Cliff Top Web Cam
The Scottish Seabird Centre is the world's number one remote wildlife viewing attraction. The webcam images refresh every five seconds and are transmitted live from our cameras. If they appear black, green or frozen, the cameras may have been switched off overnight or to allow researchers on the islands to carry out their work.
The seabirds are all starting to return to the islands and you should start to catch glimpses of them on our live webcams. You can also watch Wildlife Film Highlights from last season, including the seal pups born at the end of last year.
Craigleith is a small island less than 1/2 mile(0.8 kilometres) from the Seabird Centre at North Berwick where a rich variety of seabirds and marine life can be seen. Puffins are one of the main attractions on the island and, during the nesting season, Craigleith's Clifftop Cam brings fantastic views of the puffins congregating round their burrows, as well as cormorants nesting with their chicks. This camera also offers wonderful panoramas of the town of North Berwick, with its sandy beaches, the Scottish Seabird Centre, “The Law” a landmark volcanic plug and the imposing Bass Rock, approximately 3 miles (4.8 kilometres) away.
Grey Seal Colony
In winter, the cameras bring the incredible wildlife spectacle of grey seals hauling out to pup and to breed. The pups are born with thick fluffy white coats, reminders of their Arctic origins. Visitors at the Seabird Centre are able to experience this wonderful spectacle up close on live interactive cameras from now until late December, when the last of the young pups heads out to sea to fend for themselves. A series of Seal Diary Podcasts has been produced by the Seabird Centre - you can link to these here and find out how you can Adopt a Seal Pup online.
Craigleith Island was once one of the largest puffin colonies in Britain, with over 28,000 pairs in 1999, but numbers have crashed dramatically to just a few thousand. This has been caused by an alien plant invasion of tree mallow (Lavatera arborea), a giant woody plant which grows up to 6 feet (1.8 metres) tall, choking the puffin burrows and preventing the birds from nesting and rearing their chicks, called “pufflings”.
Thanks to the efforts of SOS Puffin, a five year Scottish Seabird Centre project to reinstate the puffins on Craigleith, and with the help of a team of over 150 volunteers, we're delighted that the puffins are returning to nest again on the island. The project is funded by Viridor Credits and Scottish Natural Heritage. To find out more about the campaign see the summary below or go to SOS Puffin. You can click here to Adopt a Puffin online.
The Scottish Seabird Centre gratefully acknowledges support from the Heritage Lottery Fund, Scottish Natural Heritage and Tyne Esk Leader Funding in delivery of its conservation and education projects and events and exhibitions.
