Back at the start of July I took up the reins in the island's Fulmar breeding productivity project, a study which involved walking the North coast cliffs daily and noting the stage of progress of a pre-selected bunch of Fulmar nests.
Fast forward a month, and it's now become more of a daily emotional challenge than a productivity study, as scruffy balls of fluff gain feathers and begin to turn into pristine, ocean-bound flying machines. It's been nothing less than magical watching the adult-chick interactions of a bird I only ever previously shrugged off as an overgrown Herring Gull lookalike.
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| 15 days old |
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| 36 days old |
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| 43 days old |
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| 53 days old- ready to go to hit the ocean |
As of today, 22 chicks have already fledged, and the final six will no doubt leave in the coming week, following in the wake of the now departed Puffins and Lesser Black-backed Gulls. The cliffs just won't be the same without these mellow, majestic beauties flying around my head...
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