Fulmars are my favourite seabird! I guess it's because they were the first
real seabird I saw in my life. I was 20 years old and going over to the island
of Helgoland by ferry.
When you grow up in Britain you can't imagine not going to the coast or not
seeing seabirds as a child. But I grew up in southern Germany - far away from
any sea, so I had never seen an auk, tube-nose or any other real seabird before
I went on that trip to Helgoland.
We were approaching the island when suddenly these brilliant white birds
came sailing past. I didn't know what they were but for me they looked like the
most beautiful creatures, like fairies of the sea.
Photo: D Boyle
They flew past the boat and then shot out into the boiling sea - they sped
up as they descended towards the waves only to pull themselves up at the very
last minute, skim the frothy wave tops and glide elegantly past the ferry once
more. Some of them were just hanging there in the wind, not moving at all, dangling
their legs and kicking from time to time - turning their beautiful heads to
look at us.
Photo: D Milborrow
My friend told me that they were "Eissturmvögel" which translates
to Ice-Storm-Birds and I thought to myself: "What an appropriate name,
they really are the colour of milky glacier ice."
Nowadays I see Fulmars every day; they live right next to my house. They are
our most faithful seabird, they will be on the cliffs "waiting" for
us in March, when we come back after a winter on the mainland and they are
still here now, in September.
Photo: D Boyle
The chicks started to fledge two weeks ago. They launched themselves
undaunted by death into the air, flapped their wings frantically, glided a bit
and then crashed onto the beach below with a thud. They did some somersaults
and then came to rest - their tails sticking up, their wings stretched to their
sides, looking astonished but unhurt.
Fulmar chick crashed on Wick beach - he needs to practise a bit more :-) Photo: A Dodds
Have a look at this video I took on the 4th of September. It is a young Fulmar on the cliff at North Haven, stretching its wings. Is it getting ready for its virgin flight?
Most Fulmar chicks have mastered the skill of flight by now and I was able
to watch them fooling around and enjoying the stiff northerly breeze. Here is another little clip from the 4th of September:
Fulmars are found throughout the north Atlantic and North Sea, north of
45°N. Its boreal distribution has increased over
the last 250 years to Iceland, the Faroes, Spitsbergen and suitable areas of
coastline in Britain.
The estimated British population is 539,000 breeding pairs. This year we had
584 pairs breeding on Skomer, which is an increase of +5% to 2014. We are very
happy that the Fulmars are doing fine on Skomer as their population in Europe
is decreasing. They are now classed as endangered of extinction by the International
Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN), see here for more info.
Breeding population size and long-term trends across Europe
Fulmars spend large amounts of time in waters over continental shelf;
ranging from the Arctic pack-ice through to subarctic and temperate waters in
the North East Atlantic. The species typically breeds on cliffs and rock faces,
occasionally in sand dunes or on flatter ground. Its diet is variable, but
includes fish, squid and zooplankton, especially amphipods and jellyfish also
fish offal and carrion. In the North Sea its diet includes mainly lesser
sandeels.
Major threats to Fulmars are predation from invasive mammals, such as foxes,
rats, mice. Luckily we don’t have any of these on Skomer. Fulmars also suffer
from oil spills and they end up as bycatch in fisheries with large numbers getting
caught in longline, trawl and gillnet fisheries. The Fulmar is also susceptible
to collision and displacement from offshore wind farms and by shipping lanes.
There might not be a lot we can easily do about oil spills and wind farm
collisions but everyone can help the Fulmars by keeping our seas clean. Fulmars
are highly susceptible to ingesting marine litter and plastics. So please hold
on to your litter on windy cliff tops and don’t flush any plastic down the toilet.
Plastic from a stomach of a Fulmar
Don't forget to look out for the Fulmars when you are visiting Skomer! Photo: C Taylor
