Bird species photos taken at Lihoumel sent to conservation project

In March 2021, a wildlife camera was set up to capture time-lapse photos at Lihoumel, the island to the west of Lihou, to observe a colony of shags.

These images are now available on the Seabirdwatch Zooniverse, a citizen science website where members of the public can view seabirds from around the world and help identify different birds, chicks and eggs. This helps scientists to better understand breeding success, timing and causes of mortality.

‘It’s fantastic to see the images being published as part of this international programme,’ said natural environment officer Emily Coule,

‘Using cameras is a clever and cost-effective way of improving our understanding of seabirds while avoiding causing disturbance to wildlife. These photos can help researchers in several areas, and also allows the public to view otherwise unseen parts of our environment.’

Seabirdwatch is a project led a project led by Oxford University and with research partners from all cross the north Atlantic.

Images are collated from this and other locations to better understand seabirds, which provide an indication of the health of the wider marine ecosystem. Lihou Island is a designated Ramsar Site, an internationally important wetland and was given this designation partly due to the colony of shags that live there.

Guernsey and Herm together support more than 1% of the national population of European shags.

Seabird populations are the most threatened group of birds globally and shags are on the RSPB’s red list – which identifies the species in most urgent need of help.

While feeding at sea they are vulnerable to increasingly frequent storms, pollution and pressure on their food sources. Their nest sites on land can be impacted by invasive predators, habitat destruction and human disturbance.

• Find out more at seabirdwatch.org