Fea Comment

Fea's Petrel - not the bird from the Farnes but a piccy to show what one looks like!

Monday 22nd July comments: It was another magic moment for the Farne Islands, as this morning news broke that a Fea’s Petrel had been seen flying north off Newbiggin, just to the south of the islands. Amazingly just after 11am, the bird was seen from the islands, as it flew north off Staple Island much to the delight of those who saw it.

However agonisingly, with fog dominating, the bird was not seen by many, leaving the team divided; some were ecstatic to have witnessed such a special seabird but others felt gutted having missed this amazing visitor. With the Bridled Tern still gracing the islands today, it certainly wasn’t a dull morning on the islands.

Putting everything into context, the species has only occurred on 47 previous occasions in the British Isles and impressively the Farnes boast five of these records. Previous Farnes records included individuals in Sept 1993, Sept 1996, Nov 1999, Sept 2002 and the most recent in October 2009, so this becomes number six for the list.

The Farnes continues to produce some high quality moments and visiting has to be high on everyone’s priority list; it certainly was for this Fea’s Petrel.