Toby Hogbin (NTS volunteer) departed on Tuesday 5th December and returned on Saturday 9th December. Sarah Money (Warden, St Kilda) arrived on Tuesday 5th December and departed on Thursday 7th December.
Continued monitoring at the "summer reported rat sighting areas" has shown no rat sign or activity. Checking all the monitoring in the bait stations has been completed on Beach Road (including Canna House), East Plateau (X and XA lines), West Plateau (half), Coroghon, Braesgor, West End, Garrisdale, Langanes, Sloc and Geugasgor. No rat sign has been detected. Monitoring outside the bait stations has been checked at Beach Road (including Canna House), East Plateau (X and XA lines), West Plateau (half), Coroghon, Braesgor, West End, Garrisdale, Langanes, Sloc and Geugasgor. No rat sign has been detected. Trap boxes along the pier and part of Beach Road where checked. No rats were caught or detected.
Bait and monitoring stations from East Plateau (X and XA lines), Coroghon, Bresgor, West End, Garrisdale, West Plateau (half), Langanes, Sloc, and Geugasgor were removed. There are only stations in Lamasgor that are still left in the original positions. These will be removed or added to the long-term monitoring line this coming week.
As the stations are removed from areas, they are packed into bulk bags (50 per bag) and the wires (holding wires, crow clips and bait wires) are straightened and packed into bundles of 50’s. A set of wires are added to each bulk bag before storage. All this equipment is stored in the loft in the main shed.
Establishment of the long-term monitoring line has been continued. So far this has been established on Sanday and on Canna around the entire island with the exception of Lamasgor. This line will be mapped and numbered in the coming week.
Sarah Money (Warden, St Kilda) visited the project to get an idea of the requirements for Quarantine and development of Contingency Measures after rat eradication (or in St Kilda’s case where no rats are present). NTS is planning to develop an updated Quarantine and Contingency Plan for St Kilda as well as the one for Canna. Sarah assisted with the establishment of the long-term line and other project activities while she was on Canna. Biz and Sarah discussed various aspects of Quarantine and Contingency measures that will be put in place on Canna that may be useful for St Kilda. Sarah was shown rodent motels, trap sets, monitoring methods and equipment and how to produce chocolate wax.
Weather has been fair, with no days lost to bad conditions.
On Monday 4th December Bob Swann, Project administrator gave a talk on the Canna Seabird Recovery Project to the East Sutherland Bird Group in Golspie.
Biz Bell, Dave Boyle and Paul Garner-Richards – WMIL, Sunday 10 November 2006
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