tale of Two Islands - Papey

My time in Iceland was spent working on the LOMVIA project studying guillemots – more on this in a later blog – and naturally this meant working in seabird colonies. During the month I was part of the team working across three different sites: Langanes on the mainland and two offshore islands. Langanes was an enjoyable site, but it is the two islands in which our work was primarily focused. First up was Papey Island.

Papey is a fairly flat island covered in low-lying vegetation, but in some areas it raised up enough to provide the perfect cliff habitat for our study species - guillemots.

Although we were working with Brunnich’s and common guillemots it would’ve been impossible to not take in the wildlife across the island. Sightings such as red-throated diver chicks, snow bunting, harlequin duck and multiple waders were on this island but where it really excelled was the seabirds.

A perfect habitat for waterfowl, waders and seabirds all in one location.

In my time working as a seabird ecologist the species people are most interested in is the puffin. This is understandable, given their endearing yet slightly comical look, bright colouration, and clumsiness on the ground and energetic activity in the air (they are built primarily for life on and in the water after-all) and there are places to see them in vast numbers around the UK.

Puffin.

However, puffins generally increase in number the further north you go, and so the populations in Iceland are massive by comparison. By working on Papey I was lucky enough to spend my time on an island that is home to 130,000 puffins! When seen wheeling around in the air in just one part of the island the scale of the population was quite spectacular.

No photo can truly capture just how many puffins there were, but the land, air...

...and sea were covered in them.

It wasn’t just the puffins either; kittiwakes and fulmar were present in numbers I haven’t seen the like of before and it was great to spend some time with them as well.

Fulmar covered the grassy ledges all around the island.

Fulmar taking incubation duty.

Kittiwake.

The chicks grew so fast in just the two weeks we were there.

A seabird colony is a busy place!

One species that was a bit more unusual was the black guillemot. These can also be seen around the northern UK coastline, often quite well in harbours. But they were present in large numbers on Papey and we were fortunate enough to even find a couple of breeding sites.

Black guillemots with their distinctive white wing patch, black belly and red feet.

Black guillemot chicks; unusual for this family of seabirds in that they lay two eggs and not the usual one.

Of course it would be impossible to work on a seabird island and not mention the best species of all – the razorbill! My personal favourite was present on Papey as well and are always a joy to see.

Razorbills :)

Of course, I wasn’t there to study razorbills but their close relative the guillemots.

Common guillemot and razorbill.

Papey was a joy to work on. The terrain was a nice pace to walk around, getting to the cliff colonies, even on islets only accessible at low-tide, was a simple practise and most importantly the birds themselves were great to work with.

The terrain on Papey was one of the most pleasant of my experiences working on offshore islands!

Islet accessed at low-tide was simple enough to get to and work on as well.

We were fortunate as well in that there are a couple of houses on Papey and although they are not permanently lived in they are extremely well kept and made our stay there much more comfortable than many a seabird island I have worked on.

Not all islands can be so simple to work on and comfortable to stay on though…