Monday, August 29, 2011

We restored ten Manx Shearwaters

During this time of the year, Manx Shearwaters (Puffinus puffinus) chicks begin to leave their nest. During the night they are attracted by urban lights, which causes them to fall to the ground, mainly along roads and by the ports. As a way to prevent the birds from being preyed on or even run over, our team make our rounds every night in search of fallen birds. We would like to thank the community in Corvo for all their support with this initiative. We have already restored ten Manx Shearwaters to full health and sent them off to sea. Our rounds will continue and we will work to make this a record year!

Friday, August 26, 2011

Cat visits the "Corvo's honeymoon" nest

Following the first nest predation on the "Corvo's honeymoon", were taked new security measures. We placed a motion detection camera to film the entrance of the nest. Were recorded several observations of this cat near the chick. Fortunately he decided to abandon it, perhaps because the tight access. Each day that pass the bird will become larger and the chances of being predated decrease. Hopefully it goes well!

Wednesday, August 17, 2011

Parent feeds the chick

After the first nest predation on "Corvo Honeymoon," our team set up the surveillance system in another nest. Now we can follow even closer this Cory's Shearwater family in a burrow. In the video below we can see the parent feeding is chick on is most natural and spontaneous behavior. Many moments of the bird growth will be displayed. Stay tuned ...

Monday, August 8, 2011

Another cory's shearwater returned to Nature


Today, another Cory's Shearwater returned to nature. It was found in a well from wich it could not leave. Fortunately the local community is used to work with us and they promptly told us that the bird was trapped. After the rescue, it spent the night resting in a box created for the S.O.S. Cagarro program, which is completing 10 years of activity, and was finally returned this morning to the stormy seas of Corvo island.

The scale model of Corvo arrived

The environmental interpretation center received last friday the island model. The center is being equiped by the Corvo Island Natural Park and SPEA with a new exhibition to promote the natural wonders of this island, the model was the first piece.


It will allow the tourists and residents visit throughout the island, even the most inaccessible places. When the weather does not permit a tour, this new model will be a great tool of divulgation.


Here we see the team that helped to carry the model from the "Porto da Casa" harbour to the interpretation center after a deserved rest.

Friday, August 5, 2011

The new greenhouse look


Due to the high temperatures inside the greenhouse during these summer months, the plants inside it required special treatment. We weeded each plant one by one, and placed them outside to expose them to more natural temperatures with shorter periods of sun exposure.

Monday, August 1, 2011

“Lua de Mel no Corvo” nest was predated

During the night between the 30th - 31st of July, the Cory's Shearwater chick that we were following with a webcam on the webpage “Lua de Mel no Corvo” was predated. The other two nests that were in the same barn also lost their chicks. This is a critical developmental period for the Cory's Shearwater nestlings, as they are particularly vulnerable to predators that decimate seabird colonies during this time.


The above photo depicts a predated chick at the entrance of the barn where was located the nest that we were following on the page http://cagarro.spea.pt . All the chicks were preyed upon by a domestic cat that was captured in photos from our video surveillance.



This event just proves the importance of continuing with our project “Safe Islands for Seabirds - LIFE07 NAT/P/000649 and upon completion, the necessity for project partners to develop an effective plan to control predators on the island.