Bird losses

[Seabird]

Sorry to be the bringer of bad news.
I'm in Orkney for the Royal Oak Memorial.
While in Scapa i always walk the beach and this year it's littered with dead birds.
I thought last year was bad with Guillemots washing up dead every day.
This year it's most peoples favourite the Puffin.
There are also lots of Razorbills
I spoke this morning with a local who was doing a dead bird count and he said this year there was a wreck of Razorbills on a beach near St Marys.
So it seems Razorbills have been hit hardest with Puffins a close second.
The only good news is there are very few guillemots.
Walking the lovely sandy beach of Scapa is heart breaking with groups of birds every few meters.

Colin

[Martin England]

I to noticed this last week when i was on Orkney, a sad sight indeed.

Martin

[Ricco]

Does anyone konw what has been causing this crash in seabird numbers? Has it been reported to the RSPB? Surely this must be cause for concern.

[Kenn]

Been following this here along with The Hebrides, is it the lack of food that is causing the problem as seems to be the case in The Western Isles or the fact that there has been such a dire summer in the far north?
Not been able to find any reports of the puffins further south dying in any great numbers though.
Must have been most distressing for you Seabird, 1 dead gannet at Duncansby grieved me but to see a beach littered with birds that have starved is unimaginable.

[Seabird]

I'm afraid this problem as been with us for the last few years.
Until now it was mostly Guillemots that were effected.
At first it was thought to be over fishing of sandeels by the Danes and Shetland{Shetland have now stopped)
But the same problem is occuring on the West coast,and they dont fish for sandeels on that side.
So the popular theory at this time is the algae the sand eels feed on is moving further North due to global warming raising the sea temperature.
Birds nest in the same places each year and it will take time for them to adjust.
Those birds nesting in the right places will thrive and the rest will move or die.
Before any one mentions Basking Sharks are here and they eat Algae.
I'll add there are warm water algae and cold water algae.
It's the cold water algae sandeels eat.
Bird are not the only creatures effected by the sandeel problem, but most other creatures that feed on sandeels are able to move further north with them.
Hope that gives you an insight into the problem Ricco
Colin

[Seabird]

It was a report shown on TV last year Liz, from the SW that the present theory evolved.
A scientist caught and looked at what Puffins were bring back to their nests.
They found puffins were returning with pipe fish and poor quality sandeels for their chicks.
The sandeels were thin and low in oil content and were next to useless for the chicks.

Colin

[Rheghead]

Has a proper pathology examination been done on these birds? Any signs of malnutrition or liver damage?

[Liz]

This is so very sad.

[Ricco]

Hope that gives you an insight into the problem Ricco
Colin

Thanks for that, Colin. That was my suspicion. We have been experiencing much lower sandeel numbers in the south as well.

[Kenn]

Saw the piece about the puffins trying to feed their offspring pipefish, to see a whole colony decimated was very saddening.
Just hope the sea parrots and their relatives can manage to hang on before their numbers decline too much.
Any one know if there is any information on the St Kilda ones? I know the RSPB do a count every year but have n't been any to find any current figures.

[kas]

I spoke to a guy from across the water and it seems to be pretty much the same story all round Orkney, survey teams are assessing the wrecks. There has also been huge seabird wrecks on the scandanavian coasts as well.

[Seabird]

The RSPB in Orkney are aware of the problem and are monitoring the situation.
There was an article in the Orkney paper
From the dead birds i saw there was an equal number of adults and juveniles.
A lot of the juveniles were under developed in that their beaks were not fully formed.
They also loooked very thin.
The under developed beaks suggested to me (i'm no expert) that the young birds had not been fed well before they were forced to fledge, this would have meant they were weak and stood no real chance of survival on the open ocean.
I have pics if any one would like to see them send me a pm.
I have no wish to upset the younger viewers.

[northener]

Around Stroma the Guillemots and Kittiwakes had a terrible breeding season, most didn't bother.

We thought the Puffins were maybe doing OK. But I've seen more dead Puffins than normal in Sinclair Bay this year.

Bad.

[Laid-Back-Maverick]

It was a report shown on TV last year Liz, from the SW that the present theory evolved.
A scientist caught and looked at what Puffins were bring back to their nests.
They found puffins were returning with pipe fish and poor quality sandeels for their chicks.
The sandeels were thin and low in oil content and were next to useless for the chicks.

Colin

I was diving at St Abbs last year (Spring/Summer time) and me and my buddy noticed that the reefs were covered in Snake Pipefish and the shoals of sandeels we did see were very small in comparision to what we'd seen in the past. When we surfaced, we asked the dive boat skipper about it and he told us that the FRS had been studying this too and reckoned this was what was causing the bird wrecks - especially of Puffins - along the Berwick coast and the Firth Of Forth.

The Scotsman only printed the story a few months ago (only 12 months late!), but I can't find a link

[smithp]

The patterns of fish movement is changing dramatically. Only this saturday I watched a lad catch mackeral on sandeel from Wick pier. These fish arrive now in late march and the bulk leave in mid Oct now. This indicates sandeel patterns have changed. There are many other fish that have changed. 10 years ago bass was an exotic species, now they are plentiful.
The point is the ocean pattern may be changing quicker and adapting quicker to water temp than air bourne friends, and this may alter food source availability during breeding times.