Remember, Remember, the eggs of November...

As seabird fieldworkers, one of the questions we are asked most often is ‘How do you count the birds?’ It certainly isn’t an easy task, and it’s one that we have been spending a lot of time on recently. This week we finally finished our incubation counts for Atlantic Yellow-Nosed Albatrosses, Sooty Albatrosses and Northern Rockhopper Penguins. For each species, we have to work out how many pairs of birds are incubating eggs within a number of study areas. This is a huge undertaking, but is worthwhile as it helps us to understand any long-term changes in behaviour or population sizes. Each species came with its own challenges. The Penguins huddle together in huge groups and nip at our legs as we walk through, and trying to find a Sooty Albatross nest through thick fog is nigh on impossible! Not that we're complaining; it was a lot of fun and gave us a great excuse to explore new parts of the island.

We finished just in time; the Penguin eggs will be hatching any day now so we’ll be back out in the colonies counting chicks very soon. We’ll then leave them in peace until they are almost ready to fledge, when we’ll go back to count how many have made it through this most vulnerable stage of their lives. By comparing all of these numbers, we will know how successful this year’s breeding season has been for each of the 3 species. 

Room with a view; a particularly imposing Molly nest (David Kinchin-Smith)

Hunting Sooty Albatross nests up in the hills (David Kinchin-Smith)

Sooty Albatrosses also nest on coastal cliffs (Em Witcutt)

Not ideal counting conditions! (Em Witcutt)

Sooty Albatrosses blend into their rocky background very well... (Em Witcutt)

How many Penguins can you see? (David Kinchin-Smith)

Standing out from the crowd... a semi-leucistic Rockhopper Penguin (Em Witcutt)

Em