Eiders are in decline
September is the month for the Annual Clyde Eider Survey. Eiders are familiar birds around the Arran coast ... or at least they used to be, but their numbers are declining not only around Arran but in the Firth of Clyde as a whole.
Chris Waltho, a past president of the SOC (Scottish Ornithologists Club) who has a passion for eiders, has organised surveys in the Clyde for more than 20 years.
Chris’s collected data clearly shows that the post breeding population of Eiders in the Firth of Clyde is in decline. Chris’s report Clyde Eider News No16 August 2018 on last year’s survey shows that 2017 was the lowest count ever.
The 5,500 birds counted in 2017 is only 28.5 per cent of those counted in 1997. This represents a 71.5 per cent decline. Similar declines have been widely reported across much of Europe, from Iceland, Norway, Denmark, Sweden, Finland and the White Sea in Russia. The causes of declines across these areas are currently under investigation.
While the Arran trend reflects the overall figures, there has been considerable variation on the Arran September survey figures from more than 600 in 1999 to six in 2008. The figures for the last three years for Arran are 117,116 and 36. Last year was the lowest Arran count in 10 years.
This year volunteers from the Arran Natural History Society covered the coastline by foot and in some cases by kayak to try and achieve the most accurate count of eider round our coast this September.
The number of eider counted this year was very similar to last year. The total this year was 33, so the population trend is down. Enjoy your birding. Please send any bird notes with ‘what, when, where’ to me at Kilpatrick Kennels, Kilpatrick, Blackwaterfoot, KA27 8EY, or e mail me at jim@arranbirding.co.uk I look forward to hearing from you. For more information on birding on Arran purchase the Arran Bird Atlas 2007-2012 as well as the Arran Bird Report 2017 and visit this website www. arranbirding.co.uk