If you've LOVED this feed and fancy working on a cracking island in the Outer Hebrides this summer with brilliant seabirds and a top class team at the National Trust for Scotland then the Mingulay Seabird Ranger 2026 job is up for grabs! 🐦
Apply here: www.nts.org.uk/volunteering...
#NTSSeabirds
The first drone census of the St Kilda gannet colony is now published in Scottish Birds!
We counted 59,205 AOS in 2023 - similar to previous years. The overall impact of #HPAI appears less than at some other colonies, with notable declines in flatter areas 🧮
#ornithology #seabirds #NTSseabirds
Great to see our #NTSSeabirds and marine life well represented at #EdinburghZoo 's #GiantLanterns exhibition last night 🙂
Thanks to #StKildaClub for the invitation to speak at their annual reunion.
@n-t-s.bsky.social
@edinburghzoo.bsky.social
A Fulmar glides through the sunset with Carn Mor beyond. A quiet night up there, with many of our nocturnal seabirds now departed.
#NTSSeabirds
#SuperSeabirdSunday
podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/o...
The ‘our ocean’ podcast has some great #seabird content including guillemot jumplings and gulls - menace or marvel :)
Find it wherever you get your podcasts.
#NTSseabirds
Thermoregulation is very important for humans and seabirds alike. Stay hydrated this week people!
#NTSSeabirds
The Bonxie in the foreground is one of the few remaining ringed birds (WSWR) from an intensive study conducted between 2007 and 2009 here on #StKilda. Great to see this bird, ringed as an adult in 2009, still going strong post #HPAI outbreak.
#NTSSeabirds
@theseabirdgroup.bsky.social
4 of our 6 Arctic Skua chicks have fledged on #StKilda, with the remaining 2 not far away now either. Both were hunkered down a couple of days ago, but will soon be on the wing too.
#NTSSeabirds
#SuperSeabirdSunday
Really pleased to have contributed to this epic survey of >59,000 pairs of gannets! The St Kilda colony was less impacted by HPAI than other colonies, perhaps because steep cliffs reduced disease transmission. Flatter areas of the colony suffered greater losses.
#ornithology #seabirds #NTSseabirds
Results from the 2023 #StKilda Gannet census are to be published in the December issue of #ScottishBirds, revealing relative stability in what is once again the world's largest colony, despite fears that #HPAI may have had a greater impact on the population
#NTSSeabirds
@scottishbirding.bsky.social
Most Guillemot jumplings will have jumped by now from #StKilda and be heading out to sea with their dads, whilst some Kittiwake chicks aren't far from fledging age now either.
#NTSSeabirds
#SuperSeabirdSunday
Check out the fabulous seasonal highlights board updated today by our amazingly talented biosecurity volunteer, Hebe! Those stormies are incredible 😍
@n-t-s.bsky.social
#NTSSeabirds
intimate views of the #StKilda Gannet colony are a rare privilege, due mainly to difficult access, but we were able to land on Boreray a couple of weeks ago in order to conduct a census, for which the results will be shared when analysed. Glorious seabirds! 😍
#SuperSeabirdSunday
#NTSSeabirds
A day playing the sound of calling European Storm Petrels into crevices in rocky boulder fields. If storm petrels are breeding on Mingulay, there’s a chance the real birds will call back to our portable speaker.
No luck today, but a brilliant way to explore the magical island 🤩
#NTSSeabirds
The smiling faces of 3 people who witnessed guillemot chicks fledge from the cliffs last night.
SUCH a privilege to follow these birds from egg laying in early May, to hatching, rearing chicks and to see them successfully fledging.
WHAT A TIME TO BE ALIVE!!
#NTSSeabirds
Fab NTS volunteers Kate and Yvette helping to collect guillemot diet study data.
Sandeels and Clupeids (herring and sprats) seemed to be the most numerous fish being fed to chicks today 🐥 🐟
#NTSSeabirds
One of many young Fulmars taking shelter under their parents during a grey and drizzly couple of days on #StKilda this weekend. #SuperSeabirdSunday
#NTSseabirds
Out on the seabird cliffs with NTS volunteers Kate and Yvette today. They’ve been completely brilliant at helping to monitor the Kittiwakes on Mingulay. Chicks ahoy! 🐣🐥🐣🐥🐥🐥🐣🐥🐣🐥🐣🐥🐥
#NTSSeabirds
Pufflings first weigh-in on #stkilda part of long term puffin monitoring. #SuperSeabirdSunday #NTSseabirds @stkildawhs.bsky.social
www.nts.org.uk/stories/seab... it would be amazing if you could submit this picture :) thanks #NTSseabirds
The great news from #StKilda this #superseabirdsunday is that following a significant decline since 1999, our Kittiwake population is creeping ever closer back up to 4 figures this year, with 989 nests recorded last week!
#NTSSeabirds
@smp-seabirds.bsky.social
Cracking day monitoring the seabirds on Mingulay with brilliant volunteer Tom.
Guillemots, razorbills, kittiwakes and shags ALL have chicks - 2025 seabird season is cooking on gas 🔥🧯🚒
#NTSSeabirds
Rocky island with grass on the top, viewed from a boat. If you zoom in really close you can just make out some seabirds on the island, including puffins!
Scenic landscape showing grass in the foreground with the sea behind. There are rocky islets in the sea.
Highland cow standing at the side of a quiet country road.
A great 2nd week working for @n-t-s.bsky.social, helping to count #seabirds around Iona! 🐣 Getting accurate counts is an important first step in measuring and understanding long-term trends in seabird populations 📉
#NTSseabirds @smp-seabirds.bsky.social
Huge WHOPPING thanks to Richard Luxmoore who has counted and mapped ALL of the Great Skua (Bonxie) territories across Mingulay.
Total number of apparently occupied territories is 74 - up from 44 for the last 2 years. Hopefully a sign of recovery from avian flu 🤞🤞🤞
#NTSSeabirds
#SuperSeabirdSunday
Mingulay and Berneray are proudly rat free! 🐀
Wonderful to welcome Rachel Cripps and Reid the dog from Biosecurity for Scotland to the islands today.
Reid found no signs of rats during a sweep of the buildings and the boat landing areas.
This is GREAT news for our seabirds!
#NTSSeabirds
BONXIES IN THE MIST!
First Great Skua egg of the Mingulay 2025 season found today by ultimate champion volunteer Zoë Stevenson.
#NTSSeabirds
#SuperSeabirdSunday
Puffin productivity is monitored annually on #StKilda to establish trends in breeding success over time. The plot was visited for the first time this year by #NTSSeabirds Ecologist Liz and the St Kilda Ranger. Here's hoping for positive results this year.
#SuperSeabirdSunday
A mountain covered in fog
A sunny mountain landscape
The difference a few days makes on #stkilda Hoping the fog lifts so we can get out and monitor some #NTSseabirds today!
