Leach’s Storm-petrels Oceanodroma leucorhoa nesting at a new site in Shetland

Abstract

In August 2010, six small islands in northern Shetland were prospectively surveyed for breeding colonies of Leach’s Storm-petrels Oceanodroma leucorhoa using vocalisation playback methods. Four adult birds, two with a nest, were located on 10 August in burrows at a new site for the species in the UK: Gloup Holm, off north Yell. Under license, three birds were temporarily extracted and examined; all had brood patches entirely bare of feathering and highly vascularised. Eggs and chicks were not located but burrows were all too deep to check conclusively. Future surveys of Gloup Holm and other small islands in the north of Shetland, carried out in June, may locate further adults, eggs and chicks.