The birds are back, the webcams are on, the nest is ready, all that is needed now is an egg in the world’s most famous puffin burrow at our Sumburgh Head site. And we need your help to spot when it arrives!
Newton Harper, our man on the ground at Sumburgh Head, said : “Puffins have been back on the island for a few weeks now and already a returning pair appear to be settling in the burrow. The egg was laid around this time last year , so we’re urging viewers to keep their eyes open for signs that the birds are laying. The extra eyes will come in handy as we don’t want to miss any of the action.”
So if you get a spare minute or five, check out the puffincam and if you spot anything, now or at any other time in the season, get in touch! You can email us at shetland@rspb.org.uk or tweet what you've seen using #puffincam.
Check out the latest post on the Glaslyn osprey diaries to find out how the nest faired in the 60 mph winds over the weekend and what happened when a mysterious stranger turned up uninvited.
Hello. It's me again. Mr P the Bath peregrine.
I'm in a jolly mood today writing this and not just because its dry for a change, but because yesterday my first chick of the year hatched out. That's right, Chicky P popped its head into the world just as the rain stopped and the sun came out. I would show you a picture, but the RSPB guy I get to take my photos seemed reluctant to shimmy on up the church tower with his camera. So instead I've got these for you.
This is my friend Billy the cormorant. Making himself at home on one of the many tree stumps that have passed by this week.
Here I am trying to have some lunch out of the rain. If my photographer was a bit quicker you would have seen P junior to my right, still trying to get a free meal off his dad. I don't know, some kids just never grow up.
And finally, the river Avon as it gets a bit carried away. Well they say its perfect weather for ducks, but to me it's not just water off a peregrines back. I take a while longer to dry out. Meanwhile Mrs P was living the life of Riley in her cosy little nestbox.
If all that wasn't exciting enough already, we got mentioned on BBC news, and there's even a video you can check out!
Despite a soggy start at Dove Stone, the peregrines there have been busy incubating eggs on their usual ledge in Ashway Gap quarry for the last 3 or 4 weeks. They really have proven themselves as a hardy pair by surviving the unexpected late snow, kicking it off their ledge, and the torrential rain the site has seen over the last couple of weeks. The wet weather hasn't dampened the team's spirits, which have been bolstered by the good sightings of both the male and the female between the showers.
We're expecting the chicks to make an appearance sometime between mid May and early June, and we'll keep you posted on all the action!
The Aberfoyle ospreys seem to have avoided the worst of the weather over the last couple of weeks. Out of the three osprey nests on site, one of them is occupied and the female is definitely sitting on eggs! We're not entirely sure how many she's hiding as we can't quite see into the nest, but we're expecting them to hatch at the end of May so we'll just have to wait patiently until then!
We might not be able to tell yet how many eggs she's on, but we've still managed to get some cracking shots of the pair thanks to the nest cams.