Glasgow Seabird Group contributing to the Seabirds Count
Published: 10 October 2018
This summer the Glasgow Seabird Group helped out contributing to the Seabirds Count - a project aiming to census all seabirds in Britain and Ireland.
This summer the Glasgow Seabird Group helped out contributing to the Seabirds Count - a project aiming to census all seabirds in Britain and Ireland. This census got started in 2015 and should be finished by 2019. More information can be found here: jncc.defra.gov.uk/page-7413
As part of this we visited Lady Isle and Balnagowan to help out - two colonies off the west coast of Scotland - to count gulls, cormorants and shags. While the Lady Isle birds seem to be doing rather well, the gull population on Balnagowan seems to be in decline. While counting the nests we also recorded the presence of plastic, which was present in many nests, especially on Lady Isle.
Ringed gull on Lady Isle (photo by Danni Thompson)
Shag on Lady Isle (photo by Danni Thompson)
Balnagowan
Gull nest on Balnagowan containing a large amount plastic and two eggs, one of which is about to hatch
First published: 10 October 2018