Abstract

The year 2012 marks 20 years of RSPB ownership of Ramsey Island, Pembrokeshire, while 2013 marks the 65th anniversary of the purchase of Grassholm. Ramsey is currently better known for its Red-billed Chough Pyrrhocorax pyrrhocorax population, which continues to thrive on this diverse island, but the eradication of Brown Rats Rattus norvegicus in 1999/2000 means that the island’s previously suppressed burrowing seabird populations are slowly recovering. Ramsey’s Manx Shearwater Puffinus puffinus population in particular has undergone a significant increase as a result. Grassholm supports the fourth-largest Northern Gannet Morus bassanus colony in the world. This paper describes the changes in bird populations on both islands during the period of RSPB ownership.