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The Rathlin colony is really busy with lots of seabird noise and smells! Razorbills have been fledging in large numbers. We were lucky enough to see one chick jumping off the cliff onto the rocks below, fluttering its wings and diving into the water where it met its parent and swam away. Both razorbills and guillemots have produced plenty of chicks this year and 'pufflings' (fledgling puffins) have also been spotted at the mouths of their burrows. All fledglings wait for darkness to fall before taking to the waves. They do this to avoid predators such as large gulls and ravens.

Kittiwake chicks here have some way to go before they will fledge. They spend around 40 days at the nest and even come back after taking their first few flights. Most chicks are still quite small and fluffy. Some are being taken by predators but there is no evidence of starvation which was a big problem for these birds last year. I'm hoping the majority fledge safely this year. 

More soon!  Lorraine 

Hello!

What a busy few weeks I have had in June, finally things are slowing down as the razorbill and guillemot chicks finish fledging. Just thought I should give you all an update on this fantastic colony. 

Firstly, for a comparison to the Shetland update last month, the first razorbill and guillemot chicks at Bempton were spotted around 29 May, I remember spotting my first razorbill chick, it was very emotional!  No matter how many chicks I see I still can't help saying 'aah' every time!  Nearly all the razorbill and guillemot chicks have now succesfully fledged with just a few late breeders left, most of the adult birds have also gone with just a few females remaining.  I thought I would share a few of my favourite chick photos that I have taken whilst out surveying.  

Top left: a pair of razorbills feeding their chick which successfully fledged around the 20 June.  Top right: This is my favourite photo of an extremely chilled guillemot chick and another successful fledgling venturing out to sea on 24 June.  Bottom: guillemot chick that is very close to fledging, it has developed the black eye stripe which indicates that it is over 12 days old, the earliest the chicks start fledging is at 15 days old, this chick was quite happy on it's ledge not leaving until it was around 22 days old, making the jump on the 22 June.

We think the puffins have done ok this season, although we do not monitor them as we do for other species as the nest sites are inaccessible.  Locals have said that it feels like there are more around this year than in previous years. Below is the only glimpse that I have had this season of a puffin chick - it is quite large so I think it must have been close to fledging.

The kittiwakes and gannets are still in full swing.  The first kittiwake chicks were seen around the 6 June, and started fledging in the past week.  Here is a photo of a kittiwake chick that is a few days old asking for some food! 

We have not seen any obvious signs of starvation i.e. dead chicks in nest which has been seen in previous years, however we are noticing a large percentage of kittiwake chicks being left unattended at the nest, which might be an indication of poor food supply and the adults having to decide between guarding their chick and finding food.  A couple of weeks ago myself and a colleague satellite tagged five kittiwakes to see if we could get some critical information about where the birds at Flamborough Head are going to feed.  Unfortunately we lost four of the tags, but one we did recover showed us some amazing information.  The kittiwake had flown for four hours and covered 150km to reach an area called Dogger Bank to feed, it then spent over an hour and twenty minutes feeding in a two km area, unfortunately the tag then failed.  This information is another indication that local food supply might be low and that birds are having to travel further to get food.  This work is fascinating and gives us a real understanding about what might be happening with food supplies.  Next year we hope to do more of this work to try and build a thorough picture about where the birds are having to go to gather food to feed their young.

Onto the splendid gannets, here are a couple of my favourite photos:

This chick is a week or two old, it has not developed the fluffy white down that the bird below has.  The bird in the photo below is about four weeks old.  The gannets are doing very well again this year with a very low loss of chicks.  The first gannet chicks should be fledging in the first couple of weeks of August.

And last, but most definitely not least are the herring gulls.  The herring gulls at this site are in decline.  This they seem to have done quite well.  Here is a great photo of an adult and it's two healthy chicks.

Well, that was a long entry, hope you have enjoyed my piccies!  It's a great place to be when the breeding season is in full swing, well worth a visit.  I always try to imagine the amount of fish that must be consumed by a colony of this size, let's hope the food supply continues so that these amazing birds can be enjoyed for years to come.

Guillemots are great.  They spend the winter at sea, returning to shore for the breeding season.  They are well adapted for life at sea, and able to dive to great depths to feed.  They've had their share of trouble in recent years, what with the lack of sandeels to feed their chick on and also not having enough food to sustain them in good health through winter.  Add to the food shortage is the threat of being attacked by aerial predators such as skuas or large gulls. They are, however, one of natures wee toughies. Last night though, I witnessed a few vulnerable wee souls taking to the sea  - jumplings. 

 "Jumplings" is the name given to the chicks as they depart the colony.  Simon King and his wife and fellow broadcaster Marguerite were at Sumburgh Head to film the action.  They were filming the guillemots for a sequence in "Shetland Diaries with Simon King" to be broadcast 2010.  I've a dreadful habit of yapping the whole time, so I stayed well away at the other end of the reserve.  You may have seen some of Sumbrugh Head's jumplings on "Killer Whales in the UK?" presented by Gordon Buchanan.  It was broadcast three times on BBC2 in 2008.  They used the 1980s pop hit "Jump" (can't remember who it was by - Van Halen or Aerosmith maybe?) as a theme tune. 

At around 9pm, I noticed I'd missed my first jumpling jump!  On the surface of the sea was an adult guillemot (it is always the male which accompanies the chick) with it's three week old chick by its side.  Together they started paddling on the flat calm sea, heading south east.  I continued scanning the stack and cliffs, which are crammed with thousands of guillemots.  At the base of the stack was a looming presence of a great black-backed gull.  Now and then, a herring gull would land in the colony often to be shooed away by daggerlike beaks.  The fog was gently lifting and falling, adding to the midsummer atmosphere that is so special to Shetland.  After a while, I spotted an adult bird, carefully leading its chick down the slope and ledges of the stack.  Five minutes passed, until the chick was almost at the waters edge a few metres above the sea.  It hesitated, then "Hop" it leapt of the edge and had it's first contact with the sea.  Immediately, the father took to its side and they too headed south east.  A moment later, I spotted a single chick all on its own in the sea paddling this way and that.  I felt anxious for it, wondering what had become of its parent who could help protect it from the omnipresent black backed gull.  I could see various birds on the water a few metres away.  The chick seemed to gather itself together and headed towards the group of birds.  I saw one with a fish swimming towards it, only to totally ignore it!  But relief came a few seconds later when another bird approached the bird and father and chick were reunited and left the reserve.

When I went home, I couldn't help but worry and wonder for the tiny balls of fluff that were now making their way towards Norway.  It is such a joy to see that the chicks have actually survived the breeding season.  There are still a large number of chicks within the colony, some incredibly small.  These younger birds are likely hatched from re-laying pairs which had lost their eggs in the two southwesterly gales earlier in the season.  It was heartening to see guillemots coming in with their single fish for their young.  Meanwhile up at the top of the cliffs, puffins were returning with beaks crammed full with sandeels. I will no doubt go up again tonight to watch the birds go.  If you have a guillemot colony near you, why not pop along and see the action for yourself? 

Cheerio

Helen