Hurricane Katia leaves Britain’s seabirds stranded

BLOWN OFF COURSE: Young guillemots have been particularly vulnerable

Birds become physically exhausted

September 2011: The RSPB has received a growing number of reports about seabirds turning up inland because of the tail of Hurricane Katia which has lashed the UK. Tired and starving birds including guillemots, gannets and shearwaters are being blown off course and becoming stranded, sometimes many miles inland.

The RSPB is advising anyone who finds a stranded seabird inland to contact an animal rescue centre, as the birds will need help recuperating as well as suitable food.

Reports of seabirds stranded inland so far include a storm petrel in West Wales, guillemots in Cleveland and Birmingham and manx shearwaters in Lincolnshire , Essex and Cornwall. A manx shearwater was also found on a garden log pile in West Wales .

Guillemot chicks too small to cope
Guillemots have been the most reported, and the RSPB says this is probably because guillemot chicks fledge when they are only one third fully grown and aren't accustomed to flying yet or up to full strength.

Young guillemots take a leap of faith from the nest and usually rely on the adult birds to look after them at sea for the first few weeks of their lives, but if they are blown away from parental care and have a reduced availability of food, survival is almost impossible.

Seabirds disperse or migrate after the breeding season and the stranded birds are being blown off course while embarking on journeys to spend the winter at sea in places as far flung as the South Atlantic .

Finding it hard to find food
As well as flying hundreds of extra miles and becoming physically exhausted, food will be harder to come by inland as most seabirds feed on the ocean's surface or by diving underneath.

The RSPB's Claire Thomas, who has been taking many of the calls, says: ‘Seabirds do look very different to the kind of birds you might normally see inland and people are very quick to notice that something isn't right and the birds shouldn't be there.
These birds are very disorientated and distressed and it's heartening to know that so many people want to try to help by calling us.

‘Our advice would be to call an animal rescue centre as soon as possible - these birds will need expert assistance in getting back up to strength and restarting their journeys.'