There are a good selection of seal pups on Petticowick now, 13 counted today, with the oldest being about 3 weeks old, and the youngest we saw being born at around 1pm this afternoon! The oldest pup on the beach, pictured below, is about 3 weeks old, which means that they are about to be abandoned their mother, who will return to the sea to eat after 3 weeks of not feeding herself. This mother certainly seems to have been successful in feeding her pup given how fat they are looking! Apart from their impressive girth, you can tell that this is an older pup because they are starting to moult their white baby fur, with the waterproof grey fur starting to show around their face. The mother of this pup was also seen mating with the resident beach master of Petticowick, another sign that she will return to sea soon. Lizy

Grey Seal mother and large pup beginning to moult



Grey seals mating on beach

We've had a lovely day watching seals and talking to visitors today at Petticowick. There are 10 pups currently on the beach, and from the vantage point of the cliff above we can get good views with binoculars and telescopes without disturbing the seals. Lizy

National Trust for Scotland Rangers and volunteers watching seals with visitors

Grey Seal mother and pup on Petticowick beach

The seals have arrived!

Whilst checking on our land up at Lumsdaine this week I was happy to discover the first seal pups of the year, with 15 born already.  In this picture you can see a mother with her pup, and in the background a large bull (male) seal.  In the last couple of years pups have been born on the beaches at St Abb’s Head itself, so we are excited to see if they will be back again this year. Watch this space for updates!

Remember that Grey Seals are vulnerable to disturbance at this sensitive time of year and interfering with the pups can cause them to be abandoned by their mothers. If you are concerned about a seal (it looks very thin or has an obvious injury) then please call the SSPCA (Scotland) RSPCA (England) or the British Divers Marine Life Rescue Number for advice and help.

BDMLR RESCUE HOTLINE:

01825 765546 Monday-Friday 9am-5pm

07787 433412 Out of office hours and Bank Holidays

RSPCA hotline (England & Wales): 0300 1234 999

SSPCA hotline (Scotland): 03000 999 999

Grey Seals Halichoerus Grypus

We had a lovely day yesterday at our community gorse bashing event, the weather was nice, and more importantly we got lots of gorse cut down, so thank you very much to the generous people who spent part of their Sunday helping us to look after the reserve. Pictured are Rachael and Keith at the half way point of the day, with lots of gorse cut down and ready to be put into bags for later burning. Lizy

Much gorse chopped down!

It's been a good morning for migrants here at St Abb's Head with good numbers of birds coming in from the sea. There are plenty of the commoner species such as Blackbird and Robin, along with some of the first Redwings and Bramblings (pictured) we've seen this winter. Also spotted around the Mire Loch and walled garden this afternoon: 2 Black Redstarts, 4 Ring Ouzels, 3+ Yellow-browed Warblers, and early this morning a single Great Grey Shrike was reported in the lighthouse garden, although we couldn't find it this afternoon. Lizy

Brambling Fringilla montifringilla

The weather has been beautiful here at St Abb's Head today, and we made the most of it by spending the morning outside clearing up the road up to the lighthouse. Many thanks to our wonderful volunteer Margaret who came out to help today. Lizy



Margaret working on the lighthouse road



A beautiful autumn sight here at St Abb's Head, the ink-cap fungi have begun to deliquesce around the edges of the car park. Deliquescence is when this fungus starts to dissolve into a black ink-like substance which contains the spores for future generations of fungi. And as they grow around the edge of the car park you don't need to walk for miles or have a pair of binoculars to see them! Lizy

Ink-cap fungus deliquescing

It's looking very damp here at St Abb's Head today, but yesterday was a fine day, so I headed out to do our weekly butterfly transect, which we carry out as part of the UK Butterfly Monitoring Scheme. There are still good numbers of butterflies around, the most common being Green-veined (pictured mating) and Small Whites, and Wall Browns and Small Coppers. Also spotted on the survey were: Large White, Peacock, Red Admiral, Small Tortoiseshell, Common Blue and Speckled Wood. Lizy Smith.

Road update: The road from Petticowick up to the lighthouse remains CLOSED due to a rock fall early on Sunday morning. The road is closed to all walkers and vehicles for safety reasons. We are currently in contact with Geological Engineers and hope to have some more information by the end of the week. Please do not attempt to walk or drive along this stretch of the road for your own safety.

Diversion signs have been put up on footpaths for those wishing to walk between the lighthouse and Petticowick (highlighted in green on the map below). For those unable to walk as far as Petticowick there is still parking available at Petticowick, but this is extremely limited and we ask that you only use it if you are unable to get to this end of the reserve on foot, in consideration of those who cannot. Apologies for any inconvenience caused, we are working to resolve this as quickly as possible. Lizy

Unfortunately we have had to close the road from Petticowick to the less-abled car park at the lighthouse due to a landslip early this morning. After a night of heavy rain part of the rock face has fallen onto the road, and we are concerned that more could follow. Please do not try to use this section of the road until we have carried out safety checks on the remaining rock face. Many thanks, Lizy Smith

Picture of road closed after Petticowick car park

Wildflower admirers take note, the fantastic spring/summer displays of flowers are just coming into bloom at St Abb's Head. Pictured here is some Thrift, other highlights are Sea Campion, Bird's Foot Trefoil and Thyme, all of which together make up a beautiful tapestry of colour on the clifftops. They look especially stunning in this beautiful sunshine we've been having!Lizy

View north from Petticowick, with Thrift flowers in foreground

I was checking on our land at Lumsdaine this morning, and got some amazing views back south towards St Abb's Head. There were lots of spring flowers out including orchids, cowslips and bluebells, a perfect morning! Lizy

View from Westerside Dean to St Abb's Head

Earlier this week I was alerted, by a concerned member of the public, to some drone footage on YouTube. The footage, taken in mid April, clearly shows that the drone is causing disturbance to breeding seabirds. The drone operators were committing offences on two counts. Firstly, it is an offence under the Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2003 to use powered vehicles, including drones, on land without the landowner’s permission. And secondly, it is an offence under the Wildlife & Countryside Act 1981 and the Nature Conservation (Scotland) Act 2004 to disturb or harass a bird at its nest, or prevent it getting to its nest. The drone operators had passed two signs informing them that the area is a "no drone zone" between 1st April and 31st July, and explaining why. The incident has been reported to the police.

There is no doubt that drones offer us amazing perspective on the world, which is why we haven't gone for a complete ban as some organisations have. But it is important that they are used responsibly to protect the wildlife that we work to conserve, and also the visitors who come to enjoy the wildlife.

Please let us know on (018907) 71443 if you spot anyone unpacking drones or flying drones from our land. Thank you. Liza.

The weather is finally warm and dry enough for us to start our spring and summer repairs of the road to the lighthouse. Maintaining this road means that people who cannot manage the walk from the car park at the nature centre up to the lighthouse will have the chance to drive up and enjoy the amazing views and wildlife. Many thanks to our wonderful volunteers Bill, Margaret and Chris who spent their morning doing this hard physical labour. Lizy

Chris and Margaret repairing potholes

The primroses around the Mire Loch are looking beautful, especially with the sun shining on them! Lizy

Primroses Primula vulgaris near the Mire Loch

Cuckoos have arrived back for the summer, I just heard the first one of the year calling behind our office. The picture is actually from July last year when I spotted this young one along the track to the lighthouse, but they are about, so keep your eyes peeled. Lizy

Juvenile Cuckoo

If you've been wondering why there are so many dead rabbits to be seen on the reserve...




Text of picture reads: Please be aware that there is a disease called Myxomatosis effecting the rabbits on the reserve. This is fatal to rabbits but cannot be transferred to humans or to dogs. The disease is endemic in the rabbit population throughout the UK, and has periodic local flare-ups.
When we see carcasses, we hide them out of sight as much as we can, but it is impossible for us to keep the area totally clear. We do not remove the carcasses entirely, as they provide a good food source for scavengers in the area.
Sorry if this detracts from your visit to St Abb’s Head, but the situation is outwith our control.

Spring has disappeared again! I was up on the cliffs doing some monitoring when I got caught in this surprise hail shower which turned the cliff-tops white for a short while! Interesting weather for the start of April.  Lizy

View of hail covered stacks at St Abb's Head

Today has turned a bit miserable, but yesterday was a stunning day here at St Abb's Head. Large numbers of seabirds, including guillemots, razorbills, kittiwakes and fulmar were back on the cliffs, and the sun was shining. We even spotted our first bumblebee queens on the reserve, a tree bumblebee and a buff-tailed bumblebee, busy looking for nests sites. Lizy

I came across a sad sight today while I was carrying out a survey on one of our beaches. This is the remains of an auk, tangled up in ribbons which had been tied onto the bottom of a balloon. This is the 4th balloon I have found littering the reserve in the last two days.

It is tragic to think that a balloon, which probably amused a human for only a few minutes or hours before being forgotten, can go on to have such serious consequences for wildlife. It's not only birds like this auk which have been entangled and starved/drowned, turtles, whales and dolphins can eat balloons, mistaking them for jellyfish, blocking their digestive systems and causing them to starve to death.

If you like balloons all is not lost though. Check out the link below to a leaflet from the Marine Conservation Society, it outlines the dangers that balloons pose to marine wildlife and then gives some excellent ideas of how to minimise the damage, such as using latex balloons which will eventually biodegrade, and not filling them with helium, so they won't float away and become litter. They also have some great ideas if you are planning to use balloons as part of an event! Lizy

https://www.mcsuk.org/downloads/pollution/dont%20let%20go.pdf

Auk entangled in balloon ribbon

The weather has been impressive here today at St Abb's Head. Luckily this morning was bright and I managed to get out and get a few pictures of the reserve covered in snow, a rare sight! Lizy.

Snowy view of the Mire Loch

View from the Lighthouse Road

While up doing a badger sett survey on our land at Lumsdaine I was lucky enough to spot a couple of badger footprints at the entrance to a sett. The footprints are just to the left of the patch of sunlight. Like all of the mustelid family, which includes otter, stoat and wolverine amongst others, badgers have five toes. It looks like there are only 4 toes from this picture, but the smallest toe sometimes doesn't leave an indentation in rough ground. Lizy

Badger footprints outside sett

It's been feeling decidedly chilly the last few days, with sharp winds reminding us that winter is not over yet. The gorse bushes that grow around the western end of the Mire Loch, however, are not letting the freezing winds hold them back. Their bright golden flowers definitely add a bit of warmth to a cold walk. On a sunny day like today you can just smell the sweet coconut smell which the flowers produce, bringing back memories of warm, sunny days in May when flowering is at its peak, and the scent infuses the air. Lizy

Gorse Bushes

We got some interesting footage the other night after finding a dead song thrush behind the office.  We put the trail camera out, hoping that perhaps it had been a sparrowhawk kill, and that the sparrowhawk would return to claim its prey, but it never did.  Instead we got video after video of a wood mouse/mice, feeding on the corpse after dark. In the video you can see the mouse feeding from the neck of the song thrush, with the bird's tail sticking out to the left. Over the course of a few nights the entire thrush was consumed. Gruesome but fascinating!  Lizy.

Despite the recent cold weather there are definite signs of spring in the air. Great tits are starting to sing their characteristic "teacher" call, and snowdrops and winter aconites are starting to flower around the car park and our office, adding a welcome splash of colour to the sometimes cold and damp days here at St Abb's Head. Winter aconites are not native to the UK, and are known as "spring ephemerals", meaning that they only grow for a short period of time, in this case early in January and February, and then die back to just their underground parts during the rest of the year. January might seem like an inhospitable time to flower, but this allows the aconites to flourish in the light on the woodland floor, before the trees get their leaves, blocking out the sunshine. Lizy

Winter aconites near the car park

It's been a windy day here at St Abb's Head, but that didn't stop our loyal band of volunteers coming out to get some work done. Today we were repairing some damage done to the track as a result of some recent fencing work. Many thanks to Bill, Jean and Margaret for their time and hard labour!  Lizy

Jean and Margaret repairing the track