Peter Guille had a strange surprise when he was out fishing this week off the Blanchard Reef when he noticed a live seahorse in the mouth of a pollack he caught. He removed the seahorse and put it back in the sea but when he gutted the less fortunate pollack he found that its stomach was full of young seahorses and a few of them were still alive. He put…
Nature
It’s been a good year so far for butterflies and the most common ones on the wing at the moment are the Holly Blues. These small butterflies love Heather and with both Bell and Ling Heather in flower at the moment on the cliffs and L’Eperquerie Common there are plenty of these gorgeous, shimmering butterflies to spot. Bumblebees are also attracted to Heather so if you sit quietly next to…
A group of bottlenose dolphins has been delighting both visitors and locals here in Sark for the last month. They have mostly been seen around the east coast and have sometimes escorted the island’s ferries from the Bec du Nez all the way into the harbour, much to the enjoyment of those on board. Fishermen and others with their own boats have also been experiencing wonderful encounters with the…
Ornithologists Paul and Catherine Veron were in Sark recently for the first of their two annual visits to assess the island’s seabird population. The visit was timed to ring the chicks of Herring and Greater Black-backed Gulls and the couple will return in July to ring Lesser Black-backed Gull chicks that breed a little later. The work is part of a long-term study into seabird numbers around the Channel Islands…
This week sees the return of the archaeology team from Oxford University led by Sir Barry Cunliffe as they continue their investigations into Sark’s fascinating ancient history. This is the tenth season that the team have been here and to celebrate their decade of digging an exhibition of the artwork inspired by their excavations and finds has been mounted at the Sark Visitor Centre. Local artist Rosanne Guille, who studied…
Divers exploring the rocky reefs around Sark this month came across a very rare sea slug. The animal, just two inches long, was found at L’Etac, the islet off the south coast of Little Sark best known for its puffins. Sea slugs, known more correctly as nudibranchs, are often very colourful, unlike their land counterparts, making them popular with divers particularly underwater photographers. Most only have scientific names. This one,…
Some of Sark’s children enjoyed a night camping out at the beginning of August. The event was organised by the Sark Watch wildlife group and was based at the Forest School site within the grounds of the Seigneurie. Once the tents were pitched there were games on a natural history theme then after sunset local wildlife expert Penny Prevel led the group on a bat-watching walk. Penny explained how bats…
If you’d like to see Sark’s most charismatic seabirds, the puffins, you need to get your skates on as the breeding season will soon be over. The puffins, along with their relatives the guillemots and razorbills, only come ashore for as long as it takes to rear their single chicks. At the moment all are busy hunting for sand eels and other small fish to feed their growing youngsters. All…
Spring and autumn are always good times to be in Sark for anyone interested in birds as dozens of species stop by on migration. There are plenty of wheatears around at the moment and twice in the last couple of days I’ve caught a fleeting glimpse of a ring ouzel on the Gouliot Headland, a bird similar to a black bird but with a crescent of white on its breast….
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Clos de L’Ecluse wing
March 2, 2015