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Vol. 10 (2): November 2007 |
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Forty days on PsathuraGiorgos Catsadorakis*
Psathoura is the northernmost isle of the National Marine Park of Alonnisos-Northern Sporades, Greece. It lies 27 nautical miles away from Patitiri on Alonnisos Island, the closest sizable settlement. It is a flat, presently uninhabited, piece of land with a maximum height of 17m asl. and an area of ca 78ha, the only one in the archipelago consisting entirely of rocks of volcanic origin. The sea extending to its north had for many years been training waters for the bomber crews of the Greek air force and navy warships as well. The lighthouse on the north part of the island has warned sailors since 1895 about these dangerous waters, full of rocky shallows that have been the cause of numerous shipwrecks. Lighthouse-keepers lived permanently in the attached building up until the late 1980s, while today it is used by the officers of the Lighthouse Service who spend some days here from time to time, doing maintenance works for the beacon and the other installations. In 2004 I visited the island while participating in a country-wide survey for Eleonora’s Falcons organized by the Hellenic Ornithological Society (HOS). I discovered then on the rocky coastal cliffs a number of nests of the Mediterranean Shag Phalacrocorax aristotelis desmarestii, a seabird subspecies whose nesting colonies are scattered all over the Aegean Sea but whose breeding ecology has been very poorly studied. As soon as I discovered the existence of the well-maintained lighthouse, the idea struck me: to spend a couple of months in the island’s solitude, to study the shags, to experience the winter isolation, and to look better inside myself, undisturbed by the daily routines. My vision materialized in spring 2007. The preparations lasted some weeks and were supported financially, materially and morally by the three environmental NGOs to which I am most closely related: WWF Greece, the HOS and MOm. A number of enterprises and individuals offered technical assistance and donated necessary equipment, mainly for the setting up of a satellite antenna to ensure an Internet connection. I reached the island at the beginning of March on ‘Odyssey’, the research caique of MOm. From Alonnisos I had collected provisions to last the first twenty days. Immediately after the six people who escorted me there had left, I realized I was alone, in paradise. The most numerous inhabitants of paradise were lizards, rats, wild-rabbits, Yellow-legged Gulls and Shags. Passing through paradise were thousands of migratory birds that were flying continuously unseen overhead, but flooded every corner and shrub of the island when pinned down by storms and strong northerly winds. Beyond my personal tasks – concentration, re-evaluation, contemplation – I had to pursue three main research objectives: a. locate and monitor as many Shag nests as possible, b. monitor and assess the foraging activities of Shags in the marine areas around the island, c. count migratory birds along a transect line traversing the island from north to south. My fourth task, a communications one, was to daily update the blog I had created (www.lifeatfaros.blogspot.com) with texts and photos to provide a live report of what was going on in this remote stretch of the Aegean. My aim had been to sensitize as many people as possible, especially the young, and provide them with hints of the beauty and the thrill of being a wildlife researcher. Naturally, there was also the daily effort to keep on discovering the island – 40 days are not enough at all to explore a 78 ha island, to inventory birds, animals and plants, and fulfill the daily practicalities. The venture itself proved very attractive to the mass media and captured the interest of the public, so that the blog also became a big success. I gave many radio interviews, while two TV programs visited me on the island as well as two journalists for an extensive article in a weekly magazine. I do not really know how much of the beauty I experienced I was able to transfer to the outside world. The invigorating feeling of isolation in nature – which has been used as a means of achieving self-balance in many civilizations – is not easy to convey. It must be experienced. Photographs help, but senses other than sight are missing, and they are frequently more decisive and valuable for exploring oneself. The feel of salt wind on the face, the smell of salt on the stones and of the nest of the Shag, the fragrance of sea daffodils, the humidity of dusks and dawns, the touch of the basaltic rocks, the fierce whistling of the 10 Beaufort wind on the lighthouse-tower walls, the immenseness of the starry sky above that no camera can capture, the unceasing music of the waves beating the coastal cliffs and forming a magic background to any instant. I was lucky enough to see over 70 different bird species; among them dozens of Marsh Harriers (Circus aeruginosus) and over 20 (to 60) of the rare Pallid Harriers (Circus macrourus), both males and females. I enjoyed many times the courtship flights and games of a pair of Peregrine Falcons around the lighthouse tower. I was lucky to discover over 20 active nests of the Shag, to see and touch their eggs and young, to be threatened by the cornered parents at the nest, to be allowed to photograph them; to have seen them fishing in groups of 10-15, along with hundreds of Mediterranean Shearwaters soaring over a group of dolphins chasing fish-shoals very close to the coastline. I was also privileged enough to be in the right place at the right time – the roof of the lighthouse – to enjoy the visit of an immature monk seal that gave me the opportunity to capture it in a few photos. I was lucky enough to stay for 16 days totally cut-off due to stormy seas and strong winds, and to know this strange kind of feeling which the islanders know very well, but not we who live on the mainland. Finally, I was lucky because during the last three days, circumstances allowed my wife and my 28-month-old son to visit me on the island and share a few of my experiences.
A few basic conclusions of the study of the Shag: On 60-70% of occasions the birds fish alone, in 15-20% in twos and less frequently in groups of 3-15. Half of the time they fish less than 100m off the coast. There were 14-16 active nests on Psathoura and 8-10 nests on Psathonisi or Myiga (a 4.5ha islet, 1200m to the south of Psathoura). In total, 50 adult birds and 5-6 immatures were present. Average clutch size was 1.8 eggs, but a figure closer to 2-2.1 would be more realistic because some nests suffered depredation after the laying of the first egg. On average, the first egg-laying date was, for 2007, the 26th of February ± 16 days. Breeding success was rather low, with only 1.1 young fledgling per nest. The remaining scientific data gathered, on the phenology of bird migration and the other wildlife of the island are not negligible, but what was invaluable to me was this life experience as a whole, as well as the satisfaction I gained from the close collaboration of the three NGOs in this effort, and the feedback of a multitude of known and unknown friends in cyberspace.
* Dr Giorgos Catsadorakis (48) is a conservation biologist and environmental interpretation specialist. |
Copyright © 2007 Giorgos Catsadorakis, The Monachus Guardian. All Rights Reserved |
