Disturbance

After returning from Cape Town I jumped back into fieldwork. I visited the Lookout colony first which was a disappointing experience. One nest marker has been removed/lost, one nest is not in use, and there were no new nest scrapings. Even more upsetting was my check-up on the goose nest, only 4 eggs remain. Something has been taking eggs, whether it is dogs or perhaps mongoose I can’t be sure, but it highlights the problem of human and canine disturbance in this area. It is going to be interesting to monitor this colony and determine how successful they will be. How many eggs and chicks are going to survive the influx of holiday makers and their pets?