The Dutchmen of Noss: an ornithological expedition to Shetland in 1970

In June 1970 two Dutch students, Jan den Held and Marcel Groenendaal, decided it would be an interesting use of their summer vacation to count all the tens of thousands of seabirds on the Isle of Noss National Nature Reserve in Shetland. No-one asked them to do it and no-one paid them. It was a huge undertaking but they and four friends produced a more detailed estimate than any previous study of the16 different species on the great sea cliffs of this remarkable island. They got very wet, very often. Their tent blew down in a gale. They lived mostly on pancakes and fish.

The author was the warden and boatman of Noss that summer and helped the Dutchmen with their work. Half a century later, he met up with Jan and Marcel, who were pleasantly surprised to find that their bird census compared well with other scientific studies and had become the baseline for subsequent research and monitoring.

There have been many changes since 1970: some birds, such as the Gannet, have more than doubled in numbers (despite the bird flu epidemic); others, such as the Kittiwake, have declined spectacularly; others have held their own; which makes Jan and Marcel's work all the more relevant today.

Illustrated with extracts from field notebooks, statistical tables, charts and spectacular photographs of Noss, this is an account of 'citizen science' at its best.