The Joint Nature Conservation Committee (JNCC) has a responsibility to advise on certain aspects of the condition of the natural marine environment. Seabirds are one of the more important components of this environment, and Britain has internationally important populations of several species. JNCC has designed a programme that will allow the numbers and breeding success of selected species of seabirds to be monitored at a range of colonies throughout the UK. This report details the results of JNCC funded seabird research on the Isle of May, in the Firth of Forth in south-east Scotland in 2004.