Thursday was another day for returning clients, as I collected Louise from her holiday accommodation at Brockmill farmhouse for a bespoke photography trip to the Farne Islands. We began, as most of our Farne Islands trips do, with a visit to a mainland tern colony. As happens so often, the Little Tern colony had been washed out by a very high tide – with all 42 pairs having abandoned their nests. The 250 pairs of Arctic Terns was also a long way below the number that had been there, with the tides having washed away the majority of that colony as well. Lots of the Arctic Terns were displaying, so they may well manage to re-lay.
The Farne Islands, once we arrived on Inner Farne following our journey on Glad Tidings, were as spectacular as ever. Guillemots, Puffins, Razorbills, Shags, Kittiwakes and the terns offered up many photographic opportunities and it was great to enjoy all of that with a client whose views on photo agencies, camera equipment and manufacturers are always entertaining. As we stood above lighthouse cliff on Inner Farne, the weather began to change – and not for the better…
Things weren’t looking too promising as I headed up the A697 to collect Ian and Barbara from their holiday accommodation at The Coach House; rain, mist and fog were all conspiring to reduce visibility. Once we were on our way towards Holy Island things improved though, and our walk on the island was in reasonable weather. Plenty of Curlew and Bar-tailed Godwits were along the water’s edge and little parties of Guillemot and Red-breasted Merganser were spotted on the relatively calm sea. Back on the mainland, things took a turn for the worse and the rain hammered down, making the mudflats seem to be boiling. The numbers of Curlew grew and grew, all demonstrating just how vigorous their feeding technique is. As everything began to disappear into the rain, the eerie calls of Grey Seals came echoing across the mud. Eider, Common Scoter, Puffin, Shag, Cormorant, Guillemot and Razorbill were all on the sea in the shadow of Bamburgh Castle, Turnstones were doing just what their name suggests, 2 Little Egrets were in Budle Bay and 3 Common Buzzards were soaring around as the sun finally began to beat down on the northern edge of the Cheviots as we returned to Crookham at the end of a day of changeable weather, and good birdwatching.
I met with Geoff and Jenny, Roy and Lorraine & David and Linda on the Wednesday evening in the bar of the Bamburgh Castle Inn and, after introductions and drinks, we went upstairs to the conservatory for dinner. A steady stream of Gannets was heading north and I outlined the plan for the coming days; modified in light of the weather forecast!
An 06:30 start on Thursday morning appealed to three of the group, so we set off to walk around Seahouses Harbour and along to the golf course. Lorraine had dreamt the night before that we found a Bluethroat. Not just any Bluethroat though; a Fork-tailed Bluethroat (something that doesn’t exist…although we spent the rest of the holiday looking for one!). The heavy swell and breaking waves gave the sea an imposing look, and the strong, cold southeasterly wind and dark clouds all around added to the atmosphere. With high tide approaching, wading birds were concentrated onto just a few exposed rocks; among the Oystercatchers, Redshanks and Curlews were a single Ringed Plover and 5 summer-plumaged Knot, their peachy-orange underparts showing why, in some parts of the world, they’re known as Red Knot. A Whimbrel flew by and Linnets, Pied Wagtails, Rock Pipits and a reeling Grasshopper Warbler were all added to the day list and we headed back to the inn, and breakfast. No less than 6 Rock Pipits were outside the window during breakfast and an all too brief probable Hummingbird Hawkmoth whizzed by.
The main question was whether our all-day birdwatching trip to the Farne Islands with Glad Tidings would go ahead; the weather forecast wasn’t promising, and the sea looked foreboding. I was optimistic though – by our planned departure time the tide would be ebbing and should take off some of the swell. Sure enough, we boarded Glad Tidings III just after 10am and headed towards the islands. Gannets soared majestically above the swell, Puffins raced by on whirring wings and our passage wader list grew with the addition of Grey Plover and Purple Sandpiper. Grey Seals bobbed around, watching as we passed by on our way to Staple Island. Enjoyment of the breeding auks, Shags, Kittwakes and Oystercatchers was enhanced by the wild feeling of the islands, as waves smashed into the cliffs and fountained high above the birds. Transferring to Inner Farne at 1pm, we were the first group onto the island for the day. The Arctic Terns gave us their usual warm welcome and we spent the afternoon enjoying the fascinating bird behaviour that can be witnessed at close range. The group were keen to fix the separation criteria for Common and Arctic Terns firmly in mind, so we spent some time looking carefully at lots of birds and considering individual variation. We spent a lot of time watching Puffins as well; not an identification problem, but endearing and fascinating! With mobs of Black-headed Gulls waiting to rob the adult Puffins as they return with beaks filled with Sand eels, the Puffins have quickly developed strategies to deal with this; circling back out over the sea until the gulls have moved away from your burrow is an obvious one, but the one that is most fascinating involves a Puffin running into another bird’s burrow, waiting until the gulls have moved and then running to another burrow – sometimes visiting as many as 5 or 6 sanctuaries before reaching their own chick. In an increasingly heavy swell, the journey back to the mainland was quite an experience.
After postponing our Seal and Seaduck Special last Saturday (sea conditions were ideal, but it would have been really irresponsible to encourage anyone to drive on Northumberland’s roads at the time) we arrived at Seahouses Harbour yesterday morning ready for our final boat trip of the year.
Everyone was well wrapped-up and we were soon boarding Glad Tidings VI. As we sailed out of the harbour a veritable battery of long lenses was produced in readiness for the anticipated wildlife. With a skipper and crewman with excellent eyesight and wildlife-spotting skills, 2 NEWT guides, and clients with sharp eyes as well, the boat was soon being manouvered to offer the best possible opportunities to view or photograph the wildlife. After 13 years of organising offshore wildlife trips we know the importance of the skipper to the success (or otherwise…) of the trip and, with Craig and William, we were in excellent hands.
The first half of the trip concentrated on the Farne Islands themselves. A lot of the Grey Seals had well-grown pups, quite a few of the adults were moulting and there were a couple of cow seals still heavily pregnant.
Grey SealGrey Seal and the Longstone LighthouseGrey Seals
Grey Seals
Shags were sitting around on the islands, Little Auks were bobbing about like corks in the increasing swell, and we had a brief view of a Black Guillemot as it flew from Gun Rock towards Inner Farne. Heading north we enjoyed the sunny (but cold) weather and scoured the sea just south of Holy Island. Plenty of Eider were sitting around, along with a pair of Scaup and several Red-breasted Mergansers but a Slavonian Grebe near Guile Point proved elusive. Red-throated and Great Northern Divers were seen but in much smaller numbers than we would normally expect. The journey back down the coast featured one of our favourite birds; Long-tailed Ducks were sitting around in groups of 10-15 and offering some excellent photo opportunities.
Long-tailed Ducks30 or 40 Common Scoters proved a bit more skittish and didn’t come near the boat. 2 Gannets were a bit of a surprise before we returned to the harbour.
Although the wildlife was very obliging perhaps the best thing about the day was the truly beautiful lighting conditions, a real bonus for wildlife photography and something that all of the photographers on board commented on. We can’t control the light, or the weather, but we keep taking clients to the right places at the right time…
Now, you shouldn’t need to read too many of my blog posts to realise that seabirds and cetaceans occupy a special place in my heart, and that I’m in my element once I’m on a boat off the Northumberland coast.
Saturday was our annual ‘Whale and Dolphin Cruise’ on Glad Tidings V, out of Seahouses. With 36 participants, including the other NEWT guides (Sarah and Andy), all safely on board we set off down the coast. We were soon enjoying views of two Arctic Skuas and then panic on the deck as our eagle-eyed skipper spotted two Sooty Shearwaters off to one side and everyone rushed to see them. These ocean wanderers are one of the great sights of pelagic seabirding in the North Sea at this time of the year. For one participant though the real excitement was the bird sitting beside the shearwaters; a Puffin 🙂 It’s a few weeks too late to see them at their breeding colonies, but I’d told Sam that we had a good chance of coming across one. Throughout the day we found a few more, as well as plenty of Fulmars, Kittiwakes, Guillemots and a few Razorbills. Perhaps the best entertainment of the day was provided by several feeding groups of Gannets, throwing fountains of water into the air as they hit the sea. There was clearly a lot of fish for them to eat, and it was real mystery to myself, Sarah, Andy and John that there were no cetaceans feeding in the same areas. Oh well, if they weren’t so mysterious it wouldn’t be such an adrenaline rush when we do find them I suppose. A lone Manx Shearwater avoided the boat, as they tend to do, and we headed northwards to the Farne Islands, hoping to see the White-tailed Eagle that has been there for the last week. We were in radio contact with other boats so we knew it had just killed a Shag and was eating it. As we neared the islands our one cetacean for the day appeared, a Harbour Porpoise just to one side of the wake of the boat. Just as we arrived, the eagle crept into a cleft between a grassy bank and some rocks so only one or two people managed to get a glimpse of it’s head as it dropped out of sight. Grey Seals were playing, splashing and racing around and we headed back into the harbour, after a marathon effort by our skipper and everyone on board. We’ve already set the date for the 2011 Whale and Dolphin Cruise – Saturday September 10th so put it in your diaries and give us a call on 01670 827465 to book your place.
Blue skies, calm sea, what more could you wish for?
