The March edition of ’Geographical’ carries a positive, short article on the welcome return of Manx shearwaters to the Calf of Man .

The article outlines the 79 species of birds ringed by the wardens on the Calf of Man in 2019, including puffins, razorbills and kittiwakes.

It then focuses on the Manx Shearwater.

The introduction of ’long-tails’ on the Calf is attributed to human activity in the form of a shipwreck in 1781.

The impact of the new arrivals was to almost wipe out the breeding shearwater, which nests on the ground with eggs laid in burrows.

At the start of the millennium only 23 burrows were occupied.

In 2012, Manx National Heritage launched a project to eradicate the rats by placing traps on the Calf.

The article describes the results as ’wildly successful’. Lynsey Clague from Manx National Heritage is quoted, describing the Calf as ’one of the jewels in our crown’.

Lynsey indicates that monitoring produced an estimate 600 to 700 nesting shearwater pairs in 2019. The article ends: ’It appears that the Calf of Man is a rare example of people helping wildlife to escape the r__ race.’