Last weekend’s focus [9-12 June] was definitely on seabirds when I went with the Bedford RSPB Group on a four-day trip to Northumberland. The main purpose of the trip was to visit the Farne Islands, and that’s exactly what we did on our first full day there [Friday] - going to Staple Island in the morning, with seabird colonies covering the cliffs...
... and seabirds nesting just about wherever you looked.
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| Kittiwake |
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| Guillemots |
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| Eider Duck (female) |
The afternoon was taken up with a visit to Inner Farne, where we had a close encounter with Arctic Terns...
Many of these Terns nest within inches of the footpath and then resort to dive-bombing and screaming at you as you make your way along it.
We also did a couple of early morning sea watches on Holy Island (aka Lindisfarne) where, apart from the birds, I was interested to see these upturned boats converted into sheds...
On Sunday morning, before starting the journey home, we were booked on the RSPB boat trip to Coquet Island, out of Amble, an island that holds the largest colony in Britain of endangered Roseate Terns – although even here they number only around 90 pairs. It was a treat to see them, but for me the birds of the trip, fortunately found on all the islands, were the wonderful little Puffins...
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