I was hoping that this post about counting the seabird colony at Marwick would have been a bit more positive ALAS not. Back in June, Lorna and I counted the Marwick Head colony and at the time our feeling was of lower numbers than previously obtained during Seabird 2000. The results proved our feelings to be correct with 64% decline in Kittiwakes (down from 3,761 apparently occupied nests to only 1,372), 54% decline in Guillemots (down from 26,469inds to 12,421inds!), Razorbill showed a smaller decline of 7% with 626inds recorded while Fulmar numbers increased by 7% to 455 apparently occupied sites. Puffin were present in small numbers only with 28 inds recorded on the day and the small colony of Herring Gulls held 15 territories. The colony as a whole has declined by over 50% since Seabird 2000 survey in 1999. I wonder what the cliffs will look like in 12 years time from now? Productivity around the seabird colonies of Orkney has been poor in recent years. 2011 is no exception with Kittiwakes, Guillemots and Razorbills suffering the most. A few chicks of these species may have fledged but it will certainly be the lucky few.
RSPB seabird researchers on Orkney & Shetland are fitting small GPS units onto Shag, Fulmar, Guillemot, Razorbill & Kittiwakes in an attempt to find out more about these birds when they are off foraging in the Atlantic or indeed North Sea. Some initial results have been staggering read more information below from a recent press release from Leinna Padgett.
Pioneering seabird project reveals surprising resultsEarly findings shed new light on feeding habits of Scotland’s seabirds - Initial findings of a ground-breaking project that tracks Scotland’s seabirds using technology akin to car ‘sat-navs’ reveal some seabirds are flying much further for food than scientists had previously thought. The Future of the Atlantic Marine Environment (FAME) project, which tracks guillemots, kittiwakes, and other species in an attempt to identify crucial at-sea locations where birds feed to ensure they are adequately protected, tracked several birds from the northern isles looking for food vast distances from the colony, while others stayed closer to home. This information comes as early reports of seabird breeding performance on RSPB Scotland’s reserves in the northern isles of Orkney and Shetland - together home to some of Scotland’s most important “seabird cities”- indicate continuing problems for some of the country’s internationally important seabird populations. FAME project data showed one guillemot from Fair Isle (between Orkney and Shetland) travelled as far south as the waters off Dundee in search of sandeels and other small fish: an epic 350km journey for a species that was previously thought to forage almost entirely in waters closer to home during the breeding season.In an even more intriguing twist, individuals of the same species – from colonies just 9 kilometres apart - have been found to feed in completely different locations. One razorbill, tracked at the start of June from Swona in Orkney, made about 12 foraging trips over 3 days, all within 31km of its nest. Another razorbill, tracked from Muckle Skerry went on only 2 feeding trips over 60 hours, but flew up to 144km from the colony in search of food.
Commenting on the initial data, Rory Crawford, RSPB Scotland Seabird Policy Officer said:
" Although it is still early days for this project, we are already seeing some fascinating outcomes. While some birds are displaying what we think of as more characteristic feeding habits - staying nearer their colonies to feed during the breeding season - other birds are travelling huge distances in search of food. By carrying out this tracking work, we hope to discover whether birds having to travel further to find food is contributing to the dramatic declines we’ve seen.
"What is most important is that this information is used to improve conservation measures for our seabird colonies. These birds need vastly improved protection at sea if they are to have any hope of weathering this storm of decline.”
The FAME project is a transnational partnership between RSPB, and BirdLife International partner organisations in France, Portugal, Spain and Ireland, as well as the University of Minho in Portugal and WavEC. It is aimed at supporting informed decision-making in the marine environment along Europe’s Atlantic seaboard and is funded 65% by the European Regional Development Fund Atlantic Area Transnational Programme.