We picked up at 10.30am on Saturday morning headed out of the harbour with woolly hats and thick coats. After an amazing week with flat calm sea's and beautiful sunshine we were hoping for the same but no.
It was cold and there was a heavy swell in the water, but this did not dampen our spirits are we arrived at Stag Rock, were we encountered 80+ Common Scoter's and 50 Eider Ducks. Just a little bit later we saw 3 Long-tailed Ducks and 1 Red necked Grebe. It was a lovely sight to see all the Common Scoter's fly past the bow of the boat and then settle on the water just ahead us. Just a little bit past Stag Rock we saw another Red-necked Grebe and about 8 Long-tailed Ducks.
As we slowly cruised along the shoreline we encountered 2 Red breasted Merganser's and 1 Red-throated Diver.
As we entered Holy Island we headed towards the sand banks where all the seals were basking. Their must have been about 300 seals just chilling out. As we were in shelter of Holy Island the sea's went calm so it was the perfect time to grab a bit to eat and drink.
We headed past Black Law Rock and saw 2 Red-breasted Merganser's, (male and female) and 2 Goldeneye's. We said goodbye to Holy Island until our next 4 hour Winter Tour in Sept we decided to head stright to The Farne Islands for more shelter.
On arriving at the islands we saw about 40 seals chilling on the pebble beach at South Whames. Just around the corner on the west face of Staple Island were thousands of Guillemots flying around and around the boat. I see this every year and it still to this day puts a smile on my face. Just amazing.
We headed towards the Inner Farne to see more Guillemots, Razorbills, Shags and Kittiwakes, i got a text to say that a few Shags were already sitting on some eggs. A bit early but i suppose they have been showing signs over the past few weeks.
We could not finish the tour without seeing those beautiful Puffins and they did not let us down. In the shallow waters beside Knocks Reef were about a thousand Puffins just resting.
After our Puffin fix we steamed towards Seahouses.
Once again a big thank you to all of the people who have joined us over the winter on our tours and I'm already looking forward to September when we start again. Not that I'm wishing away the spring and summer i just really enjoyed the company and the trips.
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