Seabirds on the iconic Farne Islands in the North Sea have had a good breeding season thanks to a healthy population of sandeels and despite a mixed year in terms of weather conditions, new data has revealed.
Figures from the Farne Islands, which examines how productive seabirds have been in terms of the number of fledged chicks, has shown that during the 2008 season four of the six key species on the Farne Islands surveyed – shags, eider ducks, guillemots and razorbills - have had an excellent year.
David Steel, National Trust Head Warden on the Farne Islands, said:
'Many seabird colonies have suffered badly this year with the cold spring and wet summer and through a lack of sandeels, the staple food of the seabirds, which can be catastrophic for any seabird colony. It’s been a reasonably trouble-free summer for the Farne Islands with a good supply of sandeels around the Islands and the seabirds have managed to come through the poor weather conditions.'
The Farne Islands are home to more than 80,000 pairs of breeding seabirds.
David Steel continued:
'The islands witnessed a year-on-year increase in the population of several species but more importantly eider and shag numbers. Both species reported their best breeding seasons in over ten years.'
Results suggest that the islands are bucking the trend of the majority of seabird colonies in the UK, as figures indicate another poor breeding season for seabirds in general. This has partly been due to a dramatic drop in sandeel populations, something that the Farne Islands has apparently managed to avoid.
Other birds on the Islands
- Puffins on the Farne Islands have had a rollercoaster year. Results from the major puffin count this summer showed that the numbers of breeding pairs on the Islands were down, whereas over 86 per cent of all monitored nests reported successes during the year.David Steel commented: 'Overall puffin numbers are down by a third in the last five years yet the numbers of puffin chicks are fairly healthy. More research is needed into what is happening to the puffins during the winter months and why they’re not coming back.'
- All three nesting tern species - sandwich, Arctic and common - had average seasons but populations remained high, maintaining the islands as a very important reserve for all three. However concern remains for the islands kittiwake population, as numbers dropped to their lowest levels since 1981 and productivity remained low.
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