Isle of May seabird studies in 2002
During the 2002 season, weather conditions on the Isle of May were poor, with much more rain than usual, and strong westerly and easterly winds. Common guillemots, razorbills, Atlantic puffins and black-legged kittiwakes experienced lower breeding success relative to the long-term average, although...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Report |
| Language: | unknown |
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JNCC
2003
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/6599/ http://www.jncc.gov.uk/pdf/jncc338.pdf |
| Summary: | During the 2002 season, weather conditions on the Isle of May were poor, with much more rain than usual, and strong westerly and easterly winds. Common guillemots, razorbills, Atlantic puffins and black-legged kittiwakes experienced lower breeding success relative to the long-term average, although common guillemots and razorbills did better than in 2001. In contrast, northern fulmars had their best season since 1995, and European shags had their best season ever. Timing of breeding for all species was normal, although European shags and black-legged kittiwakes started breeding earlier than in 2001. Return rates for razorbills and Atlantic puffins were close to the long-term average, whereas those for common guillemots and black-legged kittiwakes were around 6% lower. European shag return rates, in contrast, were much higher than the long-term average. Lesser sandeels Ammodytes marinus were the predominant prey items for all species except common guillemots, which mainly brought back clupeids for their chicks. Northern fulmars had a relatively productive season, with breeding success estimated at 0.48 chicks per incubating pair. This is above the long-term average and the highest success since 1995. European shags had an extremely productive breeding season. Breeding started earlier than in 2001 and overall breeding success (1.66 chicks per incubated nest) was the highest recorded since intensive monitoring began in 1986. Black-legged kittiwakes started breeding earlier than in 2001, but conditions appeared less than favourable at the start of the season and losses were high during incubation. Breeding success (0.47 chicks per pair laying) was much lower than in 2001, and below the long-term average. Common guillemot productivity in 2002 (0.68 young per pair laying) was the third lowest value recorded since monitoring began in 1986 and continued the trend of declining breeding success noted in recent years. Some chicks were temporarily neglected, but fledging weights were close to the long-term average. ... |
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