An annual monitoring programme funded by Joint Nature Conservation Committee (JNCC)

Overview: A better season than last year (when Arctic Skuas, Kittiwakes, Arctic Terns, Guillemots and Razorbills all completely failed to fledge any young and Great Skuas fledged just one) but on the whole it was still a very poor breeding season. Birds were very late to nest but numbers were greatly improved compared to 2004 (except Shag and Great Skua) and most species did manage to fledge some chicks. Overall productivity for most was still well below average – the second worst on record for many species. As usual it appears to be a shortage of Lesser Sandeels which is the immediate problem.

Whole island Gannet numbers continue to very slowly rise and breeding success looks set to be typically high. Gannets are not restricted to feeding on Sandeels and also have much larger foraging ranges than most species and can therefore still thrive when others are suffering.

Breeding Fulmar numbers were greatly improved (+66%) compared to 2004 and productivity (0.49) was the best since 1995. As with gannets, fulmars have huge foraging ranges and are not reliant on Sandeels for food – preferring to eat squid and discards from fishing boats. Overall numbers are still much reduced compared to 20 years ago though, mainly due to changes in the fishing industry with less discards and an overall smaller fleet.

Shags had another poor season. Numbers of AON on the plots were 20% less than in 2004 but they had a similarly very poor breeding success – less than half the long-term mean. Great Skuas increased by 50% compared to 2004 (to 144 AOT), but only 56% laid eggs. As last year, most failed at the egg or very small chick stage and just one chick was raised to fledging. It’s smaller cousin, the Arctic Skuas however more than doubled in number to 71 AOT (an increase of 115%). The vast majority (91.5%) of these laid eggs, but only managed to fledge five chicks – doubling the number of the previous two seasons. Kittiwakes are probably the species most in trouble with plummeting numbers and poor breeding success for the past four years (none fledged in the past two years), so it was encouraging to see that breeding numbers had increased by 42% compared to last year. Productivity was also much improved but still only 50% of the long-term mean. A whole island count however showed that the dramatic slide in overall breeding numbers continues - a total of 5,399 AON is 34.2% less than in 2001 (8,204 AON). The Fair Isle Arctic Tern population has fluctuated greatly over the years, in response to the preceding year’s breeding success with a peak of 2836 AIA as recently as 2001. However, just four chicks fledged that year and the population plummeted to 115 AIA in 2002 but with no chicks fledged, the population had dropped to 11 AIA in 2004. A total of 40 pairs nested this year but again nothing even came close to fledging – for the fifth consecutive year! Following last year’s abysmal numbers and complete failure to fledge any chicks, Common Guillemots (eventually) increased this year, by 35.7% to similar numbers noted in 2003. Attendance at the plots was however very poor right up to the last week of May. The first egg was not laid on the study plots until 16^th May – three weeks later than normal!! A productivity figure of 0.28, whilst an improvement, is a long way short of the long-term mean (0.74). Razorbill numbers were particularly high and the largest number of eggs on record was laid at the study plot but overall fledging success, although better than the previous two seasons, was poor – a productivity figure of 0.44 is 30% below the average. Finally, Puffins had a relatively successful year compared to most species and a productivity of 0.67 is equal to the long-term mean and slightly improved on the previous year (0.63)! Perhaps a slower growth rate and later fledging compared to other auks may benefit Puffin chicks. Analysis of food samples and feeding watches suggested that what Sandeels were available were very small and small Sprats appeared to be the most abundant food item. Several Snake Pipefish were observed being brought in and many were found discarded in the colonies, as chicks find them hard to swallow – a sure sign that preferred food is scarce.