Jumpling Time

Its that time again when the Guillemot chicks start taking that leap of faith of the edge of the cliff faces around the Farne Islands. They are known as “Jumping’s”, as they jump of the cliffs and its one the most amusing things to witness. While I think it’s funny and great to see, I bet it’s so scary for the little tiny seabirds to do. No wonder the mother tries to encourage the chick to jump off. Well that’s what we are leading to believe but I bet the mother gets sick of waiting and give the little one a slight nudge over the edge.

I can picture it now…. The father is waiting in the water patiently (as fathers do) giving the call to the little jumpling as if to say, don’t worry son/daughter I’m waiting for you it will be okay. While mother tries her best to persuade the chick to jump off. After an hour or so both parent’s patience is starting to ware thin and you can imagine them giving each other a wee wink and then suddenly, the mother thinks “stuff it” and her wing comes out and accidently touches the chick and it falls off the cliff face while the father sings to himself that famous song by R. Kelly “I believe I can fly”. Suddenly, the chick hits the water and thinks, boy that was lucky. While the father looks up to the mother, gives her a little wink and says, see you next year babes, same time, same place and off the father and jumpling go into the north sea.

If that was true it would be great….

Here is a few pictures of the little chicks and it will not ne long now until they leave in their thousands and it will be another year before we see it all over again. Don’t worry it will be a while yet.

Perfect Whiskers

Since it seems to be the in thing at the moment with all the men having beards I thought it would be prefect timing to show you a young bull seal with his perfect whiskers. Okay it is not a bearded seal but he is proud of his young whiskers and with him being so dark in colour they stand out like a sore thumb.

Yes its not like the Bearded Seal we saw in 2011 at Low Newton, which was really rare but for a normal Atlantic Grey Seal I was very impressed with the whiskers and he looked proud of them too.

Below is a real Bearded Seal we saw back in 2011 and today Grey Seal

Yes, I know they both look a bit funny but there is no need to laugh about it. 

Sorry...….

Thank you for taking time to read this blog and I do hope you enjoyed it. Once again thank you and until next time. 

OVER AND OUT

Bottlenose Dolphins

We have been seeing lots of bottlenose Dolphins again this year and it does not half give you a thrill. I never tire of seeing them and it gives our guests an extra special treat they are not expecting.

I had a tear in my eye the other day when I little boy was brought to my wheelhouse by his mother to say thank you. He went on to say that he has never seen any seabirds before as he lived in a city and this was the 1st time on a boat but what made this trip cool was seeing the whales jumping out of the water in front of the boat. Bless him, I did not have the heart to say they were dolphins as his face was all lit up with excitement. Dolphins make everyone's day but that little boy made my day.

We have been working with a few people so we are hopefully going to have a guide on some of the dolphins we have been seeing and hopefully learn a lot more about them.

Any way lets hope the sightings keep on going all year and everyone gets a chance to enjoy them.

If you would like to see lots more videos of the dolphins this year then head over to our
Facebook Page and give us a like as we post them there all the time.

Leucistic Guillemot

Its been 5 years now since myself and Andy first spotted the Leucistic Guillemot at the Farnes and this year we have eventually found its hiding place.
Its taken sometime and its still hard to find at times but what a feeling it is to be able to show our guests this beautiful seabird during the trips.
The other day while we were on one of our trips we spotted it on the water with all the other Guillemots and it was very obliging and let us get really close so we could see it in detail.

I just love this seabird and long may it entertain myself, my staff and all the people who join us.

We have also noticed a pair of Guillemots nesting on the cliff face this year which had really intrigued us, as one day its a Bridled Guillemot and the next day its a Common Guillemot. We would love to know which is the female and male but we will have to wait until closer to the end of the breeding season and hopefully we get a chance to see the jumpling take that leap of faith and see which parent is in the water.

Watch this space and hopefully we will be able to let you know but in the meantime here is some pictures of the Leucistic Guillemot.

New Born Guillemot Chicks are here

During our Sunset Cruise on Thursday evening we spotted a few Guillemot chicks under the wings of their parents. At first we were not sure but after watching for a little bit she or he moved just enough for us to get a glimpse of the tiny chick underneath her wing.
For me this is a wow moment as I get to see them arriving, mating, sitting on the eggs and then its hatched and new life starts in front of my eyes.

We have also spotted a Bridled Guillemot and a Common Guillemot sitting on a egg this season too. This is the first time we have seen this and we are really looking forward to seeing which is the mam and which is the dad. Its not going to make any difference at all but for us its just curiosity to see which is mam and dad as its not often this happens.