‘It was desolation’: why did 700 shags disappear from an island overnight?

Isle of May’s wildlife warden calls it ‘soul-destroying’ to discover birds he ringed as chicks washing up dead on the Scottish coast

For decades, as dusk drew in every evening, up to 700 shags would fly from their foraging grounds near Fife to the Isle of May to roost for the night. Some of the birds had been doing this trip twice a day for 20 years, returning to the same cliff ledge, squabbling over who sat where.

On 31 October, Mark Newell sat on the rock, waiting for their noisy return. He saw nothing. Eventually, 25 exhausted-looking birds straggled back. They did not fly off when he approached. The soundtrack of honking and bickering had stopped.