Guillemots lay eggs early at Scottish Nature Reserve

EARLY BIRDS: Guillemots have laid eggs much earlier than normal

St Abb's Head Guillemots

May 2011: Experts at the National Trust for Scotland's St Abb's Head National Nature Reserve have recorded the earliest ever eggs from guillemots this year.

The conservation charity has kept detailed records of breeding and egg-laying activity at the stunning coastal cliff site in Berwickshire since 1981. This year, guillemots were spotted sitting on eggs on April 15 - the earliest ever recorded at the Site of Special Scientific Interest.

Property manager Liza Cole said: ‘Guillemots have never been recorded as laying before April 25, and sometimes they leave it as late as mid-May. So, we were rather taken aback to hear from the Isle of May who reported their first egg on April 15.

No clear reasons why
‘There are no clear reasons about why they are breeding so early; is it something to do with the hard winter, or something to do with the birds reacting to climate change warming North Sea? It'll be interesting to hear from the other colonies around Scotland to see what is happening there.

‘It seems that other species are following suit, too, with the kittwakes already nest building too. We are hopeful that this early start is the sign of an excellent breeding season, which will help halt the decline in the populations of these seabirds.'

St Abb's Head is one of the east of Scotland's most accessible sites for seabird viewing and is home to diverse range of species, including razorbills, fulmars and shags, as well as guillemots and kittiwakes.