Roseate Terns

I know the Roseate Terns are not on the Farnes but a good friend of mine has worked and studied them for many years now, and I could listen to him for hours and never get bored. The reason I decided to write this blog about the Roseates was because I have just seen a few Sandwich Terns pass the harbour while I sit on the boat waiting for the water to come in so I can get my guests. I reminded me that I never seen any this year on the Inner Farne, but there was a good few on Longstone Island before they left for warmer climates. The other reason is that they had a great season and they broke records once again, but most of all they are just a lovely seabird.

Myself and Andy were lucky enough to see a good few close up on the Longstone this season and it was really nice to see them with their young too. We managed to get close to some of them and it was really nice to see loads had been ringed.

I gave Tom, my friend and ringer of the terns a shout and he told the there were 118 pairs on the Coquet Island (near Amble) this year, the highest total since 1970 and they ringed 119 chicks, which is amazing news. 20 adults were also fitted with data loggers/tags to track their migrations. These will need to be re-caught to retrieve all the data but it will be exciting to find out the results for me next year never mind the guys who do all the hard work. Fingers crossed its all good news.

Over all it has been a great year for the Roseate Terns and I cant wait to hear the results when they return next year.