Il paraît qu'on est pas ornitho
tant qu'on est pas passé à Mayes. Ça y est, je suis rentrée dans le club, j'ai
pu faire une manip' là-bas. J'ai été ravie par cette première manip' dans les
îles. Les paysages sont différents et magnifiques. La cabane est également bien
sympa; elle a beaucoup de cachet. Ces derniers jours, nous avions plusieurs
choses à faire. Nous avons commencé par le baguage de poussins de skuas. C'est
impressionnant de voir les skuas nous charger, s'arrêtant pas très loin de nos
têtes en guise d'intimidation... Nous avons également fait une partie du tour
Mayes chionis. Il s'agissait de trouver les nids de ces oiseaux blancs, de la
taille d'un pigeon, parmi les rochers le long de la côte, et de baguer ceux qui
ne l'était pas. Nous avons vu quelques oeufs, ainsi que quelques poussins,
mignons comme tout. Nous avons aussi fouillé des terriers de pétrels à tête
blanche pour faire le suivi démographique. Beaucoup de terriers, de différentes
espèces, ont été aménagés pour pouvoir accéder à la chambre sans abîmer le
terrier, ce qui facilite les captures pour baguer les adultes et poussins et
faire le suivi démographique. Nous avons aussi fait quelques séances de capture
au filet, de nuit, près de la cabane, pour attraper des pétrels bleus et prions
de Belcher et ramener des échantillons. Ce fût l'occasion pour moi d'avoir en
main de nouvelles espèces: pétrels bleus, prions de Belcher, pétrels plongeurs
communs, pétrels à tête blanche, océanite à croupion gris. Ça change des
manchots et j'étais contente de pouvoir en apprendre plus sur les pétrels et
prions! Je retiendrai aussi un moment très agréable, sans vent, à regarder le
soleil se coucher derrière les Monts Ross, sur fond sonore de cris de skuas et
d'albatros fuligineux à dos clair, une pause pour regarder un adulte d'albatros
fuligineux nourrir son poussin (on a eu la chance d'arriver au bon moment!), et
le passage près des gorfous sauteurs, qui nichent dans les rochers le long de
la côte et dont les poussins sont parfois groupées en petites crèches... Bref,
comme d'habitude, la vie est belle et tout va bien ici!
Some people say you're not birder until you've been to Mayes, an island of the Gulf of Morbihan! Well, that's it, now I am part of the club, I've just spent a few days there. I have been delighted by this first field session in the islands. Landscapes are beautiful in Mayes. The hut is also very nice and full of character. Those past few days, we had a few things to do. We started by ringing skuas' chicks. It was impressive to see the adults fake to attack us, stopping right above our heads, as intimidation... We also did part of the « Mayes tour » to find black-faced sheathbills' nests. We had to find the nests of those pigeon-sized, white birds, among the rocks next to the shore, and ringed the individuals which didn't have a ring already. We saw a few eggs, and a few chicks as well. That was the first time I could see them. We also searched a few white-faced petrels' dens to do the demographic monitoring. A lot of dens have been arranged so we can access the chamber where they lay eggs and brood without damaging it. This makes catching the adults and chicks to ring them easier. We also did a few sessions to catch birds with nets at night. The main goal was to catch blue petrels and slender-billed prions to take samples. It was the occasion for me to manipulate new species: blue petrels, slender-billed prions, common diving petrels, white-headed petrels, grey-backed storm petrels, a white-chinned petrel, and Antarctic prions. It's very different from working with penguins, and I was happy to learn more about petrels and prions! I'll also remember a very nice moment, without wind, watching the sun setting behind the Mounts Ross, with skuas and sooty albatrosses' cries as background music, a break to watch a light-mantled sooty albatros feed its chick (we got lucky to arrive just at the right time!), and watching the rockhopper penguins, nesting in rocks near the shore, and which chicks are sometimes gathered in creches... So, as usual, life's treating me pretty good and everything's going allright!
Some people say you're not birder until you've been to Mayes, an island of the Gulf of Morbihan! Well, that's it, now I am part of the club, I've just spent a few days there. I have been delighted by this first field session in the islands. Landscapes are beautiful in Mayes. The hut is also very nice and full of character. Those past few days, we had a few things to do. We started by ringing skuas' chicks. It was impressive to see the adults fake to attack us, stopping right above our heads, as intimidation... We also did part of the « Mayes tour » to find black-faced sheathbills' nests. We had to find the nests of those pigeon-sized, white birds, among the rocks next to the shore, and ringed the individuals which didn't have a ring already. We saw a few eggs, and a few chicks as well. That was the first time I could see them. We also searched a few white-faced petrels' dens to do the demographic monitoring. A lot of dens have been arranged so we can access the chamber where they lay eggs and brood without damaging it. This makes catching the adults and chicks to ring them easier. We also did a few sessions to catch birds with nets at night. The main goal was to catch blue petrels and slender-billed prions to take samples. It was the occasion for me to manipulate new species: blue petrels, slender-billed prions, common diving petrels, white-headed petrels, grey-backed storm petrels, a white-chinned petrel, and Antarctic prions. It's very different from working with penguins, and I was happy to learn more about petrels and prions! I'll also remember a very nice moment, without wind, watching the sun setting behind the Mounts Ross, with skuas and sooty albatrosses' cries as background music, a break to watch a light-mantled sooty albatros feed its chick (we got lucky to arrive just at the right time!), and watching the rockhopper penguins, nesting in rocks near the shore, and which chicks are sometimes gathered in creches... So, as usual, life's treating me pretty good and everything's going allright!
Petit poussin de skua à Mayes / Small skua chick in Mayes
Poussin de pétrel à tête blanche à Mayes / White-headed petrel chick
Gorfou sauteur et poussins en crèche / Rockhopper penguin and chicks in
creche
creche
Nid de chionis avec oeuf et poussin / Black-faced sheathbill's nest with a chick and an egg
Albatros fuligineux à dos clair en train de nourrir son poussin /
Light-mantled sooty albatros feeding its chick
