Hectic Days

First Ringed Plover chick of the summer (Ben Rainbow)

New sofa arrives on Brownsman (Tom Simon)

Counting continues (Tom Simon)

Sunday 6th June comments:
Its been a long hard week, with plenty of ups and downs as the Farnes welcomed June and half-term. The week started poorly, with two days of closure due to rough seas followed by four glorious days which resulted in the islands running at almost capacity as visitors arrived in good numbers. Combined with all the usual work alongside the start of the counting of the seabird populations, the wardens have been working hard!

On the seabird front, Sandwich Tern chicks hatched in late May whilst the first Arctic Tern chicks hatched on 4th June. The season appears to be advancing by the minute as already we have said goodbye to our first Guillemot 'jumper' - as birds have already started leaving for the open sea. More and more Puffin chicks hatch daily whilst Kittiwakes are feeding hungry mouths.

As for the warden team, the counting season is upon us and we've been up early each morning counting the huge numbers of seabirds and although its early days, we've got good news as Arctic Terns appear to be up but as feared, Eider numbers have collapsed once again. The exact highs and lows will be revealed over the following few weeks, but we've got plenty more counting before we can give exact numbers.

Behind the scenes, more improvements to the accommodation have taken place, as Brownsman took stock of their new sofa - DFS were slightly confused when I asked them to deliver to the Farne Islands, but they didn't disappoint and where now looking forward to a comfortable season ahead!

Other than that, its been quiet on the migration front and all goes well on the islands...or is it? Stay tuned - the weather is about to turn - could it all end in disaster? Its going to get messy....