Hello, we are Karen and Katherine, better known on Corvo as "The Scottish girls"! We are on sabbatical from RSPB to help the SPEA project team. I (Karen) work in Perthshire in Scotland as an Advisory Officer working with farmers and landowners to provide the best habitats for birds and wildlife. Katherine is Warden at the RSPB Lakenheath Fen reserve in Norfolk, England, where she looks after the wetland/reedbed habitats and species.
Since we arrived on sunny Corvo on the 12th September, we have helped with the mammal monitoring, including placing, collecting and analysing waxcubes; helping Sandra and Pipa check the mice and rat traps and analysing the mice and rats caught. We have also helped in the greenhouse, weeding and re-potting native plants and spreading seed on the lower reserve. One of the best jobs so far has been to help Pipa check the Cory´s shearwater nests. It was fantastic to see the fat fluffy ´Cagarro´ chicks and the reason that this project is so important. We also had a close up encounter with an adult Cory´s Shearwater that had been found in the village caught up in fishing line. We went along with the project team to release the bird in the harbour and had a magnificent view of it fly back off to sea.
We have enjoyed our time on Corvo with the SPEA project team and with one more week to go hope to continue to help with the important work to help bring back the populations of seabirds on Corvo.
Karen & Katherine
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