Black Guillemot and friends

Myself and Chris spotted our first Black Guillemot of the season a few weeks ago, which was really nice for me but Chris was well chuffed as it was the first one for him ever. Chris joined us this year for the first time and even though he knows about boats he was never into his birds as much as we were, so everything he see's is his first time. Yes he's seen a good few birds before but everything is new to him and he's really enjoying it.

Andy and myself have seen a good few Black Guillemots before but on this occasion it was our first. Yes we saw two together and for the Farnes its quite unusual to get two as we tend only to get one lingering during the winter but to have two together was a special moment for us.

We also came across a small feeding frenzy so we decided to stop the boat and have a look. Well I did and you could tell by Andy's face he was thinking "what the hell has he spotted now", but he was really pleased I did as we had two Manx Shearwaters in the middle of the frenzy and they must have really full bellies as they did not budge at all so Andy got a few nice pictures. You see it was worth stopping.....





We were really enjoying the day and with some lovely guests on board it made it all the better. When we past the Inner Farne on the way home we also spotted a lovely female Peregrine falcon sitting on a kittiwakes nest enjoying the sunshine whist keeping a close eye on us and a close eye on her lunch which was not far away. Yes she is just one of the birds of prey that keep our pigeon population under control.

So over all a really good day a the office and fingers crossed many more to come.

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OVER AND OUT

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

Geese and Guillies

I was on the first trip of the day and I was in the middle of my speech when Andy, my crewman stopped me to say that he has just seen a Guillemot Chick on the cliff face but its really big.
The microphone was dropped and the bins were grabbed to see what he was on about.

I could not believe it as it was bigger than I thought. We just saw our first chick the other day and it must have been just born but this size was a bit of a shock.

I thought we were about 1 week early this year, and this might be a one off but things seem to be quicker than I thought.

I gave one the lads a ring to say what we had seen and he was even shocked so I quickly took a picture to show you all.

While I was on the phone he told me to keep an eye out for a Black Guillemot.

We did and found it in the middle of Piper Gut, a place known for its strong tide but luckily for us it moved into the calmer waters so I could get a picture.

I think it was first summer as the white patches on its wings were not as white as they should have been, but hopefully you guys out there will let me know.

The light was dreadful as the clouds were black and the heavens were just about to open (which they did later)

The day before was better weather and I was surprised to see 13 Canada Geese on the water beside a rock called Nameless and then later again outside the harbour. This is why the Farnes is a special place as everyday it shows you something new.

Black Guillemot

It was a lovely day at the Farne Islands today and it's the first time I have seen the sun in weeks.

Lots of Guillemots around and we seen 3 Puffins. All in good health to.

This time last year the Shags had built their nests, paired off and some had even layed their eggs, this year they have not even started. This is one of the reason's I love my job as we are always learning and one trip is never the same as the other.

Today was a total surprise for me, as we noticed a partial summer plumage Black Gulliemot beside the Brownsman Island.

I say a surprise but I have to expect the unexpected when it comes to birds and you just never know what your going to see around the Farne Islands as it has done so to many times over the years.  

Anyway here are some mixed pictures from today and it all started in the harbour.

Tystie (Black Guillemot)

I have been out around the Islands over the last week or so which has been really nice as the weather has been nice and the seas have been calm.

On Saturday 5th at about 1pm, I was just about to steam across to the Inner Farne when I noticed a wintering Black Guillemot resting on the water beside Gun Rock, which is a little rock beside Brownsman and Staple Island.

At first I was not sure as it kept on diving but as we got closer it surfaced just in front of the boat. I shouted at a friend as she had never seen one before. We quickly grabbed the camera's and snapped away.

Anyway here is a few pictures of this lovely bird.

Black Guillemot

Over the last week we have had a Black Guillemot lingering around the Inner Farne and every time I've tried to see it, it decides to hide. I even popped out the other morning to see if I could find it but without any success. I thought my chance had gone as it was not seen for a few days, until today.

My brother Toby gave me a phone call to ask me if I would bring out some milk for him, as the milk he bought in the morning had decided to jump of the bench, do a little somersault and land on the floor. Nothing to do with the big waves as he left the harbour this morning. After making him wait for a while I decided to let the ropes go and head out.

As we left the harbour on top of some cracking waves we steamed out towards Toby and all of his divers, who looked very happy to finely get their cup of coffee.

Job done so of we went across the rolling waves towards the Inner Farne. As we approached the Inner Farne I got a call to say that the Black Guillemot was back. As the cheesy grin appeared on my face I got my camera out to start taking pictures when the battery died. As you can imagine there was a few choice words coming out of my mouth but then I thought, ah what the hell at least I can see it.

Happy with my sighting we headed home, but just before we got to the harbour entrance we were welcomed by 2 Harbour Porpoise playing in the waves. We stopped the boat and they turned around and started to circle the boat. It was great to see but I was very surprised as they are normally very shy creatures. They put on a great show and then dived down but never surfaced again.

Back in the harbour I was kicking myself about my flat battery that I decided to open the booking office and give the battery a quick charge and head back out.

With the battery charged I steamed towards the Inner Farne praying that it was still there. Bingo, One winner.
A very happy lad and after taking a few shots I could see that it was in first summer plumage and was just amazing.

Hopefully I will get some closer pictures next time. Finger crossed it stays that is.

IS IT A GOOD SIGN OR NOT!

After a well rested holiday i returned home to the cold, burst pipes and instead of waking up in the morning and putting my flip flops on, it was the long johns. Never mind at least i was going out to the islands with a few customers.

I started the boats engine's, cleaned the decks and then manoeuvred the boat over to the slipway to pick up my passengers.

As we steamed out of the harbour towards the islands we were greeted by 12 Harbour Porpoise, 10 Long-tailed Ducks and 6 Fulmers.

As we cruised around the the islands passing 2 Little Auks, 21 Fulmers, 9 Turnstones and many more we headed back towards the Inner Farne.

To my amazement we saw over a 1000 Guillemots. Now i know they came to the islands quick last year but they did stay as long as they normally do, but this seems to be too quick.

The question i asked you is this a good sign or a bad one?

I know nature tells us alot of things but I'm not quite sure about this one. Is it because we have been having Northerly Winds lately?, or is the spring is on the way?, or is there just loads of food around the islands that has attracted them back.

Who knows, but whatever the answer is, it was a great sight to see.

Winter Wonderland

As the sea's have been a bit rough over the last week or so and what with being in bed with man's flu i needed to get out but wait a minute what's this white stuff. As we all know the snow has hit the North East for the first time in 17 years in November, but i needed to get out.

I decided to give the boat a run out to the islands just to see what was around.

After a quick phone call to Keith to see if he wanted to join me, we headed out to the islands.

We had hardly left the harbour when we had 4 Common Scoters fly north over the boat. As we slowly steamed out passing a few Guillemots sitting on the water, we looked across towards the land we saw the beauty of what the snow does to the landscape. Just Beautiful.
As we reached the East Wideopen were we saw a Peregrine Falcon sitting on a stump of wood watching and waiting for his lunch. Just around the corner we came across 8 Long-tailed Ducks, 10 Teal and 2 Red-breasted Mergansers.

We decided to head towards the outer group of islands to see the seals and anything else.
Upon arrival we were greeted by a Merlin sitting on the Brownsman Tower and the island was covered in seal pups.
Just beside the Brownsman was a single Black Guillemot in winter plumage sitting on the water.

Back towards the Inner Farne we passed about 30 Little Auks and loads of Eider Ducks.

As we headed back towards Seahouses the wind picked up, the sky went black and then the snow came down, but it was a nice end to the day.