May 16, 2005
Rabbits - fluffy Agent Orange
(NB - for those looking for the Little Auk / Gyr Falcon image - click here)
A funny sort of weekend up here, (not funny as in ha ha, hee hee - more funny as in wry smiles and shrugs of enforced tolerance), as while the rest of the country basked in brilliant sunshine, Shetland braced itself for yet more chilling north-westerlies. Being outside was absolutely no fun at all, and my Breeding Bird Surveys are still undone. Only 4 days to go until the first, already extended deadline...
There are some summer birds around, most noticeably the tirricks (Arctic Terns to you!), which are bombing around the croft and my end of the island in some numbers. I just hope that by some miracle they can find enough food this year to breed with any success whatsoever. Last year was a complete disaster. Also noticeable by their presence are the skuas, a handful of Bonxies and Arctics, already patrolling the shoreline, and in the case of the Bonxies the roads for roadkill rabbits. Yet another sign o' the times.
Went for a walk around the golfcourse with P and the mutts on Saturday; kicked off with a new species for me for the patch, Tufted Duck, a pair mooching around the back of east loch; also plenty of Wheatears, a pair of summer-plumaged Dunlin, 4 Great Northerns, and 19 Purple Sands. Also a rare (and tragic) sight for the island - a Gannet perched on a rocky promontary. Judging by the grass-stains on its breast, it had crash-landed on the golfcourse. It seemed alert enough, but looked awkward when it shifted position. We debated what to do; trying to approach it with a view to taking it into care seemed likely to cause it to fling itself off the rocks, possibly to further damage. Reluctantly, we eventually decided to leave nature take its course. Besides, I'm damned if I've a) got the skills to set broken Gannet bones, b) got the bottle to try and catch an enraged and well-armed goose-sized seabird, and c) enough fish to feed it. Plus the chickens might have something to say about sharing their area with a recuperating Gannet.
Spent an unhappy few hours yesterday attaching rabbit wire to my new fences. I'd planted the first few hundred trees a couple of weeks ago, and already the bastard rabbits had started to prune them. Terminally. Bought 200m of wire on Friday, and P cut the first 50m roll in half lengthways to give me 100m of bunny-proofing. Got soaked in the bitterly cold rain, but the thought of thwarting the long-eared tree-assasins kept me going. Still loads more to put on, but thankfully about two thirds of the trees still aren't in, so have been spared the slaughter. Will have to buy replacements this autumn.
Woke up this morning to snow. How can this be? The rest of the country gets Great Reed Warblers and marsh terns. We get yet more Arctic weather. Summer's not here yet. Hell, Spring isn't either!
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Come back soon!
Posted by Stercorarius at May 16, 2005 01:19 PM