Sea, Sun and Serenity

Since the beginning of October we have not had it bad at all around the Farnes. Yes there has been a few days when the weather has been dreadful and the seas were rough, but over all not bad at all. Some day's have been a pleasure and we wished we had some of this during the summer, but it was not to be.
There has been a good few Guillemots hanging around and the odd Puffling (baby puffin) too, which is always nice to see.
We have had a few Bottlenose Dolphins, the odd Basking Shark and a Minkie Whale. On the bird front we have had lots of Goldcrest, Fieldfare, Redwing, Redpoll, Little Bunting, Purple Sandpipers, Turnstones, Yellow-browed Warblers, Merlin and Short-eared Owls. This is only some of the birds that have landed on the islands so its not bad at all.

We are still waiting for that mega bird to arrive and you never know what the Farnes will produce.

Here are a few pictures of the flat calm seas, beautiful sunshine and the serenity of the farne islands.

VIEW FROM MY OFFICE WINDOW

HARBOUR PORPOISE

LOTS OS SEALS

RAZORBILL

PUFFLING

VIEW TOWARDS STAPLE ISLAND, BROWNSMAN ISALND AND THE LONGSTONE

SUNRISE IN THE HARBOUR

GETTING READY FOR A DAY ON THE WATER

AS THE SUN COMES UP

ANOTHER PUP BORN

YOUNG SEAL TRYING HARD TO KEEP HER EYES OPEN

We are now up to 14 pups with many more to come. The harbour is also starting to get the male and female Eider Ducks back after moulting and they are looking stunning too.

Thanks for reading once again.

OVER AND OUT

Goldrush

There has been lots of Yellow-browed Warblers on the county over the last few days which is fantastic to see, but for me it has been the Goldcrest which is sometimes over looked.

On Sunday I was out with a gang of diver's and all they wanted was to dive with the seals. After the first dive the south side of the islands was starting to get a bit dodgy, so I decided to look elsewhere to dive.

We steamed across to the Longstone, tied up at the jetty and then all of a sudden loads of seals appeared. How lucky were we and it was ideal for the diver's. They all started to get ready and after they were all in the water I went for a look around the island. I had hardly stepped of the boat when I was surrounded by Goldcrests.

They are tiny birds but delightful to see and they never gave a monkeys about me. They were so close to me at times it was just amazing to see, but once again I had left my camera at home. I was kicking myself and to make things worse as good few other birds on the island too. I went around to the other side of the lighthouse to find 2 female Blackcaps and a single male, a Wheater and lots of Robins and the whole time I was saying to myself "I wished I wished my camera". Kicking myself I headed back to the boat with my lip hitting the ground and then I spotted a Yellow-browed Warbler sitting inside an old lobster pot. It was very mixed emotions as these birds were brilliant but having no camera was very upsetting.

Back on the boat I kept on thinking about it more and more, so I was determined to come back and get some pictures.

I never made it out on Monday but Tuesday I did but only for a few minutes and those few minutes were enough for me to get a picture or two. There was only a few left compared to Sunday but enough to put a smile back on my face.

I even went back today (Wednesday) and Andy and Tony tagged along for the ride. There were only 2 Goldcrests left but enough as one of them could not stay away from us and the area we were at was full of flies too.
It was also a beautiful day and a good excuse to stay out there a bit longer. It was nice to sit back and enjoy the view. We all commented on how lucky we are to live and work in such a beautiful place as the Goldcrest's flew around the island. Happy with what we had seen, we headed back to Seahouses, chatting about these tiny birds.

What a way to finish a great day off at the Farnes.