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| Fulmar enjoying the sunshine! (Ciaran Hatsell) |
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| Resident Ranger Graeme Duncan welcoming visitors to Inner Farne (Ciaran Hatsell) |
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| Death on the rocks, Shags struggling (Ciaran Hatsell) |
Wednesday 3rd
April comments: It’s been a cracking day on the islands as the sun finally
came out and shone upon the mighty Farne Islands! It was a great day with
plenty of Puffins around and a nice selection of migrant birds. It was great to
share it with you all!
The sunny weather even encouraged two Small Tortoiseshell
butterflies to take to the wing, the first of the year! A Grey Wagtail and the
first Greenfinch of the year got the ball rolling this morning and then a great
surprise came in the form of a Short-eared Owl! Representing the first spring
record since 2009, it flew up from a clump of vegetation and flew along the
cliff, disturbing the resident Kittiwakes!
Another worrying discovery was of a dead adult Shag, found
in breeding plumage having apparently died of starvation. There are still very
few Shags around the islands and finding an adult on the breeding colony in
such poor condition is not a good sign. There are still plenty of breeding
birds about though and those that are here will be grateful for their day in
the sun!
1 comment:
I bet it was great to see the owl. I hope your Shags do okay during the breeding season. we saw some really healthy ones at Bempton Cliffs this week. From Findlay
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