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