Tuesday 31 March 2009

Nice Sandwich!

Monday 30th March Comment
The weekends northerly wind was long forgotten as calm, sunny weather reached the Farne Islands. The team enjoyed a day of warm weather combined with a flat sea, ideal for working outside and finding the occasional interesting bird. The final touches to the island were being made in anticipation for Wednesday’s big opening to the public, as the final jetty was scrubbed clean and boardwalks repaired. The highlight of the day was without doubt the return of the Sandwich Terns – all four of them and I’m sure the next few nights will bring even more. The birds, having spent the winter off Africa, are the first to return and the Common and Arctic Terns will follow mid-April. Its an exciting time to be on the Farnes.

Weather: Southerly 2-3, warm and sunny spells

Highlights: Sandwich Tern 4 at the evening roost on Knoxes Reef also: Whooper Swan 12N, Red-throated Diver 1, Goldeneye 4, Chiffchaff 1 (our first of the year), Rock Pipit 1 littoralis race (from Scandinavia), Redwing 1.

Breeding Birds: Everything returned! The sunny calm conditions brought huge numbers of Guillemots to the cliff ledges along with Fulmars, Kittiwakes, Shags nest building and Puffins to the islands. At least two Wren’s were singing (we only got our first ever breeding record last year, so fingers crossed for some more!

1 comment:

Jan said...

Good luck for the official opening tomorrow then and hope the weather holds out for you all.
Lots of birds there now, wrens in my garden are nest building too.