Chick Fest!

Hiya! First Guillemot chicks (Sian Richards) 

Shag with small young (Bex Outram) 

Explain please? Razorbill egg under Eider!! (Bex Outram)

Wednesday 23rd May comments: The weather appears to have ‘terned’ the corner (sorry for the bad pun). However we’re experiencing some mild settled weather with sunshine – just what the seabirds ordered. The visitors are enjoying their time on the islands, the rangers are loving the sun and the seabirds are doing what they do best – getting on with the business of raising young.

The islands are slowly and surely becoming a very active colony as more young are hatching. Shags have young, the first Guillemot chicks have hatched and the major news, Puffins chicks have hatched. It’ll still be a few weeks before we are at peak time but it’s good to be moving in the right direction. One of the most bizarre things we have discovered is a Razorbill egg being incubated by a female Eider. Now I have no idea what is going on there so answers on a postcard please.

For the ranger team this also means a busy time and we are not far away from those 6am starts and population counts. Oh yes, 50,000 Guillemots to count, here we come... On the migrant front, at least one Bluethroat and the Icterine Warbler remain so there is a lot happening on the islands at this moment.