At the beginning of June, the HiDef team travelled to Foula, one of the UK’s most remote permanently inhabited islands, to carry out seabird surveys.
Located 20 miles west of Shetland and home to just 30 residents, Foula certainly lives up to its Old Norse name, ‘Fuglaey’ meaning ‘Bird Island’.
Over the course of a week, the team completed whole-island counts of guillemot, razorbill, fulmar, shag, kittiwake, great skua, Arctic skua, and Arctic tern. With no vehicles on the island, every survey was completed on foot across some of the UK’s highest sea cliffs and Shetland’s rugged hills meaning plenty of miles (and steps!) each day. Despite the challenging terrain and unpredictable weather, the team successfully completed every survey.
There was still time for a little friendly competition in the evenings, with a fiercely contested Jenga championship and plenty of laughs over a picture drawing game!
The surveys also highlighted the importance of continuing long-term monitoring, with initial results suggesting seabird numbers on Foula continue to decline, particularly great skua (bonxies).
A special thank you goes to Sheila Gear, a true Foula legend, who has been surveying the island’s birds for more than 60 years. At over 80 years old, Sheila was still outpacing the team on the hills and sharing her incredible knowledge of Foula’s wildlife. She even handcrafted bonxie-proof headgear to help protect the team from some very determined aerial attacks!
We’re incredibly proud of the team’s dedication and the valuable data they’re collecting to help improve our understanding of Scotland’s seabird populations.
