It's always a good day at the office when we get to release seabirds back into the wild. Yesterday was twice as good because Whitby Wildlife Rescue brought a juvenile gannet and a puffin that they'd been caring for but that were now ready to be returned to the cliffs.
Alex with Bempton Cliffs volunteer, Allan Dawson
Alex Farmer has run the charity for the past seven years after leaving her job in teaching. During that time the annual number of call-outs to wildlife in need has rocketed from 300 to 1200 last year. This year, she expects to have to deal with 2000 individual birds and animals. These are mainly seabirds but also game birds and birds of prey. She's also currently caring for several hedgehogs, a badger and a fox cub. Most of the injuries are the result of accidents with cars but there are also problems that arise from habitat destruction.
But today's was all about good news as Electra the puffin and Big Baby the gannet headed home.
As always, it was the puffin that stole the show. - especially as she peeped out of her 'space capsule' carrying box. She had been at the sanctuary for three weeks and was so emaciated when she arrived that she couldn't even lift her head. But 21 days and several bags of whitebait later (the fishmongers in Whitby order extra supplies for Alex and her residents), Electra is fighting fit.
It's around half a mile from the Seabird Centre to Staple Newk and carrying a huge cage with around 3Kg of gannet in it was tiring work. But then, Big Baby had been eating around 12 whole sardines a day or a little less if Herring and Mackerel were on the menu. Allan and Alex were able to take a bit of a breather as members of the public stopped to find out what was going on.
It took Big Baby a couple of moments to get his act together but he was soon away to join the colony once he got his bearings. Alex said that as he'd been getting stronger he'd been getting more agressive and was definitely competitive enough to fend for himself . He couldn't have been more different from the disheveled bird that arrived at the Sanctuary in November, so weak he had to be hand fed.
Then it was Electra's turn. And before we could get our cameras to click, she was off. So this is the one photo that we managed to get - but it really captures her joy to be back home. If she could have shouted 'Whoopee!' she would have.
Life on the cliffs never fails to surprise us. While we were out near the heart of the gannet colony we spotted an egg right on the top of the cliffs. It's unusual to see one in such an exposed position and on what appears to be a makeshift nest. Rest assured we'll be keeping a close eye on it.
It costs around £5 a day to feed a poorly gannet and about £3 to care for a puffin. If you'd like to support the work of Whitby Wildlife Sanctuary, which is run entirely by volunteers, visit their website http://www.whitbywildlife.co.uk