The Birdlife
Manx Shearwater (Puffinus puffinus)
Manx Shearwaters are black on the upper parts and white below, they fly with a succession of rapid wing flaps followed by long glides close to the surface of the sea. The largest colony of Manx Shearwater in the UK can be found at Trollival on the Isle of Rum. They breed in burrows or rock crevices and only visit their nests under darkness, breeding is usually April to July. They gather in large flocks on the sea and feed on small fish like young herring and sprats or plankton.
Sea Eagle (Haliaeetus albicilla) Golden Eagle (Aquila chrysaetos)
The Sea Eagle is bigger by a third than the Golden Eagle, they have very broad square ended wings and a wedge shaped tail which is white in adult birds. They feed on a diet of seabirds and fish, catching fish by plunging their powerful talons into the water. The Golden Eagle has a smaller head and a longer tail than the Sea Eagle, they are dark in colour with the adults showing a paler area on their head. They like to soar and glide on air currents and are most often sighted soaring high over cliffs or hillsides.
Puffin (Fratercula artica)
Puffins can easily be recognised by their colourful bill and orange feet contrasting with their black and white body and wings. Puffins dive and catch fish underwater and are particularly fond of sand eels. They are very popular visitors to the area and are often spotted on the water whilst sailing to the islands on the Sheerwater.
Sandwich Tern (Sterna sandvicensis)
The Sandwich Tern is very slim with a long neck, they are white with a black cap on the top of their head and a long yellow tipped black bill. They feed on fish such as sandeels, sprats and whiting and can be seen from late March to September. Sandwich Terns are rare and we only usually have a couple of sightings each year.
Pomarine Skua (Stercorarius pomarinus)
The Pomarine Skua is larger than the Arctic Skua and nearly as big as a Herring Gull. There are two colourings, dark and light. The dark are all dark brown with flashes of white on the wings while the light variety are brown with pale breast and dark brown cap on their heads. Passage migrants, they do not breed in the UK and can be seen between late April and May, and between August and November.
Great Skua (Stercorarius skua)
The Great Skua is the largest and heaviest of the skuas and is dark and almost gull like with light flashes on its wings, it is an aggressive and agile bird that chases and harasses other birds in order to steal their food. They commonly kill and eat smaller birds such as puffins. They breed in Northern Scotland and will dive bomb anybody that gets to close to their nests. Last year there was a pair nesting on the island of Rum.
Storm Petrel (Hydrobates pelagicus)
Storm Petrels are small black, white rumped birds, slightly bigger than a sparrow and, unlike the Leach’s Petrel, they have a square tail. They often feed in flocks at sea and follow in the wake of ships, especially trawlers. They flutter over the sea often with their feet dangling close to the surface. They breed on isolated coasts of Western Britain and France and winter at sea.
Leach’s Petrel (Oceanodroma leucorhoa)
Similar in size to a starling, the Leach’s Petrel is mostly black apart from its white rump which has a black line down it. It has a longer wing span than the Storm Petrel and a forked tail. Unlike the Storm Petrel, it does not generally follow ships. It breeds on remote offshore islands in north and west Scotland and migrates to the tropics in the winter, although a few remain in the North Atlantic.