It has been very exciting here over the last couple of weeks. The birds are well and truly into the breeding season with new chicks appearing every day! Gannet, Kittiwake, Razorbill and lots of Guillemot chicks can be seen from our view points, and we have even had a couple of incredibly rare Puffling sightings!
The other morning one of our volunteers saw a Barn owl disappear into the grass, then re appear with breakfast in its talons, only to have a Kestrel arrive a few seconds later in the hope of pinching the owls catch. As far as we are aware the owl won and went off to enjoy their hard earned meal in peace.
(Photo by Chrys Mellor)
This time of year is also great to see the younger Gannets hanging around in a ‘club’ hoping to find themselves a mate and a nest. When leaving the nest a Gannet chick is almost completely covered in dark feathers. It is not until they are 5 years old that their plumage is that of an adult. Because of this it is fairly easy for us to have a guess at the age of a gannet by how many dark feather it has. Below is a picture of a couple of what we think are 3 year old gannets.
(Photo by Sophia Jackson)
There are now Gannet chicks to be seen all over the place! Just this morning I saw chicks from Staple, Bartlett and Jubilee. Below is a lovely picture sent in by a visitor last week of a very fluffy relaxed looking chick.
(Photo by Ruth Wilson)
Guillemot chicks are also here there and everywhere, and can be seen when the adult is shuffling around or when they change over. Here is a picture of a chick we believe to be around 2 weeks old.
Kittiwake chicks are also starting to appear; they are all quite small at the moment but can be seen from most of the viewpoints with a little patience.
In the last recent sightings blog we mentioned that we thought puffins were incubating eggs. On Sunday 31st May the first Puffling sighting of the year was witnessed by a few very excitable volunteers and visitors! It is very rare to get a glimpse of these little chicks and even more so to get footage! A very patient visitor spent a lot of time early in the morning over several days waiting to capture this lovely moment between the adult and the chick. Thanks to Eric Beagle for kindly letting us have this great video. Click here to check it out on our Facebook page
There was also a lot of excitement yesterday morning, when a pod of 15 bottlenose dolphins were spotted making their way South. They appeared to make a brief stop not far from Staple Newk, where they looked to be feeding before continuing on their way.
Along the nature trail there are few Drinker moths around, and we’ve seen lots of Garden Tiger Moths, Rivulet Moths and a couple sightings of Red Admiral and Large White butterflies.
Other sightings over the last couple of weeks include:
Spotted Flycatcher (28th May)
Barnacle Goose (31st May)
Great Skua (1st – 4th June)
Heron (1st May)
Oyster catch X 4 (1st June)
Glaucous Gull (5th June)
-- Becky --