Inner Farn Trip...... Ethical? (1 Viewer)

kb57 said:

Sorry to 'moan', but I think the OP asked a valid question which was deserving of a considered response.
As I said in my earlier post, the data on breeding success is reassuring, and the idea of human presence deterring predation and examples of behavioural adaptation in puffins are really interesting. Totally agree with educational / closeness to nature thing - as I said, I led a group of kids and parents on the islands once, and it was a very rewarding experience to see how they reacted to the birds, and for some visitors this will be the start of a lifelong interest in nature.

I disagree that supervision is always adequate - last time I was there individual visitors could wander at will within the roped areas, and at least one tern chick that wandered onto the mown path got trampled on while I was there. I'm sure wardens try their best, but there can be an awful lot of people on the islands, particularly Inner Farne.

A few questions to ponder...
- anecdotally at least, visitor numbers seem to have increased in recent decades - do NT set a limit on visitor numbers, and if so, is this based on any assessment of maximum capacity?
- the point has been made that visitors are only present for a few hours a day; does this invalidate the point about predator deterrence?
- if reduced predation risk is a benefit of human access, should NT build paths through the Long Nanny Arctic tern colony, where ground-based predators such as foxes, and kestrels in particular are a key mortality factor for chicks? If not, what makes this different from the Farnes?

BTW I agree that there are more pressing issues - one proximal issue is the chronic level of year-round disturbance by dogs on intertidal habitats on the Northumberland coast, an area supposedly protected for wintering turnstone, purple sandpiper and sanderling.

Click to expand...

Won't this be limited by the number of scheduled boat departures from Seahouses, are Billy Shiels the only licenced operator?

kb57 said:

A few questions to ponder...
- if reduced predation risk is a benefit of human access, should NT build paths through the Long Nanny Arctic tern colony, where ground-based predators such as foxes, and kestrels in particular are a key mortality factor for chicks? If not, what makes this different from the Farnes?

Click to expand...

Because dogs are not allowed on the Farnes; controlling dogs on a cross-colony path at the Long Nanny would be very difficult, if not impossible. Also Little Terns (the more important species there) may be less able to benefit from human presence.

andyadcock said:

Won't this be limited by the number of scheduled boat departures from Seahouses, are Billy Shiels the only licenced operator?

Click to expand...

There's at least 2 or 3 licenced operators :t:

kb57 said:

A few questions to ponder...
- anecdotally at least, visitor numbers seem to have increased in recent decades - do NT set a limit on visitor numbers, and if so, is this based on any assessment of maximum capacity?
- the point has been made that visitors are only present for a few hours a day; does this invalidate the point about predator deterrence?
- if reduced predation risk is a benefit of human access, should NT build paths through the Long Nanny Arctic tern colony, where ground-based predators such as foxes, and kestrels in particular are a key mortality factor for chicks? If not, what makes this different from the Farnes?

BTW I agree that there are more pressing issues - one proximal issue is the chronic level of year-round disturbance by dogs on intertidal habitats on the Northumberland coast, an area supposedly protected for wintering turnstone, purple sandpiper and sanderling.

Click to expand...

As Andy and Nutty have indicated the visitor numbers are limited by licensing of boat operators and landing permits. Exact figures will be available through NT. It is only natural that visitor numbers are higher during the holiday season and for that matter in better weather, but the limit is fixed by the arrangements in place. It's worth remembering that Inner Farne and Staple are accessible but other islands are strictly out of bounds: I like many other birders remember hot afternoons anchored off The Brownsman waiting for Elsie to make an appearance! Birds therefore have options for nesting on non-human visited islands. It is a testament to the success of the arrangements in place that so many "have to" nest by the trafficked paths of Inner Farne.

No. Predation pressure reduction in blocks of time is as valid as over a particular area. Indeed, contra some earlier ignorant comments, the human presence actually reduces the hours of the birds being under stress by relieving the predation pressure. Obviously, the "rest period" thus generated facilitates higher vigilance and more energy reserves available for defensive action during periods when the human visitors are not present. Incidentally, the wardens who are obliged to manage visitors also undertake conservation management and monitoring activities when not having to do so: so absence of visitors does not equal absence of humans from the colonies, and the windows of predator deterrence are therefore presumably rather wider than one might think.

Interesting point about other colonies, and while I concur Nutty's point about dogs, paths for non-dog-accompanied visitors might well help. Radical thinking! Next you will be suggesting that more people wandering freely across grouse moors in all seasons will improve raptor protection...

I only visit the Northumberland coast occasionally but have noticed, when on some of the truly enormous beaches, that dogs running about off the lead will occasionally disturb Sanderlings, Knot etc from feeding. However, they don't go far and immediately resume the activity. I see this as identical to avoiding meso-predators such as foxes whose daylight activities are actively suppressed in Britain by such things as dog-walking in this manner. Obviously it is a use of energy, but I don't see it as different from birds in a truly wild setting.

In any case, the level of disturbance in the huge Northumbrian landscape is miniscule compared to what happens on the South coast, where beaches are stacked out with grockles all summer and every length of each beach is reached by massive conurbations worth of dog-walkers non-stop. Despite which every beach still has at least a few birds, though the main concentrations tend to be in muddier or rockier areas.

Cheers

John