Features
and Reviews
SPRING AT BERRY HEAD
Torbay Coast & Countryside
Trust have reported record numbers of birds spotted this winter
from the headland at Berry Head, Brixham.
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Berry Head has the largest breeding colony of Guillemots on
our sea cliffs, where the guillemots come to roost after spending
their summer at sea. The guillemots landed on 11 October and the
largest sighting reached 1331 birds - the highest number since
the colony's records began. |
Nigel Smallbones,
who manages the National Nature Reserve, keeps a close eye on
Guillemot numbers which have been increasing further. “I've
never seen so many guillemots on the cliffs; it's sensational,
really brilliant!”
The Guillemots have begun
choosing their pairs and are already in their breeding plumage
– they will begin laying their eggs directly onto the cliff
ledges during the first week of April and Nigel predicts these
will hatch week commencing 19 May. June will see the flightless
birds jumping off the cliff into the waters below where their
parents will call them out to sea to develop their flight feathers.
Berry Head is a landfall
for migrants and Trust staff are also on the look out for Swallows
and Sand Martins throughout March and April, which fly across
from South Africa to breed in the UK.
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Features
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