Rares Review (so far...)

Star of the summer; our Bridled Tern (Ciaran Hatsell)

Celebrated on Steely's Birthday!

Becoming a real rare; Yellow-breasted Bunting (Graeme Duncan)

At long last; the first ever Red Kite for the Farne Islands (Ciaran Hatsell)

One of two Red-backed Shrikes in the spring (David Kinchin-smith)

Two Citrine Wagtails in the autumn (Graeme Duncan)

One of two spring Bluethroats (Bex Outram)

Sunday 15th September comments: As westerly gales grip the islands, the team are catching up on vital paperwork; we have a lot to complete from all our scientific studies during the summer. With the islands closed to the public due to the weather, today gave us the opportunity to review the season so far and where better to start than with our migrant birds.

Following in the footsteps of last year, its been a cracking season so far. Following a slow start to spring, the islands have produced some real noticeable highlights, including three new additions, bringing the Farne Islands bird species list to 300.

Pick of the bunch was a summering Bridled Tern, the first accessible bird for birders since 1991 and only the 24th to have graced the British Isles. Other major highlights included:

Bridled Tern (first for Farnes)

Fea’s Petrel x 2 (6th and 7th Farnes records)

Yellow-breasted Bunting (11th Farnes record and first since 2003)

Black-headed Bunting (6th Farnes record)

Citrine Wagtail x2 (4th and 5th Farnes records)

Pectoral Sandpiper (Farnes first record)

Red Kite (Farnes first record)

Black Kite (2nd Farnes record)

Others: Red-backed Shrike x2, Bluethroat x2, Corncrake, Blue-headed Wagtail, Greenish Warbler x 3, Icterine Warbler x3, Red-breasted Flycatcher and Common Rosefinch.

So its been a good season so far and as we enter peak migration period, we'll hopefully have a few more birds to shout about. As ever, if weather and access allows, we'll be sharing these birds with you, so tune in, its going to get exciting!