Swallows - Sea and other

Forked tails and tail streamers are the name of the game here.
Being on a small island tends to change your perspective a bit but I reckon just  about everyone, island or not, gets a real lift when "their " swallows come back each spring. And we are no exception. Last year we had swallows breeding on the island for only the second time in 18 years so it was magic to see them back around the island, this time it looks like 3 pairs might breed. I am sure I recognise one of the birds from last year but I could be mistaken. So we will be watching the outbuildings here on Fluke Street very carefully as well as the Wash house at the top of the island for nest building though it does seem a bit cold to produce much in the way of food for them .

 The other forked tails, the sea swallows are also back. "Our" terns have been making early morning appearences over the Beacon but heading off out to sea again for a week or so but the last day or so they have been staying longer and coming to ground more. They are such beautifully put together birds with the pitch black cap, soft dove grey wings and those bright plastic red bill and feet. Over the next few months we will be spending a lot of our island time focussed on trying to allow these birds to breed succesfully. This will mean much time in the hides but it is already good to see that some of the birds are taking a look at the tern nesting platforms that the volunteers put some much time into building in brutal weather at the beginning of the season. So here we go on the roller coaster ride of a tern breeding season.

View of the colonty.

Nesting platform inspection.

The local oystercatchers that nest in the tern colony will be in two minds, the terns protect them fro gull predation but oh the noisy neighbours.

Some of the nesting paltforms all ready to go.

The tern watching hide up at the Beacon, all spruced up and reapired by Kerry, one of our long-term volunteers.

Nightjar and a sprinkle of migrants

That 30mins before tea is quickly becoming the best bird time on the island this season. Wednesday at 1800 and Mark found a nightjar on the island, only that 2nd record in 42 years, and what was known as gadwall o' clock is now known as nightjar o'clock. The cottage emptied but it could not be found again so when tea arrived it was a bit subdued.
However yesterday morning the bird was found sunbathing on the grass bank where a number of us had already walked past. A lovely looking bird with the most amazing patterns, it was soon to be admired by all the locals, human, rock pipits, a wheatear and the local rabbits. 

Rock pipit having a look at the funny bird.

a wheatear dropped in as well.

The rabbits were less interested.

The human island residents immediately congregated

Some of the residents are taller than others but all got to see the bird.
                 

                    Harry wanted a closer shot.        

The nightjar came in with a sprinkling of migrants brought to the island by eaterly winds and on the island by showers. They included common redstarts, tree pipits, a yellow wagtail, common whitethroat and pied flycatcher.

Scottish Natural Heritage's Coastal Advisors visit the May - what did they think?

8^th May 2013: Isle of May - with SNH’s Coastal and Marine Ecosystems Unit 

Krystina Campbell writes:

A Grey and Windy Day!  Afternoon rain

However, fears that the May Princess would stay in her berth were unfounded and she stalwartly ploughed her way Forth from Anst’er, with SNH’s  CME Unit + guests like me, who work in a ‘cross-team’ capacity.  So the SNHers included advisers who appraise the impacts of fisheries, oil and gas exploration, production, pipelines, aquaculture and marine renewable energy; the ornithologists, advisers of things that grow, creep, crawl, swim and the myriad of types of beach and shore, sea- bottom and tide…

For some it was their first time across, for others a repeat visit. So our impressions are varied – like Karen sitting by me on the way back, my first time there was the surprise at the amount of ‘hardware’ left over from lighthouses, with compressed air systems for fog horns, bits of WWII infrastructure – concrete.  After a few minutes this gives way, as you walk round and experience your surroundings -- amidst sea, standing guard at the mouth of the Forth.  Overall, to visit the Isle of May is a visit to the birds (the real owners) and all that this means – sounds, smells, being allowed into their private space – that is the strongest,  persistent impression. 

From helping on the bird-count a few years ago, my Isle of May image is the nesting Eider –  the torpid Maduck, duckling cheeps and lawns of pink and eider downy nests. But this year thrift was thrifty – the mounds of flowering sea-pink, almost there but not quite and the sea campion nodded heavy buds at us!

Central Scotland’s East Coast island is special on many counts. The research done here since the 1930s has fuelled an increasing public awareness and interest of the May’s wildlife. Many who cannot visit in person nevertheless are aware of this natural, remote island – it is ever present in so many views from our Forth shores and inland hills, there is a measure of access to it from books and paintings; some of the peace there is transmitted in many other ways. It inspires so many, in so many ways – it is a resource central to our wildlife and our interaction with our environment.  Appreciate its place in our art, history, folklore, customs and language too! 

Keith Brockie's - One Man’s Island. Painting and Sketches from the Isle of May. Dent (1984)

Return to One Man’s Island. Painting and Sketches from the Isle of May. Birlinn (2012)

The Firth of Forth An Environmental History. T. C. Smout and Mairi Stewart . Birlinn (2012)

@National Library of Scotland, licensor www.scran.ac.uk .

Hoping to omit puffin photos I have had to bow to pressure, so I sign off with the earliest Scottish puffin picture known to date, Sibbald’s of 1684.

Krystyna Campbell, Landscape adviser: coast & seascapes

Yes we do have puffins

In a nutshell the latest on puffins on the island - We do have puffins, no, they are not extinct, but they have started breeding later and maybe the numbers are down a bit for which at the moment we aren't sure by how much but rest assured there are still plenty to see.

Puffins are such an iconic bird that with all the media coverage at the moment it is the one thing that everyone is asking us "how are the puffins?".
So the answer is as above, that the Isle of May is still one of the best and most accessible places to see puffins in the UK. There are so many factors that affect the numbers of puffins on the island on any one day in any one season that it can be hard to say how many will be there for a particular visit. The weather, time of day, condition that they came through the winter in, what stage in the breeding season, cycle of attendance and food availability all affect the numbers but on the island now things are settling down and the known  unknowns are starting to become known (thank you Donald Rumsfeld) !!. The last few days have been quiet for puffins but this morning there were a few more birds on the cliffs and lots more on the water so it looks like the cycle of attendance will mean that over the next few days there should be more on the island.
But what is the cycle of attendance? A number of seabirds species go through cycles of 4-5 days where the numbers drop and then build up again on the colonies. No-one knows exactly why but it is thought that it might be for a social reason. Any relationship and territorial issues are best sorted out when there are lots of birds on the colony so it works better if there are times when most of the birds are on land. But perhaps even more interesting is how does a colony of 45 000 pairs synchronise these movements? The researchers tell me that many factors have been looked at that the birds might use and the only one that seems to have an affect is atmospheric pressure. As the pressure drops then more birds come on to the colony - but what isn't known and can't really be found out is what sort of communication and information exchange is going on between puffins as they come and go from the island.Wouldn't it be great to know what is being said and how they do it? Another bird mystery waiting to be solved.

The island today

A few sights from the island today.

A turnstone all dressed up and nowhere to go. This bird is in its splendid breeding plumage and should be further north paired up and in the middle of the breeding season but instead is hanging around the island with a couple of mates.

A jumpy shag. When the shags have had a bad winter, like the last one, during the next breeding season they are often very nervous and can leave the nest before you get very close. This then leaves the eggs exposed to the gulls. This one wasn't on the nest but hanging near to where its partner was sitting. Note the coded ring on the leg.

As the sun went down it lit up the Mainlight.

Birders hanging around the tunnel by the Lowlight shortly before they started during Bruce Forsyth impressions.

Most of the female eiders are now on nests and they look fantastic.

They spend all day on the nest often only coming off for a few minutes a day, so when they do come off the nest they have a lot to do !

Look closer ! How did she do that?

Why wait? Come this season.

The Bishop all is a swirl

Alterstanes getting a pummelling

west side of Rona

 It was before 7 this morning when I got onto the RIB Osprey in Anstruther and Colin headed the boat out on the harbour into a pretty unpleasant sea. I had been off the island for a flying couple of days but needed to get back to the island before the weather really set in. It is all down to luck really and as Colin guided the boat over and between great rolling swells I thought back to the contrast of the last time I headed out to the island when it was mirror calm, warm breezeless and magical. As we got to the island we gradually merged with a mass of seabirds all on the seas flat surface. It made a stunning sight for the BBC Countryfile film team that were with us and the cap it sandeels balls formed with all the seabirds suddenly piling in to catch the fish at the surface. Today was a different experience and by later this afternoon the wind had worked the sea up into even more a a mess.

approaching the island a couple weeks ago - what a contrast.

A mass on seabirds on a still sea.

 I have been off for a couple of days to be on the stand at the Scottish Bird Fair. It was all a bit of a rush, I got home late Friday evening, was at the Bird Fair to set up by 8am the next day and spent 2 days at the Fair nattering to people about the island.It was a great couple of days meeting old friends and colleagues and encouraging people to come out to the island. The commonest thing I heard was "I have been meaning to visit the island for years",  A couple of years back heard the same from a lady who had lived in Crail for 40 years, looking at the island everyday, but had eventually made it out not long after her eightieth birthday. Well we don't really mind how long you leave it just as long you as you do actually make it out. But why wait?

The Isle of May stand shared with the Bird Observatory.

Hobby meets the locals

Lowlight occupant 'Rocket' Russell Nisbet  flushed a small Falcon off a wall near the visitor centre. It landed nearby and was able to confirm the ID as a Hobby which is only the 5th record for the Isle of May.

Hobbies are a relatively common in the  south of England. They can be seen feeding on large insects around wetland areas. They are easily identified by their long wings and red trousers.

This is one of last years young with the contrast between the wing feathers and the dull red 'trousers.' It also retains the white spots at the back of it's head.

An unusual combination of British Aviforna

The Hobby keeps an eye on the rabbits