Eider Duck Island Wild

It's June on the British island of Inner Farne in the North Sea.

Most of the island's residents are sitting on eggs.

It's the calm before the storm of hatching chicks.

This will be a critical week for all the island's birds, but especially the eider ducks.

They will have to undertake a journey fraught with dangers for their new families.

Their survival will depend on luck and their mother's judgement.

Inner Farne lies a mile off the Northumberland coast

and each summer is a haven for nearly 200,000 seabirds.

They're spread throughout the 16-acre island.

On the cliffs, shags, razorbills and guillemots occupy the steep rock faces.

While the puffins nest in burrows that pepper the high ground.

Terns huddle over their eggs in the long grass,

and our eider nest is close by.

They're all waiting for one thing...

..the new arrivals.

There is an explosion of new life all over the island.

Some a little more attractive than others, to our eyes, at least.

But they all have one thing in common -

they're hungry.

Unlike most of the islands parents, eider ducks can't bring food to their chicks.

For their first meal, the ducklings have to make the journey to the sea by foot, a perilous trek.

Their only defence comes from their mother.

She's brooded the eggs non-stop for almost a month and is desperate herself to reach the sea.

The newly-hatched eiders don't get to stay under their mum for much more than 24 hours.

Then hunger demands that they're up and running.

Other eider families join them along the way to form a creche.

There's safety in numbers when there are hungry gulls about.

And they all make good use of the walkways that have been made for human use.

The terns also use their numbers to protect their nest and young.

Adults will attack any potential danger that strays too close - that includes visitors to the island.

The eiders' journey leads them through the puffin colony.

The puffins' chicks are safely hidden away in their burrows, waiting for room service.

But it's tricky getting back to your nest laden with sand eels.

There are thieving bullies at every turn on the lookout for an easy meal.

Black-headed gulls make a tidy living mugging puffins.

But what goes around, comes around in the natural world.

While the black-headed gulls are otherwise engaged,

the much bigger herring gulls are raiding THEIR nests, taking unguarded eggs and chicks.

Herring gulls are the top predators on the island and will make a meal of any of the new hatchlings.

The mother eiders must keep a close eye on their broods.

None of the chicks will get a proper meal until they reach the sea.

But today there's a big swell. It's far too rough for the ducklings.

So a group decision is made to turn back and save their first voyage for another day.

Instead, they retreat to a nursery pool where they can, at least, take their first swimming lessons.

They'll have to wait for the sea to calm and the weather to improve.

MUSIC: "Moon Safari" by Air

Rain just makes matters worse.

All the birds hunker down and sit it out.

The next day brings better weather and all the birds certainly seem to appreciate it.

SQUEALING

LOW SQUEALING

The naked shag chicks are totally dependent on their parents for protection from the elements,

and will be for weeks to come.

But for the parents of the downy guillemot chicks,

it's the marauding herring gulls that are their main concern.

A multitude of sharp beaks pointing skyward is a powerful deterrent.

The mother eiders need to stay alert too.

A herring gull could easily snatch a duckling when they're out here in the open.

The good weather leaves a safe passage at last to the sea.

But the eider families still want to move away from the crowded island and the threat of the gulls

to find a haven for their ducklings.

To get there, the family will have to cover a huge expanse of sea - their greatest challenge yet.

So where are they going?

HOOTER BLOWS

Seahouses Harbour over a mile away on the mainland

provides safety and ample food at last for the young families.

They'll stay here until they're big enough to fend for themselves.

The eider ducklings and the other island families have had a good start.

Most have survived the challenges of their first few days of life,

and, with the fine weather, are going from strength to strength.

With luck, next year, they too will return to Inner Farne to raise broods of their own.

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