Rangers to the rescue!



Eider pair on Brownsman



Female Eider

Ducklings in a box! Mainland bound!

Ranger Andy with the ducklings

Success; ducklings with new mums!

Monday 16th June comments: Eider mothers are brilliant (most of the time!). They have a very interesting breeding biology as the chicks are lead to the open sea within 24 hours of hatching to the relative safety of the nearby rocky shorelines and harbours of North Northumberland. Here they will crèche to provide extra protection for the chicks with non-breeding birds and failed breeders lending a helping hand (or should I say helping wing?!).

And so cue today. The ranger team discovered five ducklings wandering around, looking confused (abandoned for reasons unknown). So we did what we do best; we gave the birds a helping hand. Once rounded up, they were soon en-route to the mainland with the aid of our zodiac boat and a cardboard box!

Ten minutes later we arrived in the harbour and located a crèche with twenty females and over one hundred chicks. The ducklings were then safely re-released and joined their new mums. Hopefully these birds will remember our good deed and one day return to breed on the islands and maybe even entertain our visitors (after eating a few chips along the way!).

Farnes rangers: saving lives everyday!