This was the inadvertent slogan for the third edition of Celebrating Manx Birds, held at the Manx Museum on the 23rd of November 2024.
The event was a great opportunity to see the range of actions towards conservation on and off the Island. From the birds of Langness to the Point of Ayre, passing over hen harriers in the uplands and seabirds along the coastlines, talks also travelled through time with the history of conservation or even how Manx language reveals wonders about the history of our landscape.
Our first speaker was Tim Earl, well known to many across the Isle of Man thanks to his incredibly popular ‘Birdwatching for Beginner’s’ courses. Tim shared the importance that everyone can make in nature conservation. Today, scientific evidence is required before decisions can be taken and as citizen scientists, you can supply the data required through various recording schemes such as the Manx BirdLife sightings system, BTO’s birdtrack or even the BTO’s ringing scheme.
The more data that is collected, the more action can be taken.
Recent data collected by time whilst ringing shows some interesting results including that, of the 300+ caught and ringed in Tim’s Castletown garden three had been ringed on the Calf as they arrived in the island, one was already ringed in Dumfries and Galloway possibly showing where they were coming from, and another was ringed in central France in the winter of 2022 / 23 indicating their destination, perhaps or of the 1,000+ chaffinches Tim has caught and ringed in Arbory, 20 had been ringed on the Calf as they arrived in the island, and of those 20 all were females. This backs up the observations of Swedish biologist Carl Linnaeus who saw big flocks of male chaffinches in winter but few females. He gave Chaffinch the scientific name of Fringilla coelebs, the celibate finch.
Next up was Manx BirdLife’s Reserve Manager David Andrews. David has many years of experience in managing nature reserves having previously worked for the RSPB and the National Trust before joining Manx BirdLife in 2022.
David gave an update on the Manx BirdLife Point of Ayre National Reserve and the progress that has been made on site in the last year. David also talked about the importance of nature reserves in general. While we all acknowledge the valuable role nature reserves play in conserving wildlife, they are not enough, not big enough, not connected enough and there is just too few of them. There is a lot that can be done outside nature reserves but to really protect the amazing wildlife that calls the Isle of Man home, it is time to think about nature conservation on a landscape scale, collaborating with other land managers to maximise the area available.
Our third speaker was James Leonard of the National Wildlife Crime Unit. James began his career with the RSPB's investigations department and joined the NMCU in 2022. The topic of James’s talk was the use of technology in the fight against wildlife crime.
As the perpetrators of wildlife crime become increasing sophisticated so too do those gathering the evidence to stop it. More and more, technology such as satellite tags, which can be fitted to birds such as Hen Harriers (which are still unfortunately still heavily persecuted in some areas of the UK) to track their movements and show when those birds suddenly disappear. Another piece of technology which is being used more and more are drones. These can be used to survey inaccessible and remote areas, helping to direct police investigations or gathering evidence directly.
The fourth speaker of the day and first up after the first coffee break was Breeshey Kermode from UNESCO Biosphere Isle of Man. As a native Manx speaker, Breeshey loves to find the nature connections to many of the place names across the Island, such as Anagh Coar in Douglas. While it may not seem obvious upon the first visit, Anagh Coar actually means, ‘place of the heron’ implying that at some point, there was a wetland present there.
Next up was Bryony Manly from Manx Whale and Dolphin Watch. Bryony has been involved with Manx Whale and Dolphin Watch since 2012 when she first got involved as part of her MSc research. Bryony gave a fantastic run through of the most common cetacean species found in Manx Waters such as common porpoise and Riso’s dolphin (who actually get more white as they get older meaning they are sometimes mistaken for albino dolphins) as well as some of the less common ones such as the rather odd looking sunfish, giving great ID tips when all you get is a quick glimpse of a whale or dolphin out on the water. Of course, no presentation on dolphins in the Isle of Man would be complete without mention of the resident pair, Starlight and Moonlight who can often be seen off the coast in Peel.
Our sixth speaker was David Bellamy of the Manx Wildlife Trust. David is the Head of Conservation and Land for MWT and drew on his fantastic knowledge of Manx wildlife to talk about the history of nature conservation on the Isle of Man: Past, Present and Future.
Starting with the ‘Big Uig’ or Great Auk, which was a common bird on the Island in 1652 but was globally extinct just 200 years later David highlighted all of the ups and downs of nature conservation on the Island all the way up to today and the more positive story of the Manx Shearwater. Sadly Manx Shearwaters were lost form the Calf of Man in the last century but thanks to a huge effort to manage the habitat and control ground predators, there are now over 1500 breeding pairs. A definite success story which we should all be proud of.
Our final keynote speaker of the day was Tom Bowser from Argaty Red Kites in Central Scotland who talked about the work his family has done to rewild their livestock farm.
While it may have initially looked like an odd choice to have someone from the central belt in Scotland talk about red kites and beavers, two species that don’t occur on the Isle of Man, with 75% of the Isle of Man being farmland, the relationship between farmers and ecologists is essential to provide spaces for nature and encourage positive practices.
Tom is the 5th generation of his family to farm at Argaty, an upland livestock farm, and his personal experience in rewilding, starting when RSPB reintroduced red kites over 20 years ago to being the first farm in Scotland to accept translocated beavers in 2020, showing that whether it is a reduction in flooding or an increase in invertebrate species on the farm, the benefits of managing for nature are clear.
With the farm also running wildlife tours, it's a great opportunity to engage people with this fantastic wildlife and educate them on these benefits.
You can read more about the work Tom and his family do for nature at Argaty Red Kites – Rewilding Experiences in the Heart of Scotland
Thank you to all of our speakers, Tim Earl, David Andrews, James Leonard, Breeshey Kermode, Bryony Manly, David Bellamy and Tom Bowser and to everyone who joined us on the day.
We hope to run the event annually so do keep your eyes peeled for an announcement about next years date early in 2025.
