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Seabirds at Fowlsheugh in 2018

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Seabirds at Fowlsheugh in 2018 Spring/Summer 2019 Newsletter of the Aberdeen and District RSPB Local Group Issue 13 At a glance Seabirds at Fowlsheugh in 2018 Seabirds at Fowlsheugh 18 .. 1 by Lorna Dow A Living Memorial.................. 3 Otter Watching in Aberdeen . 4 Angela Gowdy - BEM ............ 4 Whimbrel Migration ............... 5 The SOC ................................. 6 Speckled Wood ...................... 7 How long do birds live? ........ 7 Reserves Round-up............... 8 New Interns ............................ 9 Calling all bakers ................... 9 Subscriptions ......................... 9 Writing this on a wet and windy spring day, the heat of last June seems a long time ago. 2018 brought a Full Colony Count at RSPB Scotland Fowlsheugh. We do this on a three-year cycle due to the time involved Keep up to date with all in counting so many seabirds. We do take a smaller snapshot of the our summer outings by colony on an annual basis through Annual Seabirds Census plots at the checking our website cliff. and our Facebook page The dry summer was a benefit for the colony count, providing good Please come along to survey conditions. Staff and volunteers could be found throughout June our events - it doesn't sitting for periods of time at the top of the cliffs, getting a bit cross-eyed matter whether you are over auks! The only downside to the weather was the heat haze created a novice or an on some days; some sections of Fowlsheugh need to be counted at a experienced distance through a telescope, which wasn’t easy at times. These birdwatcher, all are sections were redone on days with less haze. welcome. Most of the cliff can be counted from the More information about land, but there are some sections that the Local Group and its have traditionally been counted from a activities can be found boat. Due to the availability of a drone, on the Group's website: piloted by Site Manager Richard www.rspb.org.uk/ Humpidge, with the correct permissions groups/aberdeen from SNH, photographs were taken of these sections using the drones and the For more Local Group images analysed on a computer. I would news, visit us on like to say that we had some sort of Facebook at: whizzy programme to do this, but the www.facebook.com/ analysis entailed long hours in front of RSPBNorthEastScotland Photoshop counting each bird. Photo: Lorna Dow Page | 1 Page | 1 We use different count units for different species. Guillemots, Razorbills and Puffins are counted as individuals (Ind), Kittiwakes and other gulls as apparently occupied nests (AON), Fulmars and Shags as apparently occupied sites (AOS). The table below shows the colony count data from 1992 onwards, species by species. In 2018 there was a total colony of 92,843 birds at Fowlsheugh. Year 1992 1999 2006 2009 2012 2015 2018 Guillemot (Ind) 59911 62330 54195 50556 44922 55507 61416 Razorbill (Ind) 6827 6362 4280 4632 5260 7426 11750 Kittiwake (AON) 34872 18800 11140 9454 9439 9655 9444 Puffin (Ind) 59 50 30 21 27 23 Fulmar (AOS) 416 352 246 193 119 164 157 Shag (AOS) 10 1 3 Herring Gull (AON) 528 267 274 214 259 125 220 GBB Gull (AON) 0 1 2 2 3 2 3 LBB Gull (AON) 4 1 0 0 0 Below is the same data in graph form which helps show the fluctuations in the population on site. There are some interesting changes at Fowlsheugh. Guillemot numbers have been on the increase since the low of 2012. Razorbills are also on the increase, which mirrors the national trend. Kittiwakes seem stable, if substantially down on 1992 figures, although this graph doesn’t tell the whole story. Kittiwake productivity in 2018 was very poor, particularly bad when compared to the last few years of positivity. The late spring caused Kittiwakes to take a long time to settle to breed, meaning the season was very spread out. The hot weather wasn’t great for chicks in the nest; many are likely to have overheated. Fingers crossed 2019 will prove to be a better year for productivity. Page | 2 A Living Memorial by Mark Sullivan Welcome to our new Local Group member, Professor members: Nigel Trewin, who passed away in Anja Morris-Oosting October 2017 following a battle with melanoma, had long expressed a Andrew & Debbie desire to contribute to funding Dalgarno conservation in the NE of Scotland. I Anne Shearer was not surprised therefore to be contacted by his widow, Margie, to Kev McPhee Smith be told that he had left a legacy in Harris Booker his will to the RSPB, for use in our area under the direction of the Local Linda Walker Group. I was however surprised to Ronay Thomson hear from the RSPB that the donation was a very generous £1000. The Local Group committee Mark Woodfin decided that the money should be used at the Loch of Strathbeg, Amanda Cardy where much of our fund-raising is spent, and where Nigel had spent many happy days birding. Jason Reynolds I was privileged to know Nigel, firstly as a geologist, who had, in Jeffrey Stockdale his quiet unassuming way, revolutionised the study of ancient life Stephen Ackroyd with his work on the Rhynie Chert and fossil fish, both of the Devonian Period. He led parties of geologists from various oil and companies on field trips to study the Moray Firth rocks, and it was welcome back to on one of these that I first met him. Marjorie Dick On his “retirement” (although he was publishing scientific papers until just before his death) he took up birdwatching more seriously, and could often be found at Strathbeg, the Ythan or Girdle Ness – Work Party dates often on the look-out for rare migrants. He was a great person to Contact David White meet with in the field, enthusiastic towards anything he saw. [email protected] After discussions with Richard Humpidge, Site Manager at Strathbeg, it was agreed that the money would go towards the newly created woodland which is to be an extension of the If you no longer wish to hear from the RSPB “Rookery Wood” at the entrance to the reserve. This is also a Aberdeen and District Local project where the Local Group has provided work parties to help Group, please contact Mark plant 3000+ trees. Sullivan on 01224 861446 confirming your name and I checked with Margie that this would accord with his wishes, and address and stating you received the following reply: wish to unsubscribe from “I am delighted that Nigel's legacy will be going to the Loch of the RSPB Aberdeen and District Local Group's Strathbeg, one of his favourite places. I know that is what he was communications. hoping would happen. He truly loved the times he had up at Strathbeg - his birding was so therapeutic and important to him, The Royal Society for the especially in the last three years of his life when we knew that his Protection of Birds [RSPB] is a melanoma cancer was terminal. I am so very pleased that Nigel’s registered charity; England and Wales number 207076, donation can go towards the planting and fencing of the extension Scotland number SC037654 of Rookery Wood, and I hope to come and see it one day. Nigel would indeed approve.” Page | 3 Otter Watching in Aberdeen by Gordon Grieve Photo: Gordon Grieve I have been watching and photographing otters on the River Don in and around Seaton Park (and elsewhere) for seven years. In that time I have seen many adults and their cubs. In 2015 I discovered that one of the local females had managed to get something around her neck, under the outer guard hairs. This did not seem to give her any problems, but the resulting, easy-to-see, line in the fur meant that she was easily recognisable. She can still be seen in the area today. Up until this point I had not been confidently able to identify individual otters. In the winter of 2017-2018 a male “appeared” along the river, with a broken tooth and characteristic markings on his nose. About the same time a younger female was found, with a young cub. She also had markings on her nose, meaning that she could be identified, and by extension so could her cub. This was the first time in watching the otters that I could identify four individual animals. This last female appears to have since left the area, but the cub is still around and can be seen patrolling the river. However, no distinguishing marks are evident on this animal. The photograph above is of the resident “ring-necked” female, with a cub born in 2018, and a cub from the previous year. Keep an eye out along the Rivers Don and Dee, Aberdeen harbour and any streams or bodies of water and you never know, you may be lucky enough to see an otter (or even two or three!). Angela Gowdy – BEM In case you were not aware of the announcement in December 2018, our long-serving Local Group Committee Member, Angela Gowdy, was awarded the British Empire Medal in the New Year Honours, for services to charity. Angela volunteers both for the RSPB, and also the Home-Start Garioch, a charity helping young families that are struggling with the demands of life. She will be familiar to you all as an enthusiastic attendee at our outings, while for the indoor meetings she organises the raffles, ensures that there are abundant cakes available from our team of bakers and helps to make the meetings go smoothly. Out of sight to many of our members, she is “the pin-badge lady” running a team of pin- badge sellers across Aberdeenshire, ensuring that she raises thousands of pounds for the RSPB (she has previously received the RSPB’s President’s Award for this).
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