When looking to impress someone with the migratory exploits of birds, swallows and Arctic terms are probably the first two choices. Spare a thought, however, for the Manx shearwater, a brown seabird about the size of a common gull. These burrow-nesting birds commute between the UK and the east coast of South America every year, spending almost all their time at sea. Unlike swallows, which visit our barns, and Arctic terns, which gather at noisy and impressive breeding colonies, the Manx shearwater is a creature of the night. Adults enter their burrows under cover of darkness, to avoid the attentions of thieving or even predatory gulls.
Each autumn, after spending two months underground, young birds will be leaving remote places, such as the island of Bardsey (Ynys Enlli) and heading…
