The migrants have landed

A Black Tern takes a rest on the Inner Farne rocks

A female Black Redstart sunning itself on the Brownsman cottage solar panels

Roseate Terns are still turning up daily on the islands

Tuesday 2nd August comments: It seems that the summer ‘dead zone’ is finally over, and the first migrants are starting to make their way to the Farnes on their journey to their wintering grounds. Large numbers of waders are beginning to gather on the islands’ rocky shores, and the Farnes has boasted flocks of up to 315 Golden Plover, over 200 Turnstone and 280 Knot.

Arctic and Great Skua are being sighted regularly, with some very close views of the former today as one lingered over the Inner Farne jetty.

Smaller birds are also on the move, with a bright young Willow Warbler showing well on Brownsman on 30^th July along with a female Black Redstart. Just to remind us that this wasn’t a one-off early occurrence, we were visited today by a Yellow Wagtail and a moulting adult Black Tern, which showed well for visitors on the rocks to the south of Inner Farne jetty.

Here’s hoping that this is a sign for an oncoming deluge of migrants. We’ll be keeping our eyes to the skies and keeping you all updated!