This week has been really lovely one, full of getting out to sites and kicking off the survey season.
We started the week at Loch of Spiggie doing a couple of little jobs and inspecting the tern rafts. There’s some minor repairs to do on one but we’ve called in the troops and they’ll be going out in position next week. The pools and scrapes across North West marsh are nicely holding water and our breeding birds are back. Site Manage Kevin has seen Curlew, Oystercatcher and Lapwing copulating – fingers crossed they’ll be on nests soon!
Tuesday and Wednesday were spent on Mousa. We had a weather window to do our Tystie (Black Guillemot) count which meant an overnight stay so Lizzy and I took this opportunity to do some other jobs around the island. We’ve tweaked the trail slightly to keep visitors feet as dry as possible and added in a couple of trail markers. Our rope has not survived the winter so we will be replacing that as soon as we find something more weatherproof! Please ignore the tattered rope until then.
Left - Mousa broch as seen from The Mousa Boat. Right - the view from the door of Ham House on Mousa
Staying overnight and covering the whole island for the Tystie survey gave us a good chance to see what wildlife is about. I love seeing the island coming back to life after winter. The first Wheatears are back as well as plenty of Ringed Plover. A pair of Shelduck which are often on the island in early spring were at West Ham on Tuesday and the first Bonxies (Great Skua) are around. There are a good number of Shags are in the geos and we saw a number of them carrying nest material. There were plenty of seals around, including a number in East Pool that seemed to be goofing around – one was throwing seaweed around and draping it on it’s head.
Top - a pair of Tysties (Black Guillemots) Bottom - a Shag sat on the rock with some nesting material to the right hand side
As always thanks to The Mousa Boat for getting us there and back.
On Thursday Lizzy and I went across to Fetlar to do a check on all of our sites there and some bits of tidying up. It’s great to see we finally have some vegetation growth. Our sites are looking in good condition after the work and grazing. Nice to see some of the waders already on site before we do our surveys (maybe next week if the weather is good).
Mires of Funzie holding lots of water
We had hoped to do our first Puffin count of the year this morning – the weather is calm and the sun is out. The Puffins however had other ideas and there were hardly any at Sumburgh this morning! This isn’t unusual as they’re still settling back onto the cliffs after their winter at sea and we’ll just have to keep an eye on them.
What a week! I’m off to enjoy the sunshine but the recent sightings are below
Until next time
Beth
Recent sightings
Sumburgh Head Puffin, Raven, Fulmar, Kittiwake, Guillemot, Snow Bunting, Wheatear, Razorbill, Wren, Oystercatcher, Snipe, Starling, Bonxie
Loch of Spiggie Whooper Swan, Shoveler, Curlew, Lapwing, Oystercatcher, Snipe, Scaup, Green-winged Teal, Pink-footed Goose, White-fronted Goose, Black-headed Gull, Bonxie, Swallow, Arctic Skua, Pintail, Black-tailed Godwit, Hen Harrier
Mousa Fulmar, Tystie, Bonxie, Great Black-backed Gull, Wren, Starling, Meadow Pipit, Skylark, Shag, Guillemot, Puffin, Razorbill, Hooded Crow, Shelduck, Curlew, Oystercatcher, Wheatear, Red-throated Diver
Fetlar Ringed Plover, Redshank, Lapwing, Sparrowhawk, Meadow Pipit, Skylark, Teal, Mallard, Greylag Goose, Snipe
Don't forget you can sponsor a Storm Petrel nesting box to help support our work. Find out more by clicking here