Blogs

Tammie Norie is the Shetland name for our most popular seabird, the puffin. I think I've said before that Sumburgh Head is one of the most accessible seabird colonies in the country.  You can see, hear and smell a whole range of seabirds, from guillemots and shags lower down the cliffs, to kittiwakes and razorbills a bit further up, to fulmars and puffins nearer the top.  It is also a great place to watch gannets and gulls at sea or flying past, and to see both Arctic and great skuas harrying smaller seabirds. 

It is a great place for the RSPB to be able to help share the seabird experience with visitors, and communicate the importance of monitoring seabirds and safeguarding the seas.

Yesterday we were blessed with calm sunny weather, and the reserve was very busy with visitors.  Just from looking at the clothes and accessories people are wearing, you can see that seabird colonies are appealing to people of all backgrounds and interests.  Some folk are obviously serious walkers, photographers or nature enthusiasts - wearing a certain style of trouser, high quality weatherproof jackets, rigged up with backpack, poles, optical equipment or whatever.  

One lady was the most glamorous vision I have seen on the reserve, with a full length glitzy faux-fur-trimmed coat, Jaqui O style sunglasses, and amazing hair and make-up.  I wondered if she was a Hollywood celebrity.  Well no matter what the clothes and style may allude to, the expressions all reveal the same.  Everyone feels happy when watching puffins!

We had two groups of young people come to Sumburgh Head with an educaitonal aspect to their visit.  Forty were in their second year at primary school, and thirty were in their second year at University.  Linda and Rob accompanied the younger group, as a part of our Living Classrooms field teaching scheme, whilst I accompanied the University group.  We were each communicating the same messages though using different methods and language -basically - impacts of climate change, our responsibility to look after the sea and the lives dependent on it, and nature is amazing. 

Linda was in charge of environmental games, which include the PufFun game.  This game is a firm favourite with local schools and was once observed by members of the royal family (Charles and Camilla)!  The run-around game aims to educate children about the Shetland Sandeel Agreement (an agreement developed between RSPB, SNH and the Shetland Fishermen's Association to manage the local sandeel fishery which helps seabird populations) and how climate change affects the sea. 

Rob took the other group to do birdwatching. They not only get to enjoy the spectacle, but learn some about how birds have adapted to life at sea. This is all linked to A Curriculum for Excellence.  There are some children who have never had the good fortune of visiting a seabird colony, so it is most rewarding for RSPB staff to share the experience with them.  

Meanwhile, I spoke with the visiting Aberdeen University students about seabird population trends, the importance of long-term monitoring, and socio-economics relating to seabird colonies and the community (and we also spoke a little about some midsummer celebrations which were taking place in town).

Rob has been carrying on with his pufin monitoring.  At last, the puffins are bringing in sandeels so there must be chicks aplenty in the burrows, adding more to their breeding season story. It is a bit of an art to keep an eye on the puffin colony and record which birds are returning to their burrows with food.   Martin Heubeck has been doing feedwatches on the guillemots. The chicks are growing well, and being fed on sandeels of various sizes, whiting and small saithe.  The oldest chick is due to leave the colony any day now.  Happy days!

That's all for now.

Cheerio from Helen

Are our seabirds in crisis? Recent research has highlighted the worrying decline in many familiar seabird populations including kittiwakes and herring gulls. Rising sea temperatures are being blamed for changes in the plankton population which are causing food shortages at critical times. Finding a fat, calorie packed sandeel at the right time, in the right place is becoming harder.

The legislation travelling through Westminster aims to ease some of the problems seabirds face. Safeguarding and protecting the fragile marine environment is crucial if we want our seabird cities to remain.

You can stand up for seabirds and make sure the Marine Bill counts. Help right now by taking part in the latest campaign action. Click on the link to email your MP today.

PS Read more on the latest research and watch our short film on the recent successful lobby of the Westminster Parliament and listen to the thoughts, hopes and wishes of people like you who want to stand up for the marine environment.

It was mostly a day of paperwork yesterday and organising the Shetland Nature Festival events, but I thought I would share a few images with you.

There's the view of the approach by road to Sumburgh Head.

 

It's a single track road with passing places, leading up to the main car park. Here you will find information about the reserve, lighthouse, how to identify various whales and dolphins that have been recorded here, and leaflet dispensers with a trail guide and 'Seabirds of Orkney and Shetland' leaflet which helps you identify the birds you may see. The leaflet also gives local names for the birds, such as Solan for gannet, and Tystie for black guillemot.

Now, it may be difficult to believe, but you can get fantastic up-close views of puffins from your car. I stopped to take that photo whilst driving up to the office. Sumburgh Head is one of the best and most accessible places in Britain to get up close views of puffins.

This is particularly good for people who are less physically able to hike out to remote sea cliffs. I was really vexed to get a phone call from a lady from Wiltshire who had intended to come on one of our Puffin Evenings this week with her friends.

Unfortunately, due to ill health of one of the party, the ladies are unable to travel to Shetland. I was rather looking forward to meeting them, having had some communication over the last few months. I do hope they reschedule for the future. But in the meantime, if anyone can advise me on an easily accessible puffin site that is nearer to Wiltshire than Shetland I would gladly pass on information.

The third photo is the view west and north from the reserve.

 

As well as picking out the seabirds, you can see Sumburgh Airport, the wonderful award winning West Voe beach, my house, and the site where the Braer oil tanker ran ashore. The RSPB played a major role during that particular incident, such as advising on bird-related matters, co-ordinating beach searches and working with the media. I was a 16 year old schoolgirl at the time, but took a month off from my Highers studies to help with the clean-up operation.

That experience played a role in where I am today, working for the RSPB at my special Sumburgh Head. It was an interesting and emotional time, that wild windy January in 1993. At that time, the main focus of safeguarding our sea was about never allowing an oil tanker to pollute our shores again.

It was, in some ways, a simple and tangible experience that everyone could relate to - be it the vision of a shag or eider covered in oil, how the food chain would be affected, or the vile stench in the air that you could not escape.

However, the matter of climate change and the associated effects on marine life is a far more complicated concept (which I won't go into here). It is so important that the RSPB continues to raise awareness of this, and try to explain it in a scientific yet accessible way for people to relate to.

It's also so very important that we each do our bit and act as best we can to combat climate change. Go on - you know you want to! Find out what you can do.

Hello! Welcome to the Rathlin Island Seabird Centre blog.  My name is Lorraine Chivers and I am currently based at the amazing West Lighthouse – the location of the RSPB’s Seabird Centre on Rathlin Island. 
 
The Seabird Centre is amazing!  It’s amazing because it’s on the only inhabited island off Northern Ireland (with less than 100 residents); it’s amazing because it is based in an upside-down lighthouse (with the light at the bottom!); and of course it’s amazing because it gives spectacular views of hundreds of thousands of seabirds during their summer breeding season.
 
This summer I’ll be keeping a close eye on the puffins, guillemots, fulmars, razorbills and many more, as they jostle for position on the steep cliffs and sea stacks. There’s never a dull moment at the Seabird Centre – this week I was witness to a shocking altercation with a sticky end… 
 
What started out as a few prods with a sharp beak turned into a full blown vicious fight. We yelled at them to stop as we watched in horror as an egg was kicked, rolled around and left teetering precariously on the edge of the narrow ledge. They didn't listen. The blue speckled egg was kicked one last time and plummeted to the ground and smashed on the rocks. The parent flew after it and, as it's too late now for re-laying, watched its only chance of reproducing this year smashed to pieces. 
 
Fortunately, guillemots are long-lived, with a lifespan of around 24 years. There will be many more chances of breeding success for that bird in the future. Early indications suggest that may be more guillemot eggs on the ledges of the Rathlin cliffs than there were last year. I will be monitoring how successfully these birds rear their chicks as the season progresses. Over 80,000 pairs of guillemots breed here on Rathlin.
 
Keep on eye on this blog as I will be updating you each week on the seabirds and their most recent antics!

The latest count of incubating Arctic terns on Mousa is 925! This is more than double that of last year.  In years past, at this time, I've been feeling cautiously hopeful about breeding success but my hopes have been dashed when the sandeels appear to disappear and chicks starve.  But this year, I am more hopeful than ever before.  There's been such a series of poor breeding seasons, with few or any Tirrick chicks fledging on Mousa and you may have read or heard the recent articles about the effects of many poor breeding seasons on the population of various seabirds.  Tirrick is the local name for Arctic terns, taken from the sound they make as the chase off a person, sheep or any perceived threat that is too close to its nest.

This year, it appears that there are loads of fish available, so I am most optimistic.  Tom (the ferry man) has never seen such a quantity of birds feeding in the Mousa Sound for a long time, commenting that the sea is quite white with birds.  For not only are there terns but gannets are plunging (feeding on mackerel), and large groups of great black-backed gulls are congregating, feeding close to the surface (on what?  I don't know).  It is worth noting that the sea is rather an unusual colour, caused by an algal bloom.  The sea is that shade of green you see in photos of tropical shores.  This bloom has drawn in a large rare visitor to our shores, which was spotted by one of the groups on our Mousa Open Day on Saturday.  The fotunate few were delighted to get views of a basking shark - a formerly common fish in these waters, but less so in recent years.  The dorsal fin and tail fin both protrude above the sea surface, and thus can give you an idea of the size of this enormous fish.

A group of more commoner sea creature visited the sea off Sumburgh Head on Friday - killer whales!  I am pleased for the folk that saw them, but Linda (Field Teacher) and I were on Mousa at the time taking a school group around as a part of our Living Classrooms educational service.  Och well, can't be everywhere at once!  Our post of Field Teacher is quite a recent one (thanks to funding from public support, Chevron and Scottish Natural Heritage), and I am so pleased that we have Linda. Not only is she an ex-headteacher with years of teaching experience but she is also a keen diver with a broad knowledge of marine life. Linda led a rock pooling trip on our Open Day, and some of her dive buddies came along to access some deeper water. It's great for children (and adults!) to discover marine life - hermit crabs, anemones, chitons, corals, seaweeds, shrimps, starfish, brittlestars, top shells, thingimmyjigpods with bright yellow knees and a habit for hanging upside down on seaweeds...  When people are more aware and understanding of life that is in the seas around us, it leads to better appreciation and hopefully more action to help conserve these amazing habitats and sealife.

I hope to give you an update on what's going on with the seabirds at Sumburgh Head in the next blog, thanks to Martin Heubeck (of Aberdeen University/SOTEAG). Also, Rob will be checking puffin burrow activity this week, so I can tell you a bit about our Tammie Nories.

Cheers eenoo

Helen

Hello again from 60North.  It's all go with the seabirds here in Shetland.  Guillemots are hatching out steadily at Sumburgh Head and the kittiwakes are finally on eggs (another late breeding season from them).  Typically, seabirds are to be enjoyed by day.  However, in mid-June daylight extends late into the night so you can easily enjoy watching puffins at Sumburgh Head after supper.  In fact, you can read a newspaper outside at midnight!  We call this period of half light "Da Simmer Dim." 

Some seabirds are only to be seen in the darker hours, and so it was that last night I caught the 11pm ferry to Mousa.  It was a beautiful calm and light evening and the twice-weekly night-time ferry was packed with passengers.  Tom Jamieson, the skipper of the ferry, gave an introductory talk before setting off from the Shetland Mainland.  He advised passengers on how to behave, such as not using flash photography and being most careful where we tread. A few minutes later we stepped ashore at Mousa and proceeded on the fifteen minute walk to the 2000 year old Mousa Broch.  Before we reached the broch, we started to hear sounds coming from drystone walls and the boulder beach.   Churrrrrr-hic. Churrrrrrrr-hic.  A sound which has been described as being similar to a fairy being sick!  This was the call of Europe's smallest seabird - the storm petrel.

Mousa is a magnificent place to experience storm petrels - there are thousands breeding on the island, it is easily accessible and the atmosphere is quite awesome.   They breed all across the uninhabited island but most famously in the thirteen metre tall Iron Age broch, which has been described as "Britain's Biggest Bird Box." The upper view of a storm petrel bares some resemblance to a house martin, being of a similar size, mostly dark with a snow white rump.  Their local name "Alamooti" makes reference to their size, "Mooti" meaning "tiny."  Their size and character makes them potential prey for aerial predators, such as a great black-backed gull or great skua (bonixe), so it is safer to use the cover of darkness to return to breeding sites.

Just after midnight, we saw our first flutterings of a storm petrel as it flew around the broch.  As it got dimmer, more and more petrels arrived and some people compare the experience to watching a colony of bats.  Sometimes, you're fortunate enough to get good views as a petrel perches on the dry-stone structure before disappearing into a hole in the wall, and for a brief moment you can appreciate it's glossy plumage and delicate form.  If you step inside the broch, you also get to appreciate their gorgeous, distinctive musty smell!  Everyone had a magnificent trip -  gazing at the broch, enjoying the show.  At around 1am, we drifted back to the ferry without the need of a torch.  As well as the storm petrels, I heard the odd Arctic skua call and snipe drumming and chipping. And then I noticed that the air was filled with the song of skylarks.

 I'll tell you more about the lifestyle and conservation of Mousa's fantastic wee storm petrels in another post, but must bid you farewell for now. 

Thank you for reading this blog!

Helen

 

Martin Heubeck can often be seen perched on Sumburgh Head, peering through a telescope.  It could be said that Martin is almost as familiar a figure as lighthouse tower!  For over thirty years, he has been working for Aberdeen University/SOTEAG monitoring the fortunes of Shetland's seabirds.  It is of huge importance that we have such a long-term data set to work out the long term trends of seabirds as this can give us an insight into what is going on within the seas around us.  Part of the monitoring programme Aberdeen University/SOATEAG carry out is monitoring guillemots breeding success.  The first guillemot chick at Sumburgh Head hatched out yesterday!  I'll be updating you on the chicks fortunes as the weeks progress.

Over on Mousa, Rob (our seasonal assistant warden) has been busy counting incubating terns.  I was expecting a good number of birds, as the feeding activity around the island has been ever so busy, and reports from local fishermen say that sandeels are abundant.  In 2008, there were 400 incubating birds.  Rob did his first colony count on Tuesday and found 642 incubating birds!  We haven't got a total figure yet (he's still on Mousa as I type), but from our phone conversation this afternoon, we are looking at more than 900pairs nesting on this island. I am keeping my fingers crossed for the sandeels to remain throughout the breeding season.

 Today, we had P4 from one of the Lerwick primary schools visit SUmburgh Head as a part of our Living Classrooms field teaching programme.  As well as learning about and enjoying watching our seabirds (mainly shags, guillemots, kittiwakes, fulmars and puffins), they created a marine foodweb, measured out the lengths of the cetaceans that visit our shores, and played a migration game. It is really rewarding for us as staff to see young folk really engage with the wildlife, and ask such interesting questions.  It is worth mentioning that when I asked how many of the class of 33 had seen killer whales (orca) almost all raised their hands!  In fact three of them had watched a group of killer whales swimming by their local beach in town just last Sunday!  Where else but Shetland?

 

Well, I'll sign off  now, but  STOP PRESS - Rob has just come off Mousa ferry and called to say there is a total of 901 pairs of Arctic terns nesting, with over 2600 individuals on the island.  THat's the most in my six seasons of being a warden on Mousa.  Smiley smiley.

Cheerio for noo

Helen

We're excited by the arrival of 150 new residents on Ramsey Island. In a bid to lure puffins to breed on Ramsey again, model decoys have been deployed around the island.

Lisa Morgan from Ramsey tell us that puffin decoys are finally here and installed in suitable locations around the island! The lifelike models were delivered by the sculptor and artist, Eddie Tycer, in early May and are now deployed.

Puffins bred on Ramsey back in the 1800's but their eggs and chicks became easy prey to the rats that arrived on the island through shipwrecks. According to records puffins last bred on the island in 1894.

A century later RSPB spent four months eradicating the rats. Since 2000 we have seen an increase in Manx shearwater numbers (although a small number managed to hang on during the “rat years”) and just last year storm petrels were found breeding for the first time on Ramsey.  Puffins would complete the set.

Puffins are difficult to tempt to new breeding sites. They are sociable little  birds and prefer to see other birds already established at a site before making landfall themselves. The strategically placed decoys are our attempt to lure the puffins to that important first landing! Once ashore they will find thousands of ready made burrows waiting for them thanks to the island's rabbit population.

With our seabirds struggling around the UK restoring a species to a former breeding site is worth a shot.

Success will not come overnight and may take years. But with a large puffin population on nearby Skomer Island, (c. 8,000 pairs, the largest colony in southern Britain) it is hoped we can pinch a few!  These younger, non-breeding birds return to the colonies in late June and July so we will be keeping our eyes peeled over the coming few months!

Helen Moncrieff drops us a line from Mousa, an RSPB reserve lying about a mile east of the southern mainland of Shetland, famous for it's Iron Age broch, seals and of course seabirds.  Unlike Sumburgh Head, there isn't towering sea cliffs.  Instead there is a subtle mosaic of tidal pools, maritime heath, machair and moorland.  Being free from ground predators (except otters), it provides an ideal breeding site for Arctic terns.

Helen recently visited Mousa with the Shetland Conservation Volunteers and the Ness Under 14s football team. This is her story:

Mousa is an uninhabited island, accessible by boat. On the ferry crossing, we watched hundreds of Arctic terns (or tirricks as they are known in Shetland), feeding on sandeels in Mousa Sound.  Every now and then, an awesome aerobatic display would be performed in front of us, as an Arctic skua would chase a tern to try and steal its' fish.  This is one of my favourite summer scenes.
 
Sandeels are an important food for many of our breeding seabirds and part of a fragile marine food web.  Our researchers are looking at the connection between the warming sea temperatures and impact on sandeel numbers. But judging by the immense numbers of Arctic terns feeding in the Mousa area, and what I've been hearing from local fishermen, it looks like there are good numbers sandeels in our waters at the moment.  This makes me optimistic.

However, experience has taught me that just because it looks good at this time of year doesn't mean that we'll see many fledged young.  In 2008 for example, after a promising start not a single tern chick fledged on Mousa.  This was due to a two week period when the terns couldn't seem to find fish to feed their tiny chicks.  Here's hoping that the abundant sandeels remain through the breeding season and I'll keep you up-to-date with their story.
 
Now, what are the local young football team doing on Mousa? THey were undertaking Da Voar Redd Up.  Da Voar Redd Up translates as The Spring Clean, and every year in Shetland thousands of volunteers take to the roadsides and beaches to remove the rubbish that has accumulated.   Much of the rubbish on Mousa comes from the sea, although there is evidence of visitors who cannot be bothered to take their litter home with them. Naughty naughty!  Plastic bottles and containers made up the majority of the pollution, with netting, rope, polystyrene and stuff relating to marine industries making up the rest.  It is ever so vexing to see such rubbish, particularly with the knowledge that seabirds and sea mammals can die from being entangled in netting, and also that fulmars eat small pieces of plastic having confused them with plankton. The RSPB is grateful to all who helped, and Mousa looks all the better for it.    A tern colony had established at one area, so we will wait til after the breeding season so not to disturb the birds (whose defence strategy is to noisily attack you, dropping the occassional "bomb"), and leave their eggs open to predation by gulls and skuas.
 
We were also accompanied by the Shetland Conservation Volunteers, and our new local volunteer Rebecca.  Our job for the day was to measure out potential storm petrel habitat.  Storm petrels, known locally as Alamooties, breed in boulder beaches and scree, but also in man made structures such as dry-stone dykes and even the 2000 year old Mousa Broch!  Our task was to measure the walls and record the collapsed sections.  It was a case of many hands make light work, and we really appreciate the help we get from the Volunteers.  I was rather delighted as I heard my first storm petrels of 2009.  The late Bobby Tulloch compared their churring call to the sound of "a fairy being sick!"  I look forwards immensley to going on a special night trip to Mousa to see Britain's smallest seabird returning to the broch - Britains biggest bird box.

There is never a dull moment at a seabird colony, be it the drama of a skua chasing a tern or the tranquility of watching a kittiwakes in the evening light.  Do try and visit a seabird colony as soon as you can - nature is good for you!
 
 

Hello

Over the past week or so the kittiwakes have been busy nest building.  It's an absolutely amazing sight with thousands of birds flying all around your head collecting mud and grass from the cliff tops and ponds on the headland.  The noise is phenomenal!  Spotted quite a few eggs this week, and so hope to get the monitoring started next week.

The guillemot and razorbill monitoring is in full swing.  I have been out watching the birds looking for eggs whilst battling the wind and on Friday I saw my first razorbill chick!  It's a really fantastic feeling seeing the first chick, they are so tiny and vunerable, from then on I have seen more razorbill chicks my first guillemot chicks, it really lifts your spirits and momentarily you forget about the wind and the cold!

The next few weeks are busy with everything happening at once.  Hope to update you again soon.

 

 

Hi, my name is Chris Smyth. I live in a land-locked county about 100 miles from the nearest coastline so you might wonder why I am concerned about better protection for marine wildlife and the coastal environment? My answer is that we all rely on the health of our seas, whether directly for our livelihoods or because of the wider environmental role that our sea plays. Having a healthy marine environment that is abundant, encourages biodiversity and sustains vast ecosystems is in everybody’s interests.

I went along to Westminster yesterday to lobby my MP to strengthen the Marine Bill that is currently going through Parliament.

The main objective of the day was to inform our MPs that the wording of the Marine Bill doesn’t currently offer effective protection for marine wildlife and the coastal environment, and to encourage them to support amendments to the bill when it is discussed in the House of Commons.
 
The day began at Methodist Central Hall, which is just off Parliament Square. People came from all over the country to represent their various constituencies. As we arrived we were given briefing papers outlining the weaknesses within the Marine Bill as it stands and the recommendations we should make to our respective MPs to make the bill stronger.
 
Before departing for the Houses of Parliament we heard some inspirational speeches and rallied outside the hall in preparation for the walk through the busy Westminster streets.

It was the first time I had ever lobbied and as we walked, carrying placards, I was really unsure of what to expect and quite nervous that I might not know enough to debate with my MP. When we arrived at the central lobby in the Palace of Westminster we filled in a green card to request to see our MPs. After a brief wait, my MP’s name was called and it was time to make my case.

I was a bit disappointed to hear that my MP was unable to see me in person, as he was in a meeting, but I had a very friendly and easy discussion with the MP’s assistant.

Despite my fears, I actually found the experience very collaborative and not nearly as scary as I thought it might be. The MP’s assistant said that the MP wasn’t aware of our concerns and that it was very useful for us to highlight them. She wrote down the key points and promised that my MP would write to me with a response. I left Westminster feeling that it had been a useful and very positive experience.

If you want to get involved in the future then see the 'How you can help' section at the top of the Safeguard our sea life page.

They're noisy, smelly and bustling with activity 24/7.

Seabird cities are among the most evocative wildlife spectacles in the UK. Whether walking among clifftop colonies on the Farnes, ducking divebombing skuas on the Shetlands, or gawping at gannets on Bempton Cliffs - these are experiences you'll never forget.

Our coasts and seas not only support millions of seabirds, they're also home to playful dolphins, giant basking sharks, starfish, seahorses and seals.

You'd expect these remarkable treasures to enjoy protection at least equal to the best of our onshore wildlife. Far from it. In a deplorable demonstration of 'out of sight, out of mind', the UK has a paltry three marine nature reserves - Lundy, Skomer and Strangford Lough.

Thankfully we now have an unprecedented opportunity to correct this abysmal state of affairs.

And you can help us. Tomorrow we'll be at Westminster, lobbying MPs to ensure that the UK Marine and Coastal Access Bill does the job it needs to.

You're very welcome to join us, we'd love to see you there. Come along and help us make a little bit of maritime history.

Or if you can't make it in person, you can write to your MP telling him or her why our marine wildlife matters to you.

Remember, all those puffins and porpoises can't speak up for themselves.

Hello!

Great news, two pairs of gannets in our monitoring plots already have chicks!  The gannet monitoring is well underway, most pairs have an egg and from now on more and more chicks will hatch each day.

Guillemots and razorbills have also started laying eggs and are being spotted by visitors and volunteers.  Monitoring of these plots started this week and will continue through until the chicks fledge at the end of June/beginning of July.

Myself and a couple of volunteers attempted to count the whole puffin colony a week or so ago, but unfortunately once we had started there were no puffins to be seen!  Luckily they hadn't disappeared completely, but had just flown out to sea which is normal before they start breeding.  Since the attempted count there have been lots of puffins spotted from the viewpoints on the reserve. 

Anyway back to work for me, very busy time setting up the monitoring plots and arranging volunteers to come and help on the project.  Look forward to updating you all next week once more of the monitoring is underway.

Hello!

Welcome to the RSPB Bempton Cliffs reserve on Flamborough Head, I am Ruth Porter the Seabird Research Officer at this site. 

Flamborough Head and Bempton Cliffs is an amazing site for it’s geology, vegetation and of course it’s wildlife.  It is designated as a SSSI, SPA, SAC, Heritage Site and a European Marine Site.

The site is extremely important for seabirds and is home each spring and summer to over 59,000 guillemots, 37,000 pairs of kittiwake, 14,500 razorbills, 6,000 pairs of gannet, 900 puffins, 800 pairs of fulmar and 500 pairs of herring gull.  

The season is just getting started and thousands of kittiwakes, guillemots and razorbills, are returning to the cliffs, creating an amazing and unique sound and smell!  The air is full with seabirds everywhere that you look.  If you are lucky you will see a puffin, at this time of year they still spend time at sea before setting up their nests in cracks and crevices in the cliff face.

The gannet colony at Bempton Cliffs is England’s only gannetry and is Britain’s largest mainland nesting site for this species.  These stunning birds are the first seabird to start breeding at this site and many of the birds already have eggs. 

This season me and a team of keen volunteers will be collecting critical information about how healthy the seabird populations are, how many chicks they are raising and which fish they are bringing in to feed their young and where they are going to feed out at sea.  This information is very important and will help to protect seabirds in the future.

Keep on eye on this blog as I will be updating you each week on the seabirds and the work we are doing.

Hello!

Welcome to the Seabird blog! I am going to be keeping you updated with our seabirds on our Sumburgh Head and Mousa reserves. These reserves are situated at the southern end of the Shetland Isles. Mousa is a small uninhabited island lying across the line of 60 degrees North, famous for its 2,000 year-old broch (an Iron Age stone-built tower).

The seabirds I'll be telling you about that breed on Mousa include great and Arctic skuas, Arctic terns, black guillemots and storm petrels. Sumburgh Head is a headland at the southern tip of mainland Shetland. Our Shetland Office is situated there, in a lighthouse keeper's cottage. It is home to many breeding seabirds, including shags, guillemots, kittiwakes, razorbills, fulmars and (the star of the show) puffins.

This time of year is perhaps my favourite, as I get to see old feathered friends returning and have a few surprises too. Guillemots and kittiwakes have been in attendance for a few weeks now. Shags are looking very handsome with their crests and glossy green plumage. Last Wednesday at 5 pm, there were no puffins on the cliffs. However, at 7 pm there were hundreds!

On Sunday, I popped up to Sumburgh Head and found some birdwatchers focusing on the headland to the west of the reserve (Fitful Head, where the Braer ran aground in 1993). To my great surprise, they were watching a white-tailed eagle which had flown north from Fair Isle! I managed to watch it for a minute or two before it disappeared behind a hill. A rather serendipitous moment! I'll tell you more about that individual bird another time.

We had a first trip of the year to Mousa on Easter Monday. On the 10-minute ferry crossing, we saw red-throated divers and black guillemots on the sea. On Mousa, there were already half a dozen great skuas (we call them bonxies in Shetland), though it is still a little early to see their smaller cousin the Arctic skua.

Before I go, I better quickly introduce myself. My name is Helen Moncrieff and I am the South Shetland Warden. Our Shetland Team are - Rob Fray (seasonal Assistant Warden), Linda Davis (Field Teacher), Malcie Smith and Martha Devine (North Shetland Wardens), Pete Ellis (Shetland Area Manager) and Jenny Sutherland (Administrator), and our volunteers. I look forward to sharing our news with you.