Awaiting the return of hundreds of thousands of Scotland’s breeding seabirds is usually an exciting moment, but this year there is a sense of “trepidation”.
From puffins to great skuas, a highly pathogenic strain of avian flu H5N1 has led to the deaths of tens of thousands of wild birds across the country last year.
St Kilda lost two-thirds of its great skua population last year and St Abb’s Head had 65 guillemot chicks found dead in a single day.
The National Trust of Scotland (NTS) is urging Scots to take on simple steps to protect the vulnerable wildlife and give them a “fighting chance”.
NTS senior seabird officer Ellie Owen said the impact of the disease has been “very severe” on some of the seabird species.
“The reason that avian flu is such a concern is that seabirds in Scotland are already struggling,” she said.
“What we’re trying to do is redouble our efforts on all of the things that we can be doing for seabirds already.”
While experts are limited in what can be done to combat the spread of disease, they emphasise that other existential threats to the globally important seabird populations can be addressed.
These include dwindling food stocks and intensifying storms, both linked to climate change, and pollution.
From April to September, seabirds are expected to return to their Scottish colonies for a new breeding season.
“Anyone who works with seabirds is feeling very trepidatious about the breeding season because it is very likely [avian flu] will be back,” Ms Owen said.
The impact on great skuas, which have ground nest, could be tracked but it may not be until this summer until experts know how populations have been affected.
READ MORE: Fears for future of the Great Skua the 'pirate of the seas'
Ms Owen added: “Great skuas are really important birds for Scotland. Scotland holds 60 per cent of the world’s population. It’s one of the species which is properly Scottish.”
The trust is carrying out extra surveys and using new technology such as thermal drones to supervise colonies of Northern gannets.
Western Isles manager Susan Bain said: “The gannets, I would say, are one of the highlights of any visit to St Kilda.
“Very few countries have got the number of seabirds that we’ve got. We’re really important for seabird colonies.”
Young puffins, known as pufflings, were also seen dead at entrances to burrows in the archipelago, but their burrowing habits makes it hard to know how badly they were hit by bird flu.
Ms Bain remains hopeful that experts are “better prepared” and “better informed” about H5N1 this year She added: “There is very little that we can do about avian flu, but these birds are under a lot of stress from other factors.
“Seabird numbers have gone down quite substantially in the last 40 years across every species.
“I think we’re trying to highlight the sort of things that we can do to just give them a fighting chance.”
How the public can help
The NTS is recommending five simple actions to support Scotland’s seabird population, ranging from signing up to campaigns to disinfecting boots. Scots are being urged to help maintain biosecurity on key colonies such as St Kilda by following a “check, clean, close” rule. They are asked to check their bags and clothes for pests, clean their shoes with disinfectant and to keep food containers tightly closed.
Visitors should also give breeding seabirds space and keep any pets on a short lead. The Trust also suggested backing campaigns that could protect seabirds, such as limiting the impact of fishing practices affecting their feeding grounds.
Another way the public can help is by taking part in research and monitoring of seabirds themselves, as citizen seabird scientists.
Finally, the trust suggested supporting their seabird activities including a Save our Seabirds fundraising campaign.
Chief executive of the Trust, Philip Long OBE, added: “A Scotland without puffins, kittiwakes or great skuas seems unthinkable. But the threats facing these and other seabirds are so immense that we all have to think of this as a real possibility.
“We hope as many people as possible will support them and take these five simple steps to help save Scotland’s seabirds for future generations.”
Senior seabird officer Ellie Owen emphasised that each of the birds could be of special significance to both conservationists and the public.
"These are not just numbers, some of the birds are birds we know personally," she said.
"On St Kilda there was a bird called White Red White Red who had two bracelets on each leg, a white one and the red one."
READ MORE: Avian flu ‘Wake-up’ call as fears rise for Scotland's seabirds
The bird has been ringed in 2009 as an adult bird and has continued to breed on St Kilda for over a decade.
Ms Owen continued: "At the beginning of last summer, she was hanging out at a pool where there were lots of other dead skuas."
While there series of worries she would contract avian flu from the dead birds, she continued to breed throughout the season becoming a "real beacon of hope".
Sadly, the bird did not manage to avoid the disease forever and died in the "last couple of weeks" of the season.
"She joined 132 of her species mates that had died that year in that colony," the seabird officer said.
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