Staple Seals

Say hello to our first Staple Island seal pup! (Laura Shearer)

Tiny but mighty! Goldcrest showing well (Bex Outram)

Sunday 14^th October comments: It’s been another interesting day on the Islands with plenty going on. This morning saw the team out seal counting for the third time, this time recording 19 new births across the islands. The total now stands at 37 pups born. Things are hotting up and it won’t be long until there are little white bundles of joy everywhere! Our first pup on Staple Island is doing well and we’ll hopefully be able to share it with you very soon. The sailing to Staple is completely weather dependent and as you can imagine at this time of year, the weather doesn’t always read the script!

 If you are planning on coming on the seal tours, please remember to wear suitable and sturdy footwear, waterproofs and be ready for some difficult terrain. The tours will be guided by National Trust Rangers and it should be a great opportunity to see Grey Seals and their pups. Please also keep an eye on the weather and check with the Glad Tidings booking office before coming out on 01665 720308.

In other news, we’re still seeing lots of migrant birds on the islands with good numbers of Goldcrests still present with over 45 recorded today. These incredible birds fly hundreds of miles across the North Sea on their migration south and weigh exactly the same as a 20 pence piece (5.1grams)! AMAZING! The Farne Islands are often the first land these birds see after leaving Scandanavia, so we do our best to provide them with a place to shelter and rest up before they carry on. Unfortunately not all birds make their final destination. Incredibly, a Great-Spotted Woodpecker was found dead in the middle of the seal colony today, representing the first record since 2004; definitely ranking as one of the most bizarre places to find a woodpecker! It just shows the harsh realities of life on the wing, what a place to end up after coming so far!

So, the seals are pupping, the birds are passing through and it’s all go on the islands. If there’s one thing to be sure of, it’s that it's never dull on the Farnes!!