Water voles 'decline by a fifth'

Water voles have declined by a fifth in the UK since 2011, a survey suggests.

Conservationists say that habitat loss, predation by American mink, and changeable weather are to blame.

The research was carried out by the Environment Agency and Wildlife Trusts, who are working to create more vole-friendly waterways.

Earlier reports had suggested that the animals were making a comeback. Conservationists say more needs to be done to save this species.

Alastair Driver, National Conservation Manager from the Environment Agency, said: "This creature is part of our waterway systems. People love walking along a canal and hearing the plop of a water vole into the canal. They are part of the food chain... part of the ecosystem.

"It would be a real shame to let that go."

'Ratty'

Water voles, immortalised by Ratty from Wind in the Willows, were once a common sight in the UK's waterways.

But since the 1970s, water vole numbers are thought to have declined by more than 90%.

Continued

North American mink responsible for decline in island seabird numbers

American mink which escaped from fur farms in the west of Scotland in the 1960s are overfeeding on sea bird populations.

The North American mink have colonised the west coast over the last fifty years, causing major problems for native birdlife.

Breeding populations of nationally rare sea birds - like terns and common gull - on west coast islands between Mallaig and West Loch Tarbert have suffered.

Dr Clive Craik, of the Scottish Marine Institute, has spent the last 22 years studying populations of breeding seabirds on 155 islands.

Once a mink accesses breeding colonies it can go on "killing sprees, wiping out a whole season's worth of chicks or eggs in a single night", he said.

Surviving birds will move away from the area rather than tolerate another attack, said Dr Craik, of the Scottish Marine Institute.

In 2010, studies showed that 76 of the islands had lost their breeding seabirds and mink had all but eradicated ground-nesting birds.

Results for 2011 show that seabirds bred successfully on 21 out of 28 islands which had a programme of mink-trapping.

Dr Craik said that discarded fishing gear is also responsible for significant deaths among seabird populations.

http://news.stv.tv/scotland/highlands-islands/304113-north-american-mink-responsible-for-decline-in-island-seabird-numbers/

New mink threat to Irish seabird islands

American invaders have now reached Puffin Island September 2011: American mink are beginning to colonise some of Ireland's most remote offshore islands – prompting calls for immediate action.

The islands, thanks to their inaccessibility and lack of mammalian predators, are home to some of the most important seabird colonies in Europe. But now the mink, voracious predators of nesting birds, eggs and chicks, are threatening these safe havens.

Bird Watch Ireland's senior seabird conservation officer, Dr Stephen Newton, explains the Heritage Council-funded efforts to solve the problem.

‘Ireland has a special international responsibility for seabirds: indeed several of our west coast islands in Kerry are truly globally special places for species such as the Manx shearwater and the European storm petrel.'

Stock for fur farms‘These birds are nocturnal and nest underground in burrows or rock crevices, and so are less well known than the charismatic puffin,' said Dr Newton, ‘which is easily seen from May through to July at spectacular sites such as Great Saltee in County Wexford, Skellig Michael, County Kerry and the Cliffs of Moher in County Clare.'

American mink are non-native, aquatic carnivores and capable of swimming out to islands located a moderate distance from the mainland. First brought to Ireland in the middle of the 20th Century as stock for fur farms, many escaped or were deliberately released and have now spread throughout much of the country.

‘Quite how far mink can swim is not really known, but they have certainly reached Puffin Island, which lies only 300-400 metres off a very inaccessible section of the Kerry coast,' said Dr Newton. ‘The island is a BirdWatch Ireland reserve, protected for its large breeding colonies of Manx shearwater, storm petrel and, not surprisingly, puffins.'

These carnivores can do irreparable damage‘The first mink was recorded on the island in 2007 and mink were certainly still present in April 2011, when several dead shearwaters and a recently killed petrel were found.'

It is now hoped the work of BirdWatch Ireland and the Heritage Council can now rescue the islands from the threat.

‘Grant aid from the Heritage Council has enabled us to make several expeditions to the island during spring and summer this year to attempt to trap and remove these alien carnivores before irreparable damage is done to the burrow-nesting seabirds,' said Dr Newton.

‘Unfortunately, even as this work was underway, another BirdWatch Ireland member of staff discovered what is almost certainly a mink scat (dropping) on Great Saltee. This island lies a little further, about 5km, off the Wexford coast near Kilmore Quay.

‘BirdWatch Ireland is following up this report and will, if necessary, take appropriate action.'

http://www.wildlifeextra.com/go/news/mink-puffin.html#cr