High as a Kite!!!

First for the Farnes, a Beautiful Red Kite!! (Ciaran Hatsell)

Long awaited and much predicted, lazily drifting over, WHAT a bird! (Ciaran Hatsell)

Number 299 for the Farnes, what will 300 be?! (Ciaran Hatsell)

Tuesday 30th July comments: What a month it has been. July isn't famed for being the best month to see migrant birds on the Farnes. It is usually the time to see Puffins coming and going with fish hurriedly feeding chicks before leaving. Today though, the Puffins took a back seat!!

At just after 11 O' clock, news broke from Inner Farne of a large raptor flying over the island being mobbed by the Terns and Gulls which turned out to be the Farnes 2nd ever BLACK KITE!!!! Amazing!!!! The bird flew west and along the coast, mobbed by seemingly every bird on the islands! It was then seen over Bamburgh shortly after! The team were buzzing, another great bird for the islands and one hell of a July!

And then, the unthinkable happened......

At 12.28pm, just over an hour after the Black Kite had headed inland, a visitor came into the information hut on Staple and said to a Ranger "theres a large raptor heading over the island!" Rushing out the hut, the Ranger team were stunned as an immaculate and stunning RED KITE flew low overhead! A FIRST FOR THE FARNES!!!! The bird drifted slowly over, sending the team into shock and delighting many happy visitors!

A first and a second for the islands in the same day. It is almost unbelievable!! The Red Kite also represents the 299th bird species to be recorded on the islands! Not bad for a small collection of islands in the middle of the sea! Who knows what the 300th will be, this is the Farnes, and it's always full of surprises!!!!