Eerie silence falls on Shetland cliffs that once echoed to seabirds’ cries
by Robin McKie Science Editor from on (#3RGZV)
Climate change has caused a catastrophic drop in the numbers of terns, kittiwakes and puffins
Sumburgh Head lies at the southern tip of mainland Shetland. This dramatic 100-metre-high rocky spur, crowned with a lighthouse built by Robert Louis Stevenson's grandfather, has a reputation for being one of the biggest and most accessible seabird colonies in Britain.
Thousands of puffins, guillemots, razorbills, kittiwakes and fulmars gather there every spring to breed, covering almost every square inch of rock or grass with teeming, screeching birds and their young.
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