It's been a nervous time for the seabird monitoring team, scouring the cliff tops and wondering how the terrible early spring weather had affected the colony. But the news from the boys on the edge is all good. Here's the latest from Mike:
We have eggs! Just when some people were starting to wonder if there was going to be a breeding season this year, the team have started spotting seabird eggs on the cliffs at Bempton.
Last week one of our gannet monitoring plots had 22 eggs out of 50 nests and we spotted two guillemot eggs on the cliffs at Flamborough.
Finally, on Bank Holiday Monday (we’re that keen on seabirds) the first guillemot egg was spotted on the reserve at Bempton. If there’s one there must be a few more we can’t see on the cliff face – with more to come. It can’t be long until we’re seeing razorbill and kittiwake too.
These eggs illustrate the different ways that our breeding seabirds have adapted to the cliff environment where they breed. Gannets and guillemots both lay a single egg. The gannets lay in a nest and the egg is, well, egg shaped. The guillemots lay theirs directly onto a small ledge and the egg is conical so that if it gets kicked or knocked it rolls in a circle rather than off the cliff. Nature is a brilliant designer!
Tom's photo of guillemot egg No.1.
Mike counting on the cliff tops