Twitching the Lundy LITTLE SHEARWATER - behaviour

Once again, I need to stress that unwarranted disturbance to the seabird colony on Lundy Island will NOT be tolerated by the National Trust and the island wardens.

The calling male LITTLE SHEARWATER has chosen a site which is totally inaccessible - on a sheer cliff over 100 feet high - and has arrived on site in total darkness between midnight and 0100 hours. It was first heard on Friday (Chris Townend and his partner) and again on Sunday evening and was perfectly audible from the steep track that leads up from the quay to the main stay of the island.

So, in a nutshell, anyone visiting Lundy Island can at best only hope to hear this very rare seabird. The wardens have repeated their request for a total ban on use of TAPE-LURING and TORCHING, both from on the island and from any chartered boats moored offshore. Nicola will be monitoring any offshore activities carefully, as it has been reported that four chartered vessels are departing Clovelly for an overnight vigil this evening. Please, please adhere to these instructions - the National Trust and a team of RSPB volunteers have worked wonders with the local Manx Shearwater population here, eradicating the local Rat population and ensuring that the Manx colony has increased by almost 10-fold in recent years. It is imperative that twitchers do not act irresponsibly in this instance.

The bird will be perfectly audible from the designated footpath from the quay, provided the weather overnight is favourable. There will be NO attempts made to capture the bird, primarily because of the precarious position that the bird has chosen to call from