Farnes Update 9/05/2015

Since my last post the weather can't seem to make its mind up. Glorious one minute and then freezing the next. Flat calm seas and then rough. I just want it to get settled now so we can enjoy good days on the water and our guests don't have to be wrapped up to the hilt.

We have had our first easterly winds of the year, which are not good for us at all, as it goes straight through the islands not even giving you a chance to get out of the harbour. It's bad for me but it must be awful for the birds too.
I know the birds are tough little cookies and just seem to get on with it but it must drive them nuts too. Fingers crossed the weather will improve and everything goes ok for the birds, but in the mean time here is a little update of what's happening.

All the birds are really settled now, with lots Guillemots on eggs and the Kittiwakes have also joined in the fun.
A pair of Mallards have now had 9 ducklings and I have also been informed that the Shags have been spotted with chicks too, boy its all starting to kick off now.
No news on the Puffins yet but with all this rain we have had lately it will not be good news for them. They have been cleaning their burrows and then the rain floods the burrows and they have to start all over again. Fingers crossed it not as bad a I'm painting it.
The Arctic Terns are back in big numbers now but they are not starting to peck just yet so don't worry. The Sandwich Terns has been mating and it will not before they are on eggs too.

Its all change on the islands this year and so far its been really good with some really nice rangers and some old faces too. The guys have now moved into Brownsman cottage as Staple Island is now open but once again the weather has stopped most landings and so far its only been open one day. The National Trust have 12 rangers split between two islands and so far everything has worked really well, so long may it last and onwards and upwards.

Other than that things are going well, but as I say we need the weather to improve so I can get out, our guests can get a chance to enjoy it and the seabirds get a break from this dreadful weather.

The Children's Friend on the rocks at the Wide Opens and it was built by a local man. If you look carefully you can see two rabbits on the boat.

Guillemot taking good care of its egg.

 

Arctic Terns starting to pair off 

Sandwich Terns displaying with each other.

 

Another pair of Sandwich Terns

 

Merganser flew straight in front of the boat.  

 

Staple Island full of Guillemots

The lads are back in Brownman cottage now.  

 

The gulls are always looking for an easy meal.

This Razorbill flew around the boat about four times for some reason and if was not for my phone ringing I would have had a few more pictures.

The Farnes is a very special place and every day we see something different. Boy do I love my job.

Fantastic Farnes

Boy oh boy the weather has been just amazing over the last few days and if it stayed like this all summer the country would do ok as there would be no need to go abroad.

I have hardly had to touch the wheel on the boat this week as its been that clam the boat has steered itself. Say that it is a catamaran so that helps a lot. I have been floating on air a little after the blog awards and I have even been in local papers today and did a short interview on  Radio Newcastle which was unbelievable.

The response has been lovely and once again I thank everyone who voted for me.

We all know what the Farnes is all about and if you don't then you have to come and see it for yourself as it will blow you away.

The weather has been outstanding for this time of the year, hardly a drop of wind the noise level from the birds seems to have been raised a level or two. The hustle and bustle amongst the birds is the best kind compared to that of London traffic a week ago and I would not have it any over way. I'm not saying I don't like city's but when you breath in the fresh air from the countryside it makes you feel alive. Saying that, unless its really hot and the stink from the bird poo can make your stomach churn but its not for long.

The birds are doing really well and we have lots of Guillemots on eggs now and we also noticed a pair of Razorbills on eggs too. The Shags have also started but they are always first to lay.

We have seen lots of Puffins mating and they disappeared for a few days through the week but today they came back in their thousands and I think that will be them here now until the end of the breeding season.

It's really starting to get exciting now and a few more Artic Terns have been spotted roosting with the Sandwich Terns over the last few days which is always good to see. The Sandwich Terns are now up to 450 and the Farnes broke a record the other day with the first Little Tern arriving some 8 days earlier than the previous record in 2011.

The seals have also been enjoying the sunshine and who can blame them. You have to enjoy it while it lasts as you never know what the next day will bring.

Anyway here is a few pictures of the fantastic farnes over the last few days.

Do you mind I'm trying to sunbath here....

Angel of the (farnes) North

A wee bit busy here today.

Sandwich Terns looking good

Bridled Guillemot showing off its catch

and again...

view from my office window....its a hard life

A bit of blue on blue

          

Inner Farne

 

Puffinfantastic

 

Boy its hot today. I might take a dip to cool off.

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz...

 

Yep I'm back...

 

this is my best side

I'm looking good today

Guillemots on eggs

Ha Ha my nest is bigger than yours....

 

come back here when I'm talking to you...

 

I'm not going to let this water spoil my sunbathing...Me neither.....or me.

The Waltons....

Ringing Sandwich Terns

I was lucky enough to be invited to the Inner Farne the other day to watch the rangers ring Sandwich Terns.

Sometimes we take these guys for granted and we do not see all the hard work they do behind the scenes. As well as looking after all the boats that land and answering probably the same question over and over again from the guests that land on the islands, they have to be up early to do the most important stuff on the islands which is all the data.

They record the weather 4 times a day, they do all the bird counts, they keep the islands maintained and on top of all that they ring seabirds and monitor every mortal thing that goes on and all this is very important for the seabirds and the Farne Islands, so when I got the chance to watch what they do I jumped at it.

I arrived at the Islands at 8am and the guys were just finishing of their morning cuppa. We headed up to the Sandwich Tern colony where I meet Dr Chris Redfern at a table setting up ready for the ringing session.

He is head of the operation along with David Steel (Head Ranger) and he keeps an eye on everything that goes on. He also was writing all the ring numbers (Silver) down, along with the Darvic rings.

Darvic rings are to help the likes of myself, to be able to identify the letters a little easier, then I can report them back the David so he can add them to his records. This is only the second year they have used them on the Sandwich Terns and I was told they were hoping for them to last about 5 to 6 years and in this time they should be able get enough information from them to learn more about the Terns.

I know some birders out there who ring lots of birds will read this blog and think different, but from a person who has never seen anything like this before it was just amazing and I have the upmost respect to you all, but I suppose if your used to doing it all the time it becomes second nature, just like me with my boat, you just think nothing of it.

Anyway, the way the guys make sure they don't have any gaps in the silver tags they put it on, as it could get caught on the thinnest of things. The way they hold the bird. The care and attention they put into make sure they don't hurt the bird is second to none and I have to take my hat of to that.

Back to the event.

We slowly and carefully walked into the tern colony watching were we put our feet as we did not want to stand on any of their eggs or very small chicks. Once we were in, the guys started searching for the ones that were a bit bigger. The reason for this was that if they were to small the rings would just fall of them.

They got the first one and they wanted to get 32 in total.

 

One by one they carefully placed them into the box.

Birds eye view.

Putting the final touches to the Darvic ring onto the tern.

There we have it both rings attached checked once again and all good to go.

 

Looking good and nearly ready to fly.

 

These ones are ringed and ready to go back into the colony.

After an eventful morning I made my way back to the boat with a big smile on my face and I will be keeping my eyes wide open from now on to see if I spot any of these fella's. Thank you gang for giving me the chance to learn a little bit more.