GERONIMO!

Sorry to double up on topics folks but I had to add my personal experience of the Guillemot jumplings. I had never witnessed this astounding wildlife spectacle before and it absolutely lived up to expectations.

Last Tuesday evening (14th) I spent an emotional two hours watching many gorgeous, cute and fluffy chicks fling themselves off the top of Foul Carr (one of the large stacks in Foul Bay, near the Lighthouse). First of all they had to fight their way through many hundreds and thousands of grumpy and snappy adult birds to get to the edge of the colony. Then they had to take quite a leap of faith, and literally hurl themselves off the edge of the stack from a height of anywhere between 100 and 300 odd feet! The ones who were lucky enough to survive that fall then had to negotiate between the greedy gulls, who were patrolling the bottom of the stacks in a very menacing fashion.

I witnessed all manner of journeys. Some chicks were beautifully accompanied by their father, who would stay on the lower side of the chick as they made their way to the edge, so that when the chick lost its balance, the father was able to shield it from falling over the edge before it was ready. When the chick finally found the edge and looked ready to jump, the father would fly down to the sea and call to the chick to encourage it. Some chicks completed amazing swan dives to make a text book landing in the water. Other chicks weren't quite so graceful and tumbled head over heels the entire way over the face of the stack, to land in the water dazed and confused.

What a terrifying rite of passage these very young birds have to go through. Although watching this spectacle is fairly traumatic (not as traumatic as for the birds!), it is really breathtaking and worth making the effort for. Hopefully there will be lots more action over the next few evenings.

New toys!

I have been out testing out a new toy...I mean, piece of equipment... that I bought with a donation we received from the Edinburgh Members' Centre - a digiscoping kit. This is basically a telescope (which we needed anyway for our seabird monitoring), a compact digital camera (which is always handy) and the wherewithall for attaching the two together so that we can take pictures down the scope. A little overcast, which was not brilliant as the more you magnify, the more light you need but I think the results were pretty good too for a first outing (see above).

Also, when we took our small inflatable boat onto the water the other day we discovered that the transom (the board at the back that the outboard attaches to) was rotten and bowing under the strain of the weight of the outboard. However, we have been kindly offered a small (3.6m) RIB on permanent loan, the opnly problem is that we do not have a trailer or an outboard. So this is a request to see if there is anyone out there who has a suitable trailer and/or outboard (min 15hp, max 25 hp 2 stroke) that we can borrow. If so, maybe you cou;d let us know as soon as possible as we would like to get out and finish counting our seabirds from the sea!

Cheers!

The joint is jumping!

So, I was out last night and there were a few guillemot chicks jumping so that's the beginning of the end of this year's seabird breeding season. If you want to experience the jumping then I would suggest coming and checking it out in the next few days at dusk.

Chalk and cheese...

Well, I am oft heard to say that two days are never the same in the life of a Ranger...well the last two days have definitely been a prime example of how different two days can be.

Yesterday myself and Elaine went down to the Farne Islands for a their Management Committee Meeting which included a trip over to the islands to see the seabirds. Always good to share experiences with our colleagues from the National Trust south of the Border, on our neighbouring seabird colony. The sea was calm, the sky (mostly) blue, and the seabird experience just about as great as it can be on the Farnes with all the birds madly feeding chicks. It was interesting to see that they have had an early breeding season too, they are about a week ahead of us even, and so there were quite a lot of guillemot jumplings on the sea (picture left). They are called jumplings because they jump from the land down to the sea when they are only three quarters grown, and have not fledged out of their downy feathers to their true flight feathers yet, and so are not able to fly. Now being a jumpling on the Farnes is not quite such a perilous thing as at St Abbs because they do not have the towering cliffs that we have, but it still pulls on the heart strings somewhat to see these wee birds taking to the open sea (albeit with their parents to escort them) at such a tender age.

Now segue to St Abbs today: a steely grey sea, dotted with white caps, rain being driven horizontal by a brisk wind and a pair of stalwart Rangers (yes, the same two as yesterday) trying to show a group of overseas students from the various Edinburgh universities the glories of St Abbs in June. We did manage to get the telescopes set up at the top of the cliffs, and hold them still enough to allow some of the braver members of the group to see the seabirds before the lenses of the scopes got completely drenched and they ended up getting a view more like the picture to the right. Oh well, you couldn't ever say that being a Ranger is boring!

Messing about in boats...

So, the forecast was good for getting the boat in the water today, the boat is only small so the sea has to be a veritable millpond, and that was how it was this morning. However, the tide also needs to be relatively high to make it easier to launch the boat from the shore (ie not slipping on seaweed covered rocks), but also makes it better for getting into a couple of the caves where shags nest. And today it was not high water until 15.40, so we took the boat onto the Mire Loch to have a test run, checking everything was working OK and letting Elaine get used to steering an outboard with a tiller (see picture). And the plan was to take the boat out onto the sea this afternoon to monitoring the seabirds in blind spots that we couldn't see from the cliffs. However, the wind had got up just enough to make it that little bit too choppy for our wee zodiac so we had to abort. We did have a consolation prize of seeing 9 puffins and a big group of gannets plunge diving in amongst the whitecaps at the launch site though. He hey, Monday looks like the next possible window in the weather, so fingers crossed.

Chicks all over!

I have been out surveying the seabirds all day and can proudly announce that we now have chicks under all our species except for our fulmars, which always breed much later than any of the others. Today I saw my first razorbill and kittiwake chicks, which are again about a week earlier than usual, and last week we had our first herring gull chicks. So if you want to come up and see the seabirds here at St Abbs, now is a great time, but don't leave it too long as the first guillemot chicks could be jumping from the cliffs in about a week, and I would guess that by two weeks time the vast majority of our guillemots will have gone. There will still be plenty of other seabirds about but when you remove 30,000 plus, it makes a big difference to the seabird experience!

Chewing things over..

Last week we had a rarity at St Abbs; not only did we manage to get all the people we needed together on the same day for a site visit, but we also got good weather so that we could explore the property (or should I say properties) in comfort! The reason for the gathering was to discuss future grazing management for the Trust's land at St Abb's Head and on the length of coastal slope that the Trust owns to the south east of Fast Castle that we call the Lumsdaine Strip. Both areas of land are within the wider St Abbs's Head to Fast Castle Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI), a designation which reflects the area's importance for wildlife, not least the grasslands.

Now, contrary to what many people believe, grasslands to not just manage themselves. Depending on what you want to manage them for, you may wish to exclude grazing, or graze them just at certain times of year, or use different types of grazers (because different animals eat different things and in different ways). So the object of this meeting was to discuss ways in which we might tweak the grazing management of these two parcels of land, as surveys have shown that we are mostly getting it right, but there are some areas where we might want to try a different tack.

The grazing management of both areas is tricky. In the picture at the top left you can see, behind the group of lunch munchers, the sort of slopes that we are talking about at Lumsdaine - not terribly horizontal, and also the land that we own is an island surrounded by land owned by others, over which we have no right of access. Then at the Head the underlying geology has produced a mosiac of small hillocks with thin soils (known locally as knowes) which where you find the flora of interest, surrounded by areas of thicker, more nutrient rich soils which promotes the growth of tall grasses which smothers any of the small herbs species. The photo on the right shows this quite nicely, the knowes have a flush of pink from the thrift and the areas with thicker soils show up bright green. But there is no way we can fence out each one of the knowes to exclude grazing on them but allow grazing in between, so we have to decide what is the best way of managing the flora rich areas.

Then there are additional issues such as plant species that are invading the grasslands, like bracken, gorse, thistles and nettles, and the best way to control them. Not to mention rabbits which impose a not inconsiderable grazing pressure (just four innocent looking bunnies can eat as much in a year as a sheep), and they breed like...well, rabbits, and their burrows cause a lot of damage. But in some areas the bare soil caused by their burrowing is a good thing for butterflies.

So all in all, quite a complicated business. But luckily we have considerable experience and expertise within the Trust that we can call on, and combining this with advice and support from Scottish Natural Heritage, and a good relationship with our tenant graziers we seem to be doing OK. Hopefully this meeting will help us put together a grazing management plan, including the way in which we will monitor whether we are getting it right or not, and this will not only guide our future management, but also help us apply for funding to help support this work.

Sounding things out...

Early May saw the launch of the St Abbs pARTicipate Project; pARTicipate being new initiative from the Trust's Education department, which seeks to explore and engage people with the Trust's conservation work, through the arts. At St Abbs the Trust is working together with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra (SCO) and Scottish Borders Council’s Arts Development Team towards a new music composition. Composer, Howard Moody is being commissioned to write a piece that celebrates the significance of the coastal and marine nature reserves at St Abbs.

Enagagement of the local community is a fundemantally important part of the project and on 10th May P6 pupils from Coldingham and Eyemouth Primary Schools spent the morning in the classroom with Audio Artist, Pippa Murphy, learning how to make field recordings and then I went in to introduce them to the various seabirds we have at St Abbs. Then in the afternoon we all went up to St Abb's Head (picture top) to explore and capture the sounds of the seabirds and other environment sounds. The pupils will then create their own ‘Sonic Postcards’ of St Abbs and the sounds they have recorded will be encorporated into the new composition by Howard Moody. The composition will be performed as part of the SCO’s South of Scotland Tour in 2012.

The weather for the site visit was challenging as it was pretty windy, but we spent some time up at the Head recording the seabirds as best we could, and then sought the shelter of Starney Bay and recorded some of the sounds of the shore from sea level (picture below...recording the sound of scrunching pebbles). Pippa will be spending two days with the pupils next week working on their raw recordings, and I, for one, am rather excited to hear the end result of all their labours!

Later in the summer, it will be the turn of local visual artist, Sarah Riseborough, to enage the wider local community in the project. But more of that nearer the time...

Get set for the Splash In!

The St Abbs and Eyemouth Voluntary Marine Reserve (VMR) is holding its annual underwater photography competition, The Splash In, which this year will take place on the August Bank Holiday weekend of 27th and 28th August.

Now a well established event on any diver’s calendar, the St Abbs and Eyemouth VMR Splash In is in its 24th year and every year the competition attracts hundreds of pounds worth of prizes from our generous sponsors.

There are 45 places in the competition and to take part divers must register in advance by completing the entry form available on the VMR’s website www.marine-reserve.co.uk or from the VMR Ranger Georgia Conolly (gconolly@nts.org.uk) and returning it no later than 1st August. Alternatively registration will be available on the morning of 27th August at The Old School, St Abbs from 8am – 10am, although divers are encouraged to register in advance as the places will be allocated on a ‘first come, first served’ basis. Registering for the competition in advance will speed up the check in process on the Saturday morning, giving competitors the maximum time possible to capture what they hope will be a prize-winning image.

The competition categories will be: Marine Life Portrait (close up photos of the Reserve’s inhabitants); Reserve Atmospheric (showing the VMR’s spectacular scenery at its best and these shots can include divers in the frame) and The John Goldie Most Humorous Shot (use your imagination!). Competitors will be spoilt for choice in terms of subject matter as the coastal waters off St Abbs and Eyemouth and teeming with wildlife. There are kelp forests; soft corals; wrecks; reefs and grey seals to photograph.

The entry fee for the competition is £20 which includes entry into the slideshow of all the images on the Sunday evening. Full details, competition rules and the advance registration form are available from the VMR website.

Clair Jubb's close up of a shanny won 2nd prize in the Marine Life Portrait category and best overall image in show in last year's competition.

Looking at St Abb's Head through rose coloured specs!

St Abb's Head is covered in a pink haze at the moment which is due to the amount of thrift that is in flower. And what is really lovely is that the sea of pink is not restricted to the cliffs, it extends a bit inland as well so you get the rather surreal experience of seeing a carpet of sea pinks stretching down to the Mire Loch (pictured above), which is freshwater! Also on the cliff tops you can see the other common maritime specialist, sea campion, as well as the splashes of yellow bird's-foot-trefoil, and a handful of early purple orchids. But the very special plant to look out for on the cliff tops is the somewhat diminutive purple milk vetch, which is just coming into flower now. It may be small, but its perfectly formed (see below) and is a nationally scarce plant and we have the best populations of it in Berwickshire.

Congratulations...It's a baby Shag.


I was very surprised today to observe the first Shag chicks on the reserve, poking out from under their parents' wings. Although they aren't the cutest of offspring, just grey furry lumps with a head, it was a delight to see the seabird breeding season getting under way. Hopefully these will be the first of many.

As part of my widlife monitoring duties, I observe the breeding activity of Shags (Phalacrocorax aristotelis) at four particular plots every 7-10 days or so. This is to monitor their reproductive success over the season, which helps us to judge the health of the population.

About half of the nests at one of my plots had chicks today, while the other three had none as of yet. These chicks are three days earlier than last year so more evidence of this year's early season.

New St Abbs and Eyemouth Dive Guide out now!

A new dive guide covering the coastal waters off St Abbs and Eyemouth has been produced by the St Abbs and Eyemouth Voluntary Marine Reserve.

Some divers may remember ‘The Grey Dive Guide’ which was first published in the 1980s by Carol Warman and the Berwickshire Divers club which at the time was considered to be an invaluable tool for exploring the marine reserve. ‘A Guide to Diving the St Abbs and Eyemouth Voluntary Marine Reserve’ captures the information contained within the Grey Dive Guide and updates it for modern usage. The guide is also illustrated with stunning photographs of local marine life and scenery which were donated by a number of talented underwater photographers.

The new dive guide is a 32 page A5 booklet printed in full colour throughout. It describes 18 dives within the marine reserve and has maps of all the locations. In addition the guide contains useful information about the local area including background information about the Voluntary Marine Reserve; a description of the habitats and marine life divers might expect to encounter in the coastal waters off St Abbs and Eyemouth; details on how divers can help protect marine life and get involved in the work of the Voluntary Marine Reserve and practical information such as what local diving services are on offer and useful websites to help you plan your trip.
The guide contains a large amount of information in a compact size: it will fit into most divers log books making it the ideal companion on your next visit to the Voluntary Marine Reserve, whether you are just visiting for the day or planning a longer trip.

The guide is on sale for £7 directly from the Marine Ranger or local establishments. To order your copy by post please send a cheque for £7 (+ £1.50 postage and packaging) made payable to ‘St Abbs and Eyemouth VMR’ to The Marine Ranger, Rangers Office, Northfield, St Abbs, TD14 5QF.

All ship shape and bristol fashion?

Wednesday is volunteer day, and we have a team of 4 regular volunteers who come out and help us out as often as they can. Today, however, only John could make it, so he and I went out and polished off some jobs that needed doing but didn't need a group of people to do them. Things like shoring up a waymarker post for the all ability path leading from the visitor centre to Starney Bay, and getting the reserve boat ready for action.

Now, as you can see from the picture of the left, our boat may is not huge, but it is just what we need here at St Abbs. It is small enough to strap onto the top of the truck and drive across the fields to Burnmouth Harbour, where we then have to lift it over a barbed wire fence and carry it down the beach to launch. And its big enough (just!) to fit two people in it, one driving the boat and the other counting the nesting seabirds in the blind spots that we cannot see from the top of the cliffs. All we need to do now is have a test run on the Mire Loch to make sure everything is how it should be, then we are ready to take it out on the sea and count the birds.

I think this picture could be a contender for a caption competition, and as a clue I can say that John could be heard mumbling something about scrubbing bottoms!

A wedding outfit with a difference...

At the very time that today's Royal wedding was taking place our seasonal ranger, Elaine, was getting dressed up in a special outfit too. I was giving her some strimmer training, so this was the first time that she had donned all the gear that is required to keep you safe when operating the machine. Not exactly glamorous, but needs must!

There are lots of people around and about on the reserve today, as we expected, making the most of the extra bank holiday, which is why both Elaine and I are working. We won't be strimming all the day, we will be around and about the property too so that we can be on hand for visitors if they need us.

Eggstraordinarily early season for guillemots!

They do say never work with children and animals, I have worked with both for over 20 years now, and neither of them ever fails to amaze me! The seabirds at St Abbs have been studied for decades, and very detailed records have been kept since the mid 1980s and the guillemots have never been recorded laying before 25th April, and sometimes they will leave it as late as 9th May. So, we were rather taken aback to hear from the folk on the Isle of May, that they had seen their first egg on the 15th, and sure enough, when we went out to check (it was the 21st by now) there were quite a few birds sitting on eggs! Have yet to hear what is going on on the Farnes, but I have no doubt that they will be early too. We are all scratching our heads a bit as to why they are breeding so early; is it something to do with the hard winter, or something to do with the birds reacting to climate change warming North Sea? It'll be interesting to hear from the colonies on the west coast of Scotland to see what is happening there - I am yet to hear back from our Seabird & Marine Ranger on St Kilda.

But whatever is happening elsewhere, we are now keeping a wary eye on all the other seabirds to see if they are going to follow suit; certainly the kittiwakes are nest building already. So, if you are planning a visit to St Abbs to see the seabirds, you may wish to come a couple of weeks earlier than you originally planned! We will keep you posted.

And it just goes to show; however much we humans think we know about the natural world, it can always catch us out and leave us with egg on our faces (sorry...couldn't resist!)

First Small Copper

Hello

I'm Elaine, the new seasonal ranger at beautiful St. Abb's Head. Last year I volunteered part-time with Georgia on the VMR and feel very blessed indeed to be able to spend a whole season here this year. Anyway the most important thing to remember is that I'm the one writing in BROWN.

Yesterday I conducted the first butterfly transect of the season and recorded the first Small Copper (Lycaena phlaeas) of 2011 near Mire Loch. Unfortunately I don't have a photo of it, so just to confuse matters, I did take a photo of the first two butterflies I netted, which turned out to be Green Veined Whites (Pieris napi). Sorry for the poor picture quality, it's really annoying the way bright sunshine spoils photos ;)

VMR events of the web!!!

The Voluntary Marine Reserve will be running a number of events this summer which you can come along to and find out more about the special wildlife that lives beneath the waves. Fancy meeting some marine creatures but don't want to get wet? Then join me for a Seashore Safari amongst the rockpools of the VMR. If you're a diver and want to find out more about the marine life you are seeing underwater, then why not take part in a Seasearch Observer Course? It's a national project that aims to record marine life and habitats in UK waters and increase protection of them. Also for divers, the annual underwater photography compeition, The Splash In will be taking place as usual on the bank holiday weekend at the end of August. So you can see, there's loads going on the VMR for all ages and interests. Visiti www.marine-reserve.co.uk for more information. We look forward to seeing you over the summer!

Bursting out all over!

Wheaters, sand martins, swallows, chiffchaffs, willow warblers, blackcaps - are all here and the warblers (the last three) are definitely a-warbling; and the skylarks are in pretty fine voice too! The shags and the peregrines are on eggs, and although the rest of the seabirds are not totally settled there is plenty of courtship and mating going on, and they are in and around in large numbers more often than not. The swans on the Mire Loch were busily building their nest yesterday - lets hope that they actually use it to hatch some offspring this year, as we haven't had cygnets on the Loch for 3 years now.

On the butterfly front small tortoiseshell, peacock and green veined white have all been spotted. As far as mammals are concerned, we have daily sigthings of roe deer and hares. And Elaine, our new Seasonal Ranger, saw a stoat with a baby in its mouth on the Mire Dam the other day.

The plants are also waking up from the winter. The little bit of blackthorn that we have on the reserve is in flower, which along with one or two wild cherry (or gean) in blossom, adds a splash of white to the sea of yellow gorse around the More Loch. The leaves on some of the early trees, like rowan, hawthorn and sycamore, are starting to burst out and there are two or three whitebeam in the car park that are looking particularly splendid in my eyes!

And who says that St Abbs is all about seabirds?!

Voluntary Marine Ranger needed!

Looking for a career in marine conservation? I am recruiting for a Voluntary Marine Ranger to assist me at the marine reserve over the summer months. This is a full time voluntary post but travel expenses will be paid and a structured training programme offered. (Please note that no accommodation is offered). The post is a 6 month unpaid structured training placement based at the St Abbs and Eyemouth Voluntary Marine Reserve which is near Eyemouth in south-east Scotland. There is 1 post available. The trainee will be involved in raising awareness of the marine environment through education and interpretation. Full training will be given and tasks will involve organising and leading public events – including seashore safaris, beach cleans and guided walks. Plus organising and leading environmental education activities mainly working with school groups, particularly on the rocky shore. Other tasks will include giving talks, community involvement, developing new interpretation material, manning the visitor centre and promoting the St Abbs and Eyemouth Voluntary Marine Reserve Code of Conduct. Training in environmental education techniques and marine species identification will be given as well as ‘on the job’ training from the current Marine Ranger. Excellent interpersonal skills are essential for this post and also enthusiasm for the placement and interpreting the marine environment. Some experience of working with young people would be advantageous. A marine background and knowledge of rocky shores is beneficial but not essential. A driving licence and own transport would be advantageous. The post involves volunteering for 5 days per week and will include unsociable hours at weekends and on bank holidays. The post is subject to an enhanced Police Disclosure Check and references. The volunteer is required to start as soon as possible and finish at the end of September/early October. For more information and/or an informal chat please call Georgia Conolly – 018907 71443 or email gconolly@nts.org.uk. To apply, please send a CV and covering letter to Georgia Conolly, Rangers Office, Northfield, St Abbs, Berwickshire, TD14 5QF or email to gconolly@nts.org.uk. Closing date – 5pm on Monday 18th April.

This week we were visited by Alicia Said from Malta. In Malta divers are campaigning to get an area of rich marine biodiversity called Cirkewwa declared a marine reserve. Frustrated by government red tape, they have decided to follow in the footsteps of the St Abbs and Eyemouth VMR by establishing a voluntary marine reserve. Alicia is actively involved in the project and spent 2 days with us in Scotland sharing information about how it’s done. Find out more about the project at http://www.facebook.com/#!/group.php?gid=105453622821848

More signs of spring

Well, now its definitely spring as our new Seasonal Ranger, Elaine O'Mahony, arrived at St Abbs on Monday! Elaine has decided to swap a life in academia, for a life as a Ranger. Up until recently she was carrying out post-doctorate research on Malaria at Edinburgh University, but decided that this wasn't really fulfilling her love for wildlife and the countryside, so she decided it was time for a change. So over the last year or so, Elaine has been gaining invaluable experience by volunteering for various conservation organisations, including the Marine Reserve last year, helping Georgia out with her educational work. Elaine has a particular passion for seabirds, so is most excited to be living in a bothy in the heart of the reserve, right next door to tens of thousands of seabirds. Although rather camera shy, I did persuade her to pose with some daffodils, which have burst into flower this week along with the primroses. Over the week I have been showing Elaine some of the variety of jobs that we, as Rangers, are expected to turn our hands to; I think the biggest look of surprise I got was when I introduced her to the internal workings of a loo!

Please keep off the grass

Dave and John were with us on Wednesday morning. Not delightful weather, what you might call "atmospheric", as this photo of Dave in action shows, but we managed to get a bit of outside work done before we got too wet and then retreated to the workshop to do one or two indoor jobs. Out and about we were putting in posts on the road verges just above Petticowick. This is an area where people are tempted to pull off the road and park all over the verges, which not only damages our flower rich grasslands, but also can be the cause of congestion. The posts are there to deter folk form doing this. I love this photo of Dave - he has such an expression of determination on his face. A good thing that I couldn't capture the sound effects though!

Separating the wheat(ears) from the (chiff)chaffs

We have had our first migrant - a chiffchaff singing yesterday, a beautiful sound and a real herald of spring. These often dowdy little birds (picture top left) are one of the first migrants to arrive, along with sand martins and wheatears, from their wintering grounds in southern Europe and north Africa. I haven't seen (or heard) any other migrants yet, but definitely worth keeping an eye out.

The warm weather has also meant that Rangers and volunteers have been seen out and about in their summer plumage (aka shirt sleeves) too! I was out with our volunteers, Ernie and John (picture bottom left) this morning filling in potholes in the track up to the lighthouse, which, contrary to popular belief, is not a public road. This is something we do every spring when the potholes dry out and the weather gets warm enough to make the cold tarmac we use easily compactable. Definitely a job similar to painting the Forth Bridge, as there seems to be a never ending supply of holes! And before any of you say "why don't you do a better job rather than just patching it?" the answer to this is three fold: (a) we can't afford it; (b) the potholes will act as speed bumps; and (c) by keeping the track a little rough we hope this acts as a deterrent to too many people using it. We strive to keep traffic to a minimum as it is a nature reserve and vehicles disturb the peace and quiet, and so really only want it to be used by those who cannot walk up to the lighthouse and those accessing the lighthouse. So next time you are thinking of driving up the lighthouse track, please bear this in mind - and don't forget to put your two pounds into the cairn at the top to help us cover the costs of keeping the track open!

Speaking of migrants, another one will be appearing on the reserve next week, our new Seasonal Ranger will be landing at St Abbs on Monday...but more about that next week!

Sightings of furry things...

Our regular volunteer, Dave, has been spending more time on the reserve this week and will continue to do so in the coming months. He is taking a photographic course this year, and the culmination of the course is a project on a favourite place, and Dave has chosen St Abb's Head. Because he wants to make sure that he literally sees the area in a different light, he is camping out in a small building up behind the lighthouse which we call the lookout (although it doesn't really have the windows in the right place to look out on much of interest!). This means he can be on site for sunset and sunrise and anything else in between.

He has not been terribly lucky with spectacular dawns and dusks, but he has seen a fair amount of wildlife during his travels around the reserve, including a stoat in ermine on the footpath to the west of the Mire Loch. Sadly, it was too quick for him to get a shot of it, but above is a shot that fits his description of a white body with a dark face.

Now the lookout is not the most salubrious of accommodation. In fact, it is basically a small stone box, measuring about 10 foot by 6 foot, and somewhat damp and draughty with it. But Dave is a rufty tufty ex-forces man, so he can hack it as you can see form the photo right!

We look forward to seeing the fruits of his labours in May, as well as learning more SAS survival tips from him!

Spring is in the air!

Well it has certainly felt it if you have been lucky enough to be out in the sunshine this week. The daffodils on the road verge by the Visitor Centre car park have buds that are ready to burst; the rooks in the rookery next to the Office have been ripping twigs off the trees with their beaks and building nests; and our neighbours, Northfield Farm, have got lambs in the fields.

Its been a busy old week with loads of stuff being packed in already, and its only Wednesday! On Monday, Georgia and I were interviewing folk for the post of Seasonal Ranger, and I am pleased to say that our preferred candidate bit my hand off when I offered them the job. I will not reveal their identity just yet, but watch this space!

Whilst this was going on we also had the builders in doing a roof inspection and sorting out some drainage problems that were causing rising damp in the Office and the Rangers' Cottage (both listed buildings) and a plumber in sorting out a leaking stopcock in the Cottage (which was rather exacerbating the damp problems!). And we have been trying to tie up the finances at the end of the financial year and write reports for funders, all of which have actually prevented us from getting out in the sun nearly as much as we would have liked!

But today we actually managed to get out there and enjoy it! I was out with our volunteers, John and Dave, this morning, cutting and burning gorse. Now before you start penning a letter signed by "Apoplectic of St Abbs" in defence of the gorse, I don't have an aversion to it per se. It is great for birds and insects and adds a splash of colour all year round and a delicate smell of coconuts on a warm summer day; it is just when it is spreading over our flora rich grasslands that I object to it. So we are tackling the outlying areas, where patches are developing where they shouldn't, and leaving the areas close to the Mire Loch. We have started on the area above the Petticowick car park where there is a patch creeping up on an area important for one of our rare plants, Spring Sandwort (picture right). Not an easy area to tackle as its is on a 45 degree slope, but we didn't let that deter us; John and I cut back the growth, whilst Dave packed it into dumpy bags and dragged it down to the (horizontal) fire site in the car park. Its slow going, but a job well done as the gorse in this area also forms great cover for rabbits, whose grazing also has a detrimental effect on some areas of our grasslands.

Whilst Dave, John and myself were pretending to be mountain goats, Georgia was off carry out a Beached Bird Survey (BBS) on one of the beaches along the coast. The BBS takes place at this time of year each year. It is coordinated by the RSPB and the aim is to assess the effects of marine pollution on seabirds. It basically involves people walking the beaches all around the coast of Britain, recording any dead birds they find and any apparent cause of death (eg oiling). It sounds rather grim, but is actually an excuse for Georgia and I to get out and walk all the beaches of the NNR and VMR, and indeed further along the coast, so it is something we look forward to.

All Quiet on the Eastern Front?

Apologies for there not being a post for some time, but this is not because Georgia and I have been lazing about doing nothing (although, I must admit that we have both been off on leave for a while, so there has been a certain amount of that going on...but not during working hours, of course!). We have, in fact, been pretty busy getting all sorts of things tidied up before the end of the financial year (which is the end of Feb for us at the Trust).

Those with a keen eye will notice that we have had the decorators in, painting the toilet and visitor centre floors and external doors and windows. I have also got them to paint the ceiling of the visitor centre white, so that any light (natural or electrical) is reflected back into the room making it less dark and dingy as it was by the previously dark brown ceiling. In addition, I have had motion sensors fitted, so that the display lights will only be on when they are needed. So all in all we should have reduced our carbon footprint as well as our electricity bills.

Late last year we had the various buildings we own at St Abbs audited by the Energy Saving Trust, so that they could advise us on ways to cut our carbon footprint. I am pleased to say that they were impressed on how small a carbon output we have, and, save a few little tweaks like more insulation and draught proofing, we are doing all the right things. Great news, as because the Trust is a conservation charity, we are always striving to practice what we preach. And climate change is already having a discernible effect on the heritage we are here to protect, both natural and built, so anything we can do to slow the process has got to be good.

Speaking of weather, the volunteers and I have been filling some of the pots holes in the track up to the office, using stone chippings, as it was getting even more rutted than usual. Later in the year, we will fill the holes on the lighthouse track, which are numerous after the freeze/thaw of winter, with tarmac. But there is no point in doing it until the weather is warmer and dryer.

What else? Myself and one of the Trust's Nature Conservation Advisers have been reassessing the management of our grasslands both here at St Abb's Head but also on the piece of land we own up towards Dowlaw. We may take these grasslands for granted but the habitats and species they support are nationally and internationally important. And at the moment there are some areas that are overgrazed and some that are undergrazed and some that are just right (that reminds me of a story from my youth!). So we are looking into what we can do to try and rectify this. And with the topography we have here forming a mosaic of thin soiled knowes (small hills) with thicker soiled areas in between (as shown very nicely on the aerial photo above) its not going to be easy!

We are also in the process of recruiting a new Seasonal Ranger for this year. We had a good crop of applicants and are interviewing next week with a view to them starting towards the end of March. And we have been progressing with our plans for our pARTicipate project, where we will be celebrating the wildlife and environment of St Abbs through all sorts of art, including collaboration with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra and a local visual artist.

Meanwhile, Georgia is in the last throws of putting together a dive guide for the VMR, which is looking great.

So, lots of stuff going on you see, just in a quiet sort of way!

First beach clean of the year at the VMR!

Thanks to the volunteers who came yesterday for a beach clean and litter survey of Linkim Shore, one of the largest beaches in the Marine Reserve. It is also one of the most inaccessible in terms of hauling large amounts of beach litter away, but we managed it!

Winter storms had brought in large quantities of rubbish, including 4 fish boxes, 5 car tyres and 6 creels (lobster pots), along with all the smaller plastic items, such as drinks bottles and pieces of fishing net. As usual, all the items collected were surveyed and the results sent off to the Marine Conservation Society so they can tackle the problem of marine litter at source.

As you can see from the photo, it wasn’t all hard work, and the fish boxes provided an excellent improvised picnic table for a well earned coffee and chocolate biscuit break!

Snowdrops!

And Aconites too...need I say more?

Footpath Update

Well, those of you who are regulars to the property will already have experienced the fruits of the footpath contractors' labours. They have finished their 2 week stint at the seaside now and have gone back into to them there hills. But what a difference they have made. The three areas they worked on: the Wuddy Slope; up above Clafferts Rock and the footpath descending from behind the lighthouse to the disabled parking area; are all now a pleasure to walk on. I think the area at the lighthouse is probably the section that I am most pleased with. You really had to be part mountain goat to navigate that area happily before the work was done, but now Gus and his team have worked their magic I don't think anyone will have a problem with it (see picture top right). And come the spring, when the vegetation starts growing again, then the new turfs will start to grow into place and all the old scars will heal over.

And there is more news on the footpath front too. The Trust has an in-house footpath team, who work mostly in Glencoe, on Ben Lawers and Goatfell on Arran. They have a week to spare in late February and so they will be coming to do some work at St Abbs too. They will be concentrating on the area above Starney Bay where the path is in need of some surfacing and drainage. If they have time, I will ask them to do a bit of owrk around the Mire Loch area too.

All this work has been possible through funding from Scottish Natural Heritage.

A priviledged view

I was meeting with a man from the Northern Lighthouse Board (who maintain the lighthouses in Scotland) today, and I'm pleased to say that I had the forethought to ask him to bring the keys for the lantern house along so that I could have a look inside. I must admit I do have a thing for lighthouses, but it is very important to know everything you can about the one that is slap bang in the middle of the reserve I think!

It was a great day for it, the sun was shining, lighting up the huge lenses with rainbows! Hard to catch the beauty in a photo, but I did rather like the shot above which also shows a reflection of a mysterious lady in black - not a ghost, but the owner of the cottages who is over from the states at the mo!

Christmas outing to Edinburgh Botanical Gardens

We had our Christmas party yesterday - me, Georgia and our four regular volunteers. A little postponed due to the snow in December, but I think more enjoyable for being in January when everything seems to be a little bit dull post festivities. Rather than just going out for a meal, we always go on an expedition to a place of interest, and this year we decided to go to the Royal Botanical Gardens in Edinburgh. The weather was kind, so we had a good walk around outside loitering in the arboretum and alpine areas for the longest. Then we had a delicious meal in the restaurant in the new John Hope Gateway Centre, a quick wander around the glasshouses before back to the Gateway for a quick peek at the art exhibitions and then heading for home.

All in all a great way to say thank you to our vollies for all their hard work during the year!

Picture left to right: Sue, Dave, Georgia, John, Ernie, Liza.

Modern Technology helps throw light on Seabird ecology

Love it or hate it electronic technology is an every day part of our lives, and however cynical you may be as to the need for gadgets to become smaller and smaller, there is no doubt that they have their uses. For example, the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology have been making use of tiny technology to find out more about the ecology of seabirds. Last week they published the following info on their website:

One of Britain's best known seabirds winters on opposite sides of the Atlantic depending on whether its breeding attempt has been successful according to new research published today in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B. The findings highlight previously unsuspected links between summer breeding performance and wintering distributions of kittiwakes.

The research team was led by Dr Maria Bogdanova from the Centre for Ecology & Hydrology (CEH) in conjunction with colleagues from CEH and the British Antarctic Survey (BAS).
The discovery of such patterns of segregated winter distributions is important for defining key wintering areas in declining species such as the kittiwake that are experiencing poor breeding seasons with increasing regularity.

The results show kittiwakes that experienced breeding failure left their colony earlier than successful breeders. Failed breeders then travelled over 3000km and wintered off Canada while their successful neighbours remained close to Britain. The two groups did not differ in the timing of return to the colony the following spring. However, over half the males from both groups made a previously undescribed long-distance journey out into the central Atlantic before the breeding season.

Lead author Dr Maria Bogdanova, an animal population ecologist at the Centre for Ecology & Hydrology, said, “Our results demonstrate important but previously poorly understood links between breeding performance and winter distribution, with significant implications for populations. It is fascinating that successful and unsuccessful pairs nesting only a few metres apart in the colony can be separated by thousands of kilometres in the winter.”

This study used a tiny instrument (1.4g) known as a geolocator for tracking animal migration. During the 2007 breeding season, the team fitted 80 kittiwakes on the Isle of May NNR off the east coast of Scotland, with geolocators.

Geolocators were developed by BAS and have so far been used on animals such as geese, albatrosses, penguins and seals. They make regular recordings of light intensity, data which can be used to generate two geographical positions per day.

Co-author Francis Daunt, a seabird ecologist also from the Centre for Ecology & Hydrology said, “Kittiwakes have declined substantially in the last 25 years over much of their range. Conservation efforts to protect wintering grounds should consider that winter distributions may be shifting as breeding failure is becoming more common.”

Maria and Francis visited St Abb's Head last summer to look at how possible it would be to catch kittiwakes and guillemots for radio tracking, work linked to studying the effects of offshore wind farms on seabird ecology.

The CEH website contains lots of interesting information, why not check it out at http://www.ceh.ac.uk/index.html. Picture top left, a colour ringed kittiwake on the Isle of May (colour rings make it possible to recognise individual birds)

Seabird Summary 2010

At last I have had time to draw together the results of all our hard work last summer monitoring the seabird population at St Abbs. Here is a summary:

Fulmar (picture left) A whole colony count of 175 Apparently Occupied Sites (AOS = a site with a bird sitting tightly on a reasonably horizontal area judged large enough to hold an egg). This is a decrease of 10% on last year (194 AOS) but similar to this and all the counts since 2004, but these counts are all below the 26-year mean (270 AOS).

Shag (picture right) A whole colony count of 157 Apparently Occupied Nests (AON = a well built nest capable of holding eggs with at least one bird in attendance). This is an increase of 14% on last year (138 AON) but similar to this and to all the counts since 2005, but these are all below the 26-year mean (256 AON). Although breeding success was not as good as last year it was exactly on the 21-year mean of 1.19 young fledged per active nest.

Herring Gull (picture left) A whole colony count of 296 AON was an increase of 64% on last year (180 AON). Some of this increase could be due to the count being carried out very early in the season, but the count was not dissimilar to those carried out over the last few years and is below the 26-year mean of 362 AON.

Kittiwake (picture right) A whole colony count of 4,744 AON was an increase of 3% on last year (4,616 AON) but less than half the 26-year mean of 11,102 AON. Although the breeding population has decreased by nearly three-quarters since 1989, the counts for the last couple of years are about the same as those from the 1950s. The breeding success of 0.48 young fledged per active nest is down on last year but a significant increase on the previous 3 years. However, still below the 24-year mean of 0.62.

Guillemot (picture left) Whole colony counts not carried out annually due to the large numbers involved, however a series of counts are made at fixed monitoring plots during the first three weeks of June and a figure for the sum of the plot means is calculated and compared with previous years. This year showed a decrease of 24% on last year but was similar to the two previous years but below the 26-year average.

Razorbill (picture right) Similar to guillemots whole colony counts not carried out annually, but counts made at fixed monitoring plots. A similar decrease to the guillemots, with numbers being 23% down on last year and below the 26-year average.

Puffin (picture left) The maximum number of birds ashore on an evening in late June are counted, this year there were just 9 which was slightly less than the last year (11) but in the same sort of region as the last 3 years.

So, all in all not really a very remarkable year, except that all the species are follwing a general downward trend from the glory years seen in the late 1980s and early 90s.

Footpath Update

Work on the Wuddy Steps is progressing pretty well (picture left). They have one problem though - the ground is very frozen, just what they came down from the mountains to avoid! This makes is difficult when trying to utilise topsoil to surface the path as it will not pack down as tight as usual. Plus, it means that the turfs that are used to help the works blend into the landscape are not packing down very well either. I have told the contractors that it is not usual for us here at the seaside, but that doesn't help them much!

Nevertheless, they are still hoping to finish the Wuddy Slope section by the middle of next week and move on up to the lighthouse from there. The guys tell me that they are getting a few regulars passing by each day, but were bemoaning that no-one had brought them any cakes. So, if you are a keen baker and fancy a walk, you know where to go!

First Footing?

We are starting the New Year with getting some footpath repairs done on the worst areas on the coast path. Work started at the Wuddy Steps yesterday with the four man team, led by Angus Turner, spending the whole day transporting a stockpile of suitable stones up from the beach at Burnmouth Harbour - no mean feat when you see the size of the stones that they are using (picture right - double click on the image and you can enlarge it)!

Those of you who are regulars on the property will know the Wuddy Steps well as they are so eroded that they seem to have been designed for use by giants! Consequently, they are so uncomfortable to use that most people don't bother, they pick their own route, which has resulted in the path getting very braided ie lots of different paths being formed. This is not only a bit of an eyesore, but also causes damage to our wildflower-rich grasslands.

We are using a technique called pitching, which is not quite cobbling, and not quite steps but where stone is dug into the ground to form an and easy to walk on yet erosion resistant surface. This technique is usually used for upland footpaths, and is very specialised work, so we have engaged Angus and his team, who are specialist upland footpath contractors to carry it out. We are also re -routing the path very slightly to take some of the gradient out of it. The lady in red in the picture to the left is demonstrating very nicely where the path should (and will) be!

Obviously, there will be a bit of a disruption to access to this area of the coast path whislt they are working, but you will be able to get past them, and feel free to ask questions, they will be happy to answer you. They will only be working on this area for about a week, then they will move up to do a couple of areas near the lighthouse. I will keep you posted on their progress.

Season's Greetings!

Just winding everything up ready to go off for my Christmas break. Obviously the property will be open for anyone to enjoy during the festive period, as it is all year round, but I am just making sure that things are in order, buildings drained down etc so that I don't have sleepless nights and/or emergency call outs over the holidays.

Here's wishing all our readers a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year,

Liza and Georgia.

Going off road

Headed up the lighthouse road yesterday afternoon as the sun was going down. No vehicle had been up the track except the farm's quad to feed the stock, and then it had only gone to the top of the slope heading down towards Petticowick - very sensible, but the resultant tracks did confuse the mind somewhat (picture right). Well, at least the bunnies knew the correct route!

In the bleak midwinter

So, today is the winter solstice, the shortest day of the year; which means from now on the days will be getting longer -cause for celebration in anyone's book I would say! A day on which the sun worshipping Norsemen of old would light bonfires and gather round them to tell stories and drink sweet ale; and the Romans would light candles, deck out their houses with greenery and even indulge in a little cross dressing!

Although I didn't partake of any of these activities as I did the rounds this morning, I did notice how the sun being so low in the sky makes the snow sparkle like diamonds and really brings out the reddy-purple colour of the old Devonian sandstone cliffs - stunning!

No wind today to bring the maritime air inland either, so the White Heugh is white with snow on top as well as guano on the ledges (picture left). If you look carefully you might see a few black spots on the ledges as there were a few guillemots on the cliffs again today.

Just visiting...

I go away for a few days holiday, leaving St Abb's Head looking like a winter wonderland, and I return just a few days later to find it all green again. And what do I see when I go up to the lighthouse - guillemots on the cliffs? Enough to make me feel like I have just woken up from a few months hibernation!

On the whole guillemots tend to disappear out to sea after they have finished breeding in July. Then they spend the winter out at sea, and return to their nest sites to start the whole breeding process again in April. But every now and again, some of the birds turn up on the cliffs during the winter months. No-one is really sure why they come back in, as they really are seabirds in the true sense of the word, being far better adapted for life on the briny than on land. And there doesn't seem to be any pattern to it either, so it is just a matter of chance as to whether you happen to see them or not. But it is a welcome sight (and sound!) when they are in, because however magnificent the coastline may look out of the seabird season, the cliffs still seem to be lacking a certain something!