Despite the huge storm which hit North Berwick last week, which we captured on video, we’re delighted to say the Seabird Centre's Discovery Centre, Café and Gift Shop are open from 10am-6pm daily.
World renowned mystifier, Uri Geller visited the Scottish Seabird Centre earlier this month in search of treasure buried on Lamb island, close to the Centre, by Pharaoh Princess Scota.
Fancy a trip to the Seabird Centre to take part in one of our new exciting workshops?
Need a grant to pay for it?
There have been several calls to the Scottish Seabird Centre this month reporting young seal pups on the beaches around North Berwick. Grey seals have their pups at this time of year and the islands in the Firth of Forth are important breeding grounds which means that pups will sometimes come ashore. In most cases, the pups are tired and will return to the sea on the tide. They should not be approached as this may scare them into the sea or may result in the mother abandoning them, because she picks up the scent. Dogs should be kept on a lead. Pups can also give a serious bite. If a pup is injured or in distress, please call the Seabird Centre on 01620 890202 or the SSPCA on 03000 999 999.
The mothers haul out on the islands in their hundreds from early October onwards and pups are born from mid October. The pups are weaned at about 3-4 weeks and the last pup heads out to sea to fend for itself towards the end of December.
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The first seal pup of the year on the Isle of May was spotted from the Seabird Centre on Sunday 11th October by Noah (age 6) and Joe (age 4) McDermott, members of the Seabird Centre. The boys received a fluffy 'toy' seal pup as a prize. The arrival of the first pup marks the beginning of the amazing winter spectacle, when hundreds of grey seals arrive on the islands of the Firth of Forth to pup, the largest of these being the Isle of May with over 3,000 (the largest colony on the east coast of Britain). The pups have white fur, a link to their Arctic origins. There is now also a small colony of about 100 grey seals on Craigleith Island, close to the Seabird Centre and several cameras are focused here for close observation.
Seabird Centre staff and volunteers have produced a series of Seal Diary Podcasts - you can link to these here. The cameras are also used by scientists to monitor wildlife closer than would be possible in the wild.
For new developments and the latest news from the Education Department see our Education News page.
There have been an unusually large number of dolphins spotted in the Firth of Forth in the last six weeks, according to reports from the Scottish Seabird Centre at North Berwick, including several from the Seabird Seafari boat trips which go out to the Bass Rock daily throughout the summer. The sightings have included reports of very large groups of up to 75 dolphins. Check out the latest Dolphin and Whale Sightings and see the feature in the the Edinburgh Evening News.
Lynda Dalgleish of the award-winning Seabird Centre commented, “We are an official Seawatch Foundation watching site and many sightings are made or reported from here, making it an important link for Seawatch and the Whale & Dolphin Conservation Society. We have seen a marked increase in the number of sightings in the last couple of weeks with groups of dolphins swimming alongside boats and leaping and diving in the bay. On 30th July, between Craigleith island and the Seabird Centre 20-30 dolphins followed the sailing dinghies taking part in the annual Solo National Sailing Championships.”
Protecting Our Seabirds
The Scottish Government has announced that it is to extend 31 Special Protection Areas (SPAs) to give seabird feeding grounds the same protection as their nesting colonies on the land.
The Seabird Centre’s Green Team meets every month to try to make sure that the Centre continues to lead by example and “walk the talk” in environmental issues. Below is some of their news.
The Green Team is asking for your help in recycling mobile phones and ink cartridges with Recyle4Charity.co.uk. There’s a collection box permanently situated in the Picture Gallery at the Scottish Seabird Centre. It helps the environment and also helps to raise much needed funds for the Centre. We hope you will be able to help.
Lobster Hatchery Plans For North Berwick
Jura Consultants, appointed to carry out the feasibility study for the proposed lobster hatchery in North Berwick, undertook a major public consultation in the town and surrounding areas earlier this year.
There have been a number of otter sightings reported to the Scottish Seabird Centre from East Bay and the rocks around the harbour at North Berwick. Kitty WIlkie, Dave Brotherton and Colin Craig of North Berwick have all reported several sightings of an otter in East (or Milsey) Bay while out kayaking, and Mike Prince of North Berwick enjoyed watching a young otter, and listening to its noisy squeaking, as it played on the Platcock Rocks, close to the Seabird Centre and ate a crab.
4th August - 8.45pm - Lynda Dalgleish was delighted to spot her first otter, again on the Platcock Rocks swimming and diving in the rockpools.
The good news is that Maximus the gannet chick, rescued from the Bass Rock by the Seabird Centre and then looked after in the Marr's family garden by Pat Macaulay, has now been released to join his mates. The little gannet chick, christened Maximus by Seabird Centre staff, found media fame as the latest ever chick born on the Bass Rock. His parents finally abandoned him in December and he was rescued by the Seabird Centre and BBC's Environment Correspondent Louise Batchelor and taken in Gordon Easingwood's trawler "The Fisher Lassie".
Maximus the record breaking gannet chick who found fame recently when rescued from the gannet colony on the Bass Rock by the Scottish Seabird Centre at North Berwick, has been spending this week at the Mousehole Wild Bird Hospital in Cornwall to get fattened up before taking the plunge into the real world. The hospital has told us that he is doing very well and is learning to feed himself which will be vital when he starts flying and diving for fish himself in the next few weeks after being released. A local fishing boat had generously offered to take the young gannet out to sea to release him, but due to extreme sea conditions in Cornwall, the hospital is now looking at the prospect of releasing him into the local bay, where there is a good stock of fish, and they will be able to keep an eye on his progress.
Maximus the gannet set a UK record for the latest chick ever recorded when he was plucked to safety on 4 December from the Bass Rock in the Forth. Read more and see the BBC News Video here.
The gannet chick has now been taken in a Sea King helicopter by the Royal Navy Air Rescue Team from HMS Gannet in Prestwick to Cornwall. The 14-week-old bird would struggle to survive if released into the North Sea. Maximus has been taken to Mousehole Wild Bird Hospital and Sanctuary to recover. After a few days being fed and fattened up, he will then be taken by local fisherman, Nigel Legge, out to sea off the coast of Cornwall. headed towards Spain, where it is hoped he will meet up with his fellow gannet chicks and learn to dive for fish. Scottish Seabird Centre Bass Rock guide Maggie Sheddan said the move would give Maximus "an excellent fighting chance". Ms Sheddan said: "I'm really happy, it is absolutely superb of HMS Gannet to do this for Maximus.
Maximus the Gannet Chick was rescued from the Bass Rock and being looked after in the Marr family's rescue garden, where he's had a visit to the vet to check everything was OK and has been enjoying a diet of sea bass and salmon to feed him up. He'll spend the next few weeks being fed by Pat Macauley in the garden with mostly mackerel. It's hoped that he can be returned to the wild around Christmas time, once he has fledged and can begin the long journey south to the Bay of Biscay and onto West Africa.
With the number and size of lobsters caught in the Firth of Forth decreasing, suggesting a decline in the species, the award-winning Scottish Seabird Centre at North Berwick in Scotland is in initial discussions with partners for a joint venture to establish a lobster hatchery in the area.
A PLAN has been hatched to create the first lobster farm in mainland Scotland to boost supplies in the Forth. The Scottish Seabird Centre wants to set up a hatchery at North Berwick harbour in order to create sustainable lobster fishing for the future. It is hoped local fishermen will sell female lobsters to the hatchery allowing their offspring to be reared to the stage where they are strong enough to be returned to the sea. Initial discussions are underway for the scheme, which as well as boosting the local lobster population, would include a new research and education centre opened to visitors.
Charlie Marshall, fundraising and development manager at the Scottish Seabird Centre, said: "Working with local fishermen, the plan would be to keep the lobsters in tanks until the eggs hatch. We would then return the hens and keep the fry in tanks."
In the wild, fewer than one per cent of lobsters survive beyond two weeks, but around 40 per cent of the young can be expected to survive in the hatchery. After around three months of being reared in tanks to boost their strength, the lobsters would be taken by boat and released back into the Firth of Forth by scuba divers.
Tom Brock, chief executive of the Seabird Centre, said: "This is an excellent idea which has come from the local community. "A lot of work and fundraising needs to be done to turn the idea into a reality. However the benefits, which are closely linked to the centre's charitable objectives, would be significant. They would include supporting communities, boosting tourism, creating jobs and further revitalising North Berwick's historic harbour."
Mr Brock and Mr Marshall are due to travel to Cornwall next week to visit the National Lobster Hatchery at Padstow (www.nationallobsterhatchery.co.uk). Run as a successful commercial venture, with an education and research centre, the centre releases around 12,000 lobsters in the later juvenile stages along the Cornish coastline each year.
The John Muir Odyssey, East Lothian, 2009
One of the flagship events of Homecoming Scotland 2009, the John Muir Odyssey, will follow in the footsteps of John Muir, celebrating the life and legacy of this great Scot, regarded as “the Father of modern day conservation”. From his birthplace in East Lothian, with an exciting itinerary, by land and sea, the Odyssey promises dramatic scenery, spectacular coastline and the amazing wildlife that inspired John Muir.
For the next 3 days, adventurer Andy Strangeways will be spending a night on each of the islands of Fidra, Craigleith and the Bass Rock in hisattempt to become the first person to sleep on all of the 162 Scottish islands that are forty hectares and above. You may catch a glimpse of Andy on our webcams and you can visit his site to find out moreat the island man website.
First Minister of Scotland Launches First Ever Homecoming Year
June 16, 2008
Rt Hon Alex Salmond, MSP, First Minister of Scotland this week launched the country’s first ever Homecoming year, at Edinburgh Castle.
PUFFIN numbers on one of Scotland's strongholds have dropped by 30 per cent in five years. It is believed Scotland's most popular seabird could be suffering because of a lack of food supply caused by warming seas as a result of climate change. The Isle of May in the Firth of Forth is home to the largest colony of puffins in the North Sea. After almost 40 years of numbers rapidly increasing on the island, the puffin population has now dramatically fallen.
Five years ago there were 69,000 pairs of puffins on the Isle of May but now numbers have dropped to just 41,000 pairs. This contrasts to 100,000 pairs that scientists had expected to find if numbers had continued growing at previous rates. Professor Mike Harris from the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, who led the research, has been studying puffins on the Isle of May for the past three decades. He said: "Something worrying appears to have happened over last winter and probably the one before.
"Puffins appear to be joining the ranks of other seabirds in the North Sea that are suffering reduced breeding success and decline in numbers."
He thinks the most likely cause is sea warming, which has an impact on the amount of plankton in the water. With fewer plankton the fish that feed on them are affected, and so are the puffins that rely on the fish to feed.
"Puffins can probably cope quite well with a change of sea temperature," he said. "It doesn't affect them directly but just through the food supply."
He said when the birds returned to the Isle of May this year to breed they were very underweight compared to normal, backing up the theory they are struggling to find enough food. "It's too early to start talking about the demise of the puffins but we need to understand what's going on," he said.
He said another possibility is that large numbers decided to have a year off from breeding. But this is very unlikely. "We also need to widen the survey to include other colonies in the North Sea to measure to what extent the population is declining in the area," he said.
Caroline Warburton, manager of Wild Scotland, said it was worrying, as puffins were a huge tourist attraction. "They are by far the favourite seabird. If they suffer a similar drop over the next few years, it would become much rarer to see puffins."
It is, according to no less an authority than Sir David Attenborough, one of the most exhilarating wildlife experiences available to man: a sight on a par with the migration of the wildebeest across the African savannah or the awesome swarming of the monarch butterfly in the streaming forests of Mexico.
This summer, British nature lovers will be given the chance to experience at first hand the extraordinary sights, sounds and smells of the world's largest colony of northern gannets.
To a packed theatre week at the Scottish Seabird Centre, North Berwick, the world authority on gannets and boobies, Dr Bryan Nelson, gave a fascinating insight into the world of the gannets on the Bass Rock.
Dr Nelson, the world's leading expert on gannets and acclaimed author of the “The Atlantic Gannet” gave a personal insight into his work on the Bass Rock and the seabirds that live on this unique island in the Firth of Forth. Dr Nelson has had an enduring association with the Bass Rock and its seabirds, spanning over 40 years. A lifetime devoted to the observation and study of gannets and boobies began in 1961 when he began married life with his wife June, living on the Bass Rock , studying the birds for three years from 1961-63.
Edinburgh Castle and Kelvingrove top visitor attractions in record year
A record number of people were drawn to visitor attractions across Scotland last year with Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Edinburgh Castle being named as the most popular places.
SCOTTISH SEABIRD CENTRE SEES INCREASE OF OVER 25% IN VISITOR NUMBERS
- 284,702 people visit award winning five star attraction in North Berwick -
P6/7 pupils from Law Primary School, North Berwick have become fully fledged junior tour guides in a new pilot programme developed with the Seabird Centre with support from East Lothian Council. The pupils spent six weeks learning about the Seabird Centre and its wildlife and being coached as tour guides and it is now their chance to perform to family, teachers and other school children visiting the Seabird Centre.
Emma Gardiner, the Seabird Centre's Education Officer comments, “The children have been very excited about the programme and there was quite a bit of pressure on the children as they had to memorise and present a script, but their presentations were very impressive.”
The Herald's photographer Julie Howden enjoyed a visit to the Bass Rock this week with the Seabird Centre's exclusive photographic boat trips. These are organised twice a week and can be booked by calling 44 (0) 1620 890202 or at info@seabird.org. See Julie's "Herald" gallery of her experience on the Bass Rock.
Forward Vision’s MIC1 series-Pan, Tilt and Zoom (PTZ) CCTV cameras (also known as Metal Mickeys) have helped turn the Scottish Seabird Centre into a world leader in sustainable, remote wildlife watching.
The Scottish Seabird Centre is one of the Millennium successes and now a world leader in remote wildlife viewing. It is located at North Berwick on the Forth Estuary, about half an hour’s drive from Edinburgh. The area is internationally renowned for colonies of many seabirds, such as gannets, kittiwakes and puffins. Hundreds of thousands of them come each year to breed on islands such as the Bass Rock and the Isle of May.
Winners of “Nature of Britain” Photographic Competition announced
Scottish Seabird Centre welcomes Ship to Ship decision but calls for better protection of Scotland’s seas
The Scottish Seabird Centre welcomes today’s announcement by Forth Ports not to proceed with the plans for ship to ship oil transfers in the Firth of Forth. The Seabird Centre has been campaigning against the proposals since they were first announced, organising petitions and events as well as lobbying politicians whenever possible.
The first puffin of the year was spotted on Tuesday 1st April by Mr and Mrs Leftley (and their 20 month old son, Francis) from Birmingham, who were visiting the Seabird Centre while on holiday. They were delighted with their prize of a puffin backpack.
The puffins are flighty before finally settling down on the islands to nest and can easily be disturbed. The extreme weather conditions, we believe, may have had an effect and we hope that they will soon return. The Seabird Centre is leading a five year project to reinstate the puffins on Craigleith and Fidra Islands which have been driven away by an invasive plant Tree Mallow. The Mallow Bashers, aka the team of volunteers have been working hard in readiness for the puffins returning. With their arrival imminent, much of the work on the islands will stop until the end of the puffin season at the end of July. Visit the SOS Puffin page for more information.
Scottish Seabird Centre wins VisitScotland’s Tourism Business of the Year
The Scottish Seabird Centre at North Berwick has won the VisitScotland Tourism Business of the Year Award. The award was announced at the 2008 National Business Awards for Scotland, sponsored by Orange, when more than 500 business leaders, press and other VIPs attended a ceremony at the Hilton Glasgow Hotel, hosted by BBC television Reporting Scotland presenter David Robertson.
