Since the king eider deigned to visit our reserve earlier this week, we've had a few other, less royal, ducks checking out the cliffs. A group of seven eider were seen paddling southwards on Wednesday and then yesterday there was a flurry of activity when two long-tailed ducks were spotted by one of our volunteers just off Bartlett Nab. Those who rushed down to see them needn't have bothered though because the pair were obviously making a day of it down at the base of the cliffs. They stayed from mid-morning to mid-afternoon and delighted many of our visitors.
Shags have been rather ubiquitous of late too, with small groups of four and seven having been observed on the water near Staple Newk in the past few days. This morning I also saw two flying in a southerly direction whilst I was carrying out some gannet monitoring. For those who get confused easily (like me!), shags can be distinguished from the similar cormorant by their steep foreheads and smaller, slimmer bodies. We’re actually quite lucky that a small number choose to nest here each year, as most of the UK population is found at fewer than 10 sites.
Although the puffins are now on their way out, we’ve had a large number of sightings in the past few days. It’s hit and miss but if you’re patient then you might just be lucky. As well as seeing the shags this morning I also saw a raft of 11 puffins in the water at Staple Newk and 5 puffins on the cliff from New Roll Up. The quail also made themselves known in the fields next to the cliff top path and the fledgling tree sparrows on the visitor centre roof made me and a number of other visitors smile.
Rachael Tulloch (Warden Intern, RSPB Fairburn Ings)