15.16 = Exciting Egg Sighting time!

On Saturday afternoon, our mother puffin laid her egg!

I first saw the egg on Saturday evening, and watched  a tender scene between the two parent birds, Tammy and Norie.  One was incubating (I assumed the female), when the other arrived in the burrow.  She revealed the egg to her mate, who got some nest material and they shared a "kiss."  After half an hour or so, the male edged his way in so to take his turn on the egg.

This morning, I received a call from a man from Lerwick who had actually watched the egg being laid, live on the internet!  He said the puffin raised her head four times, then a shudder went down her body and she fanned her tail feathers.  He said it was like she was taking deep breaths (no wonder with an egg that size!).  After three or four of these movements, out came the egg at 15.16.

We hope our partners at Promote Shetland will be putting the footage onto YouTube.  So, we'll let you know when that happens.

Puffins have around a forty day incubation period, so all eyes will be on the cameras around 16June.

This is all very exciting for our puffin watchers.  However, it was a sadder affair on the eastern side of Sumburgh Head.  Martin Heubeck, who monitors the seabirds for Aberdeen University/SOTEAG, reported that a number of guillemots had lost their eggs over the weekend.  We've had strong southeasterly winds which built up quite a swell.  Hopefully, the birds will be in good enough condition to relay. To be in good enough condition, they have to have had a good diet.  It takes around twelve days before they are able to lay again so we'll be keeping our fingers crossed for them.

It is all go here at Sumburgh Head, so do get down for a visit or at least to a seabird colony somewhere near you!

Come back soon!