Summer Aurora 16/08/2015

A very unexpected summer aurora happened the other night and I had promised myself an early night but was never going to happen when I was receiving text alerts. Here is a link if you want it www.softservenews.com 
I first went to the harbour to do some test shots and the second I started I knew that I had forgot something. It took a while for the penny to drop and I realised I  had left the main thing at home, my tripod. What a prat and I was scared to go home to get it just in case it was all over by the time I got back. I decided to balance my camera on the pier wall and take a chance. At first I thought it would be ok but after a while I had to take a chance and go home as it was not really working.

I jumped into my van and drove very very slowly up the main street, ran into the house, grabbed my tripod and ran back to the van. Once I was in the van I decided to head to the beach as the tide was just about to come back in and I thought of the reflections on the wet sand would be nice.
Once again I drove very slowly along the road, not breaking any speed limits as it had not been long since I did my speed awareness course and I did not want to go to one of those again. I'm not saying its a waste of time or anything like that I just did not want to take another day of work to do it.

I parked safely on the road side and sprinted down the beach, arriving safe and sound to see that the aurora was still in full swing.

After a few pictures there I went a little further along the beach to a different area to try something different. I'm not sure it worked but I kinda liked it.
After that it was back into the van and off to Stag Rock Lighthouse remembering everything they taught me in the class room. Once arriving I realised I was not along as two other photographers had the same idea. After a few pictures I decided to have a look around for something different before heading home at 3am.

I was totally goosed by this time and I had to be up in 4 hours time to move the boat. Not a nice thought but it was well worth it.

Enjoy everyone and I'm sorry but I did tweet to say it was happening and if you were in Seahouses area and did not see it then I'm sorry but I did tell you.

 From the harbour towards the Farne Islands

 

The north beach

 

I wanted to knock on this campervan to tell them the aurora was happening but I knew that would not go down well at 2am

 

Through the key hole

Bamburgh golf club

 

Grace Darlings grave

 

 

       

That's it and I hope you like them.  Lets hope this winter will be a good one and remember always look north on a clear night as you never know what you might see.

Thanks for reading

 

OVER AND OUT

 

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Mega Aurora

After the previous night on the beach watching the aurora I never thought we would get it again, but a look at the forecast and clear skies predicted I had to give it another go.

I was getting myself sorted before I headed out when I got a text of Gary to say that he was down at Dunstanburgh and did I want to join him. I was not sure if I wanted to go there and knowing my luck I would drive there and it would be over.

I decided to give it a miss and head back to the beach.

On arriving at the beach there was a party happening so I decided to go to Stag Rock. I'm not really keen on going there to be honest as it gets really busy and there has been loads of pictures from there over the years but I stuck to my guns and when I arrived I was the only person there.

After a few test shots it looked good to go, and there was a slight green glow too.

A few minutes later it was turning a bit pink and I received a call from Gary asking if it was ok up there as he had thick clouds. After a quick chat he joined me.

Another couple of local lads turned up and then all of a sudden it kicked off big time.

The buzz was just tremendous and we were all clicking away like mad but at one point I had to just stand back and watch. What a sight and this has to be the best I have ever seen.

After about 20 minutes of mind blowing activity it started to fade and my lens started to fog up as the mist started to roll in.

At about 1.30am I decided to head home as I had to be up in the morning and get myself ready for a long drive to London and back again for the finals of the Blog Awards.

Here is some fabulous pictures of a wonderful evening.

  

Aurora Borealis

I missed the best night for the aurora and I did receive a good few phone calls from 1am through to 2.30am and I am kicking myself as I missed a really good one.

I don't really like to take my phone to bed, as sometimes I get a message or a tweet through the night and it wakes me up but after missing all the calls, my phone will be coming to bed with me now.

I did manage to see a faint aurora and it was a good to have a play around with my camera too.

I meet up with Gary and we tried a few different places. Some not very well known and some places that everyone goes too. We have also decided to try some experimenting soon so watch this space.

Anyway I know this blog is supposed to be about my adventures around the Farnes but when its quite at sea and on the bird front you have to go out when its a cracking night. We are lucky enough to live in a place where we have clear skies and very little light pollution so it would be a shame not to take advantage of it.

Here is some attempts of the aurora borealis and some night skies around my local area too. I do hope you like them.

Grey Phalarope

On Sunday the rain had stopped and the sun was shining so after a call from a friend I decided to go across to Stag Rock at Bamburgh to see the Little Gulls and the Grey Phalarope.

As I go there this little beauty turned up and put one really good show. It was a pity the light was not the best and it was getting late in the day.

Sorry but the pictures are not the best as I have just had my lense fixed but I think its still not right so I'll have to send it back again. I took nearly 700 pictures and only a few came out ok.

Stag Rock

Little Gull

 

A Long-tailed Duck just the other side of the Lighthouse

A pair of Merganser's

The mighty Inner Farne

 

and last but not least Gary Woodburn sent me this picture of myself in action. Cheers Gary

 

 

Velvet Day

It was a beautiful day yesterday and I was heading out to the Farnes in the afternoon.  I was down the harbour early to put some paint on the boats before I went out, but the boat was frozen. I asked Peter to boil the kettle so we could melt the ice and dry the boat before we started painting. The things you have to do to get on.

After some painting I got the boat ready to go out. I picked the guests up and off we went. Once we arrived were saw about about 1000 Guillemots on the water beside The Inner Farne and their were more coming in from the North Sea, so lets see what the next day brings.

We had 2 Long-tailed Ducks and a single Goldeneye beside Knocks Reef a few Teal and a Pergrine Falcon.

We steamed towards Staple Island to see the seals and their were loads.

After the first trip I was going back out with some friends. They like their photography and the birds so we decided (Well I did) just to go to the Inner Farne and then head up to Stag Rock and Ross Sands.

Oh boy was I pleased they agreed to it as it was just stunning and the birds were just great.

We had lots of Waders along the shoreline at Ross Sands, 2 Red-throated Divers, 12 Long-tailed Ducks, 50+ Razorbills, 50+ Common Scoters and 1 Velvet Scoter.

Why oh why could we not have had this weather on Saturday when we did our 4 hour Winter Wildlife Trip. Never mind I was enjoying this weather and enjoying the trip.

Here are some pictures from yesterday and thank you to David for his picture of the Velvet Scoter as mine was a bit to far away and thank you to everyone else who joined me today.

Sunday's Trip

On Sunday I went out with a few guests and we decided to alter our route a little bit. Well I did, but I asked first.

We steamed up to Stag Rock to see if we could see any Long-tailed Ducks.

As we were getting closer we saw 2 Long-tailed Ducks fly away but as we approached Stag Rock we saw a group resting on the water. After a quick count there was 18 in total and they looked beautiful in the sunlight. There must have been more further north toward Ross Sands and Holy Island but I was happy with what we could see.

After viewing them for a little while we turned and slowly steamed towards the Farnes. On doing so a group of 50 Common Scoters flew south across the bow of the boat and settled on the water just below Bamburgh Castle.

When we arrived a the Megstone a single Scoter flew straight past the boat but by the time I picked the camera up it was gone. After viewing the Shags at the Megstone we headed across to Brownsman Island to see the seals. There was not very many on the Brownsman but the Whames were covered.

As we were looking at the seals one of my guests noticed a couple of Long-tailed Ducks resting on the water, but they did not hang around for long. Thanks Rob for spotting them anyway.

After looking at the seals for a while we travelled around the Islands viewing Turnstones, Purple Sandpipers Shags and the odd Curlew. When we arrived at the Inner Farne we watched the Fulmers gliding around the cliff face using the wind to their advantage.

After a few pictures we decided to go home as it was turning really cold.

So here is a few pictures of our day out.