Went to the islands today to check for any signs of Avian Flu and happy to report none at all. Indeed no dead or dying birds anywhere. The Herring gulls on Caldey (the second largest colony in the UK) seem to have had a decent year with many fledged chicks all around the coast.
On St Margarets around 150 fledged Cormorant chicks standing around on the cliff tops and a few Fulmar chicks on their ledges. One the western cliffs one of the Kittiwake sub colonies had several two chick nests and others with one large chick - all seemed ready to fledge. On the north side the three sub colonies there seemed to have no large chicks so maybe already fledged although none seen close to the island. There is a time lapse camera on one of these so in due course we will get an update on the breeding success of a decent sample of nests.
No peregrine around Caldey cliffs or at Tenby but also found out they bred at First Point this year and apparently raised two chicks. - A ready supply of feral pigeon prey around Tenby at the moment.