Thrushed with Success

Thrushes in their thousands going over (David Kinchin-smith)

Dusky Warbler caught and ringed (David Kinchin-smith)

One of five Black Redstarts (David Steel)

Yellowhammer (David Kinchin-smith)

Farnes rare! Moorhen! (David Kinchin-smith)

Thursday 30th October comments: It’s been some day. Over the last few weeks, dominating westerly winds have held up all the thrushes hoping to leave Scandinavia to head to the UK for the winter…until today. At long last the winds switched, favourable conditions prevailed and the floodgates opened. And the Thrushes took their opportunity in some style.

From first light until darkness (and even beyond that) huge numbers of Thrushes were counted heading westwards towards the mainland for the winter. This spectacular site is always impressive but even more so today as nearly 20,000 birds were counted flying over the islands (including a Farnes record count for Fieldfare).

Alongside the Thrushes good numbers of other birds recorded today heading to Britain for the winter included Bramblings and Woodcocks amongst others. As expected for the Farnes we also pulled in a ‘good rarity’ as an elusive Ducky Warbler was discovered on Brownsman. This was only the seventh ever record of this rare Siberian visitor to the islands and the first since 2003 and was caught and ringed late on in the day.

All in all, an impressive day with some birds. What will tomorrow bring…

Thrush Passage (all counted flying west):

Ring Ouzel     1
Blackbird       1,372
Redwing         9,407
Fieldfare         8,245 *New Farnes record*
Song Thrush   200

Highlights:
Black-throated Diver 1N through Inner Sound
Water Rail on Inner Farne
Moorhen juvenile on Brownsman (rare on Farnes!)
Short-eared Owl 1 over the outer group
Woodcock 34 (noticeable influx)
DUSKY WARBLER 7th record for the Farne Islands but first since 2003
Yellow-browed Warbler 3
Black Redstart 5

Other highlights; Whooper Swan 3N (adults), Brent Goose 9N (pale-bellied), Wigeon 201N, Teal 40, Goldeneye 4N, Red-breasted Merganser 2N, Goosander 1N, Red-throated Diver 2N 1S, Sparrowhawk 1 west, Peregrine, Golden Plover 2, Ruff 1 west, Lapwing 3 west, Snipe 12, Arctic Skua 1S, Great Skua 2N, Little Gull 40 south, Goldcrest 6, Skylark 12, Blackcap 22, Chiffchaff 3, Robin 22, Dunnock 10, Wheatear (late individual!), Twite 4, Brambling 42, Chaffinch, Reed Bunting 4 and Yellowhammer 2.

Seal Tour Information

Seal tours are Go!

Tuesday comments: Seal Tour Information: The weather forecast (and sea state) for tomorrow Wednesday 29th October and Thursday 30th October suggests we will get landing boats on Staple Island (hopefully) to view the Grey Seal pups up close and personal. 

Boats will sail from Seahouses daily with allotted times of:

11:00am
12:00pm
13:00pm

There are three boat companies sailing at this time (in alphabetical order)

Glad Tidings 01665 720 316 (til 3pm) or 01665 720 308 (after 3pm)

St.Cuthberts 01665 720 388 (day)

Serenity 01665 721 667 (day) or 01665 720 760 (night)


Please check availability and book direct with the companies.

As this is a special National Trust event, the cost of entry is:
Adult: £10
Children: £5

This applies to all visitors including National Trust members. Throughout the Seal Tours (which occurs on Staple Island), Inner Farne will remain open with normal opening times and prices applying (National Trust members free).

To ensure the safety of all visitors on an active Grey Seal colony (and to avoid any undue disturbance to the Grey Seals), all visitors will be escorted and given a full briefing on landing. Anyone visiting should be aware of the physical nature of the seal tours as you’ll be walking over unstable terrain and negotiating uneven ground. Sturdy footwear is therefore recommended along with warm clothing.

Pups Away!

Can everyone be quiet please! Pup sleeping (Robert Hunt)

Thats better...nap time (Robert Hunt)

Pup and cow together (Robert Hunt)

Fight club; bulls fighting already (Robert Hunt)

Monday 27th October comments: We are now into the thick of things as the number of Grey Seal pups increases on a daily basis. Our last visit to the nurseries produced 124 pups and if weather allows, we’ll be back in for more counting in the next day or two.

As for the pups themselves, all appear fine as those youngsters born in recent weeks are being looked after by attentive mothers. It's not just the mothers, but Bull seals have arrived (and have started fighting...boys will be boys) whilst more and more cow seals arrive to give birth.

It’s never dull in a Farne Islands Seal colony and I’ll bring you more news and pictures in the next few days.

Ready, Steady, Pup!

Sleeping babies...

One of many Seal pups on the Farnes today

Hello world!

Mother and pup on South Wamses

Friday 24th October comments: At long last the weather has eased and we’ve gained access to our Grey Seal colonies and it’s kicked off in a big way! Several islands are now boasting good numbers with North Wamses island leading the way.

A total of 124 pups were counted this morning across the colonies with 53 on North Wasmes, 42 on South Wamses with a scattering on Brownsman, Staple, Northern Hares and Longstone End.

It’s that time of year as we’ll be bringing you lots of Seal news from now on so keep reading whilst we’ll keep counting!

Speedy Gonzalo’s

North rocks being hammered by the sea

Not a day for sailing

Our Seal pups cling on to the shingle banks

Staple Sound looking interesting

Waves breaking looking towards Bamburgh Castle

Shags still feeding in the stormy seas

Tuesday 21st October comments: There she blows! As promised (and forecast!) the tail end of hurricane Gonzalo smashed the Farne Islands today. The wind picked up quickly overnight and by dawn, white horses were riding high across to the horizon. The hatches were battened, the boat moored safely and we let Mother Nature do her thing.

Throughout the day the wind maintained itself and it certainly wasn’t a day to be working outside! Thankfully the forecast is suggesting that the wind will ease by tomorrow morning and then we can get on with ‘normal life’ on the Farnes.

We hope to visit our Grey Seal colonies in the next few days so we’ll have a full roundup soon but our pups were safe today…but only just.

Hello Hurricane Gonzalo



Hurricane Gonzalo from the air (NASA image)



Wind forecast for the Farnes for Tuesday (Windguru website)



Monday 20th October comments: We’ve seen our fair share of bad weather over the last few weeks on the Farnes but tomorrow we’ll experience the next level. Say hello to Hurricane Gonzalo.


The shipping forecast for the next twenty-four hours says it all:

Farnes: South-west 6 to gale 8 veering west 7 to Severe Gale 9 occasionally Storm Force 10 later. Rough becoming or very rough later.

Enough said…lets see what happens tomorrow. One thing I will predict; we’ll not have any visitor boats, so count this place closed!

Seal Season begins...sort of.

Seal pup on Northern Hares (David Steel)

Cute as can be....



...but motther not very far away! (David Steel)

 Sunday 19th October comments: It’s been a strange old start to the Grey Seal pupping season on the Farnes although hopefully things will sort themselves out in the next week or two. The first pups have now been born and appear to be doing well despite the stormy conditions of last week.

However the Seal strongholds of Staple Island and South Wamses islands have yet to produce a single pup whilst even more unusual, the Northern Hares (a satellite colony which does not start until mid-November) has six! Why this should be the case is any one’s guess but with the recent storms, it may suggest that mums have been displaced. However hopefully things will get back to ‘normal’ and we’ll be alive and kicking with Seal pups across all the islands. We'll keep you posted....

Owl-packed Farnes

Olive-backed Pipit for second day on Brownsman (DavidSteel)



Creeping around the vegetation (David Steel) 



Peek-a-boo Short-eared Owl (David Roche)

One of three Short-eared Owls on the Farnes today (David Roche)

Thursday 16th October comments: Today brought much promise but delivered so little. The easterly winds continued and despite the occasional rain shower, very little new arrived on the Farnes. The Olive-backed Pipit remained for a second day on Brownsman (and showed well!) whilst a new Yellow-browed Warbler arrived (joining one from yesterday).

Interestingly three Short-eared Owls were discovered across the outer group as they moved westwards to winter in Britain from Scandinavia whilst two Lapland Buntings were discovered on Inner Farne.

Tomorrow should, at long last, see a drop in the winds and hopefully we’ll welcome our first visitors of the week (and we can restock on food and water!). Then we’ll be taking a closer look at our Grey Seal pups….

Today’s highlights: Short-eared Owl 3, Olive-backed Pipit for second day, Yellow-browed Warbler 2, Mealy Redpoll 1, Lapland Bunting 2 (first of the autumn)

O'live and Kicking

Farnes 9th Olive-backed Pipit (David Kinchin-smith)

Keeping migrants on their toes; Merlin (David Steel)

Not a great photo but its our Grey Phalarope (in the sun!)

Wednesday 15th October comments: We’ve been waiting patiently. We’ve been waiting our turn. Over the past two days we’ve have had strong easterly winds but with very few migrant birds to show for it (and despite a good influx along the coastline further south). Today however, was our turn…

We didn’t have too much (Redwings and Blackbirds were seen in small numbers) but by mid-afternoon two Yellow-browed Warblers and our first Grey Phalarope of the autumn had brightened up our day.

This however was superseded by the arrival of an Olive-backed Pipit on Brownsman! This rare Eastern Pipit from Russia is going through a boom period as this was our seventh in just the past five years (we only recorded our first ever in 2001!). Despite its recent upturn, it was still enjoyed by the team!

Despite the rough seas, the Rangers also spotted 15 Bottle-nosed Dolphins travelling South through Staple Sound. With the weather showing signs of easing, we may get visitor boats in the next few days and our focus will be back into counting our Grey Seal pups and to start our seal tours.

Today’s Highlights: Grey Phalarope (first-winter), Pomarine Skua 4N, Olive-backed Pipit, Black Redstart and Yellow-browed Warbler (2).

Gull-iver’s Travels

Little Gull on the move (Joe Cockram)

Sunday 12th October comments: The dainty Little Gull is generally a summer visitor to the British Isles with the nearest breeding colonies in Eastern Europe. In recent days the Farne Islands have experienced an unprecedented passage of these fantastic gulls with record numbers recorded:

Wed 8th: 170 North

Thurs 9th: 92 South

Fri 10th:  - 2,184 North - new Farnes record!

Sat 11th: 791 North

The majority of the birds have been adults and the count of 2,184 on October 10th eclipses the previous highest ever island count of 1,747 on 14th October 2002. Why we’ve had so many remains unclear although recent weather systems across the North Sea have probably pushed birds into the Southern North Sea.

Speaking of weather, Easterly winds are forecast for the next few days across the Farnes so watch this space…the winds may bring in something unusual (fingers crossed) so keep an eye on the blog and we shall keep you posted!

Seal tours 2014!

Farne Islands Grey Seal Pup

Monday 13th October-Thursday 31st October


From next Monday our Seals Tours will begin and run until the end of October. Boats will sail from Seahouses daily with allotted times of:

11:00am

12:00pm

13:00pm

There are three boat companies sailing at this time (in alphabetical order)

Glad Tidings  01665 720 316 (til 3pm)    01665 720 308 (after 3pm)

St.Cuthberts  01665 720 388 (day)

Serenity         01665 721 667 (day)         01665 720 760 (night)

Please check availability and book with the companies direct.

As this is a special National Trust event, the cost of entry is:
Adult: £10
Children: £5

This applies to all visitors including National Trust members. Throughout the Seal Tours (which occurs on Staple Island), Inner Farne will remain open with normal opening times and prices applying (National Trust members free).

To ensure the safety of all visitors on an active Grey Seal colony (and to avoid any undue disturbance to the Grey Seals), all visitors will be escorted and given a full briefing on landing. Anyone visiting should be aware of the physical nature of the seal tours as you’ll be walking over unstable terrain and negotiating uneven ground. Sturdy footwear is therefore recommended along with warm clothing.

Please note the first opening date is subject to the birth(s) of Grey Seal pups on Staple Island. The location of the pup(s) will also be taken into consideration with regards to granting safe access to the colony. For information on opening day, please keep an eye on the Farne Island blog or follow us on twitter @NTSteely. See you soon!

Take a Brow

Yellow-browed Warbler showing well (David Kinchin-Smith)

A good thing our boat's not in its usual spot

Huge seas! (David Kinchin-Smith)

Thrushes on the move! A Song Thrush from today

A tree full of Linnets

Tuesday 7^th October comments: We weathered yesterday’s storm but the sea certainly hasn’t calmed. It’s been a stunning day on the islands but with the residual swell from yesterday the sea was an impressive beast. The fine weather has allowed movement of migratory birds which were clearly grounded by the horrendous conditions yesterday. Further signs of the approaching winter came in the form of a Short-eared Owl, our first Woodcock of the autumn and thrushes moving through in some numbers. The highlight of today however was provided by the arrival of 3 Yellow-browed warblers, which was echoed elsewhere on the east coast with an influx of these delicate eastern visitors.

Autumn’s an exciting time out here with birds using the islands as vital refuelling grounds before continuing on epic migrations across the globe. Come and experience these natural wonders for yourselves!

Todays’ totals: Grey Plover 2, Woodcock 1, Short-eared Owl 1, Merlin 1, Peregrine 1, Meadow Pipit 45, Wheatear 2, Song Thrush 57, Redwing 3, Blackbird 6, Robin 10, Dunnock 7, Lesser Whitethroat 1, Blackcap 2, Willow Warbler 3, Chiffchaff 2, Yellow-browed Warbler 3, Skylark 4, Linnet 10, Chaffinch 2, Brambling 7, Reed Bunting 6  

Wild is the Wind

Landing certainly not possible on Staple today

Meanwhile on Inner Farne......

A good thing we moved our boat!

Longstone taking a hammering

Em trying to take a wind reading with some difficulty

Monday 6^th October comments: Just a quick update from the islands to let you know that we’re all well and still here after taking an absolute battering from both wind and waves today! We knew a storm was on its way, with strong South-easterly winds forecast, but we didn't quite realise the intensity with which it would hit the islands. With winds peaking today at gale force 8, the sea has been an impressive sight and has well and truly cut us off from the mainland. It’s a privilege to experience nature at its rawest out here, but with winds set to calm tomorrow hopefully we’ll be seeing you all soon.