A Mixed Week.

On Thursday there was an old converted  dutch barge moored at the islands. She was called The Spirit of Loch Ness and was built in 1930. She looked well for her age. I found out that she has been working as a Luxury Hotel for the last 10 years in the Caledonian Canal.

The day itself was very overcast but every now and then the sun tried to get out. I got some nice pictures of the sun trying to break through over Bamburgh Castle.

On Friday it was very quite and it looked as it was going to rain but it held off. I was pleased it did as we had a Charity Doo up to Holy Island for a few hours. Well they were all on the drink for a few hours. While they were at the pub I went for a walk around the Island. The light was not the best but I did manage to get some nice pictures of Juvenile Goldfinch and Swallows.

On Saturday it was overcast again but with showers. You can tell everyone was heading home after the summer holidays as it was dead. On our last trip it just started to rain when we noticed 3 Harbour Porpoise on the way home. The rain was a problem but all of a sudden when we seen the Porpoise the guests seem to forget about it. We watched them for about 15 minutes before heading home. It was the first time for while we had them really close, plus I switched the engines off as they are very shy and I wanted to see if they would hang around a little longer. It worked for a little bit but they were feeding so it was not long before they were off catching fish again.

On Sunday it was just amazing. The seas were flat calm and the sun was out to play. It was about the best day of the year. I heard over the VHF that 4 Minke Whales were spotted of Beadnell and I had my fingers crossed that they would head towards the Islands. I gave David Steel (The Head Warden) a shout and he went up to the top of the Pele Tower to have a look. I laughed at first but then I heard that he had a new scope. When he told me he seen them about 2 miles of Beadnell Point I just thought WOW, that must be some scope. He also said that he would be surprised if they came up to the Islands as there were boats chasing them around. Sure enough they disappeared.

Today it was beautiful to start but by the end of the day we had very heavy showers. Keith spotted a Peregrine on Staple Island. I grabbed the camera as 2 Great Black-backed Gulls were chasing it. Only got one picture but I was pleased with it as I could hardly keep up with it.

We should start to see a few birds of prey throughout the rest of the year now. Longstone Island seems to be the place for the birds at the moment and the Golden Plovers count is up to 900 now. I'm also looking forward to our 4 hour winter trips soon, and it will not be long before we will see our first Grey Seal Pups so hopefully I will see enough to write about over the Autumn and Winter.