Kate Fox
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birdingfox.bsky.social
Kate Fox
@birdingfox.bsky.social
Nature addict from Dorset 🦊 Calf of Man Estate Warden 2025 🐦 A Permit Ringer | Former BTO Training Officer, Bardsey Bird Obs AW & LTV at WWT Slimbridge & Spurn Bird Obs 🦆 (She/Her)
Reposted by Kate Fox
3/3 The majority of chicks were colour ringed, allowing them to be identified in the field. We also had success catching adults in the breeding colonies, so we’re excited to see where they spend their winters.

Keep an eye out for the Calf Class of 2025!

@manxwildlifetrust.bsky.social
#seabirds
August 6, 2025 at 2:56 PM
Reposted by Kate Fox
2/ Herring Gulls did well with 277 chicks ringed (2x the highest total from the last 3 years and highest since 2019). LBB Gulls did poorly, with only 3 chicks ringed and stronghold colonies devoid of chicks. GBB Gull chick numbers were on par with the last 5/6 years, with 39 ringed.

#seabirds
August 6, 2025 at 2:53 PM
Reposted by Kate Fox
4/4 After the females have left the nest, we return to check if they were successful. If so, we can estimate the number of chicks from the fragments of hatched shells around left the nest 🐣 This feeds into the @btobirds.bsky.social Nest Record Scheme, informing about Eider productivity!
June 27, 2025 at 5:18 PM
Reposted by Kate Fox
3/4 Once their chicks hatch, they walk them down to the sea and work their way round to the north of the island. There they wait for the tide to be just right so that they can paddle their family across the Sound to the Isle of Man to raise them!
June 27, 2025 at 4:58 PM
Reposted by Kate Fox
2/4 Catching the females informs us about our breeding population and their habits. One female retrapped this year was ringed on the Calf in 2009, a new Calf longevity record!

We also find some females consistently nesting earlier or later, and many returning to the same areas year on year
June 27, 2025 at 4:25 PM