Seabird summer

Sunrise on the 1st July over the islands

Sunset over Inner Farne

Arctic Tern chicks fledged!

Kittiwake chicks growing strong

Star Tern; Bridled Tern remains on Inner Farne 

Wednesday 2nd July comments: Welcome to July and we are now at the peak of the season and we are now entering a crucial period for our seabirds. With just a few weeks to go, it’s now make or break as everything is going well on the islands, but just a change in weather patterns or a sudden food shortage could change everything. Fingers crossed we have a good month and hopefully we’ll be celebrating a successful season by early August…hopefully.

Just to bring you up to speed on the latest seabirds news:

Puffins all now have chicks (but be quick, as we’ll only have them for four weeks before they start leaving!)

Guillemots and Razorbills have started leaving in huge numbers after a very successful breeding season

Shags; a real mix – having a good season but some with large chicks, some still on eggs!

Kittiwake’s have plenty of chicks

Sandwich Tern; the first fledglings are on the wing

Arctic Tern chicks growing bigger by the day with the first fledgling discovered yesterday

Eider the majority have now gone and large crèches can be seen in Seahouses harbour and along the nearby coastline

On the migration front, its still quiet but the star of the islands in recent weeks; the Bridled Tern remains but can be a bit erratic in appearances. So if its seabirds you want to see, get yourself out on the next visitor boat because you don't have long!