The weather was reasonably kind (although it clouded over as the morning passed), a few birds came to feed at the boat (the fishing has been good this year, so the gulls outnumbered the gannets significantly, but it was still a treat to see them hit the water so near), and the spectacle of the Rock came nearer.
The largest gannet colony in the world, from a distance the birds provide a dusting on the bare rock.
Access when we landed was as high as the ruined chapel can see just above the lighthouse, and the birds were just phenomenal. These are big birds, but they are at your feet, all around you - the sound, the smell - quite breathtaking. In fact there are so many photography was tricky - always a bit of another bird in the way!
I feel I rarely get my best shots on the first visit to a venue - I'm still too green at this game, and need to look back at the snaps and consider what to do better next time, but here I only had the one chance. In hindsight I spent too long trying for some flight shots - it's not the best venue light-wise, and with the wind direction as it was the birds were flying in from the sun, tending to cast shadow on the head. Still in the end I got some snaps I was happy with.
I should probably have spent a bit more time on the nesting birds, but got some nice views of parents with chicks of all ages,
of the parents together (very easy to anthropomorphise here - sorry Brian - but there has to be some element of affection here surely).....
including the bill-fencing greeting as one of the pair returned ........
and the 'sky pointing' a bird would do just before take off.
Not all was peace and quiet though. Two birds started a scrap, then more joined in and the mud was soon flying before the target bird managed a get-away. I presume it had ventured into the wrong territory, but suspect it won't make the same mistake again.
I previously commented on the brightly coloured mouths of various seabirds. Not so the gannets - but just look at the size of that gob!
Inevitably gannet fever took over. I should have spent more time on the herring gulls also nesting on the Rock - like I say next time I'll do better.
It was a good trip, and a great experience, but it's not cheap and you need to be lucky with the wind and light if you are going to get the really best views - especially flight shots. I took way too many pictures as usual, but if you want to see some more, or just better views of these shots, click HERE and look at the latest pictures album.
I never got my rock pipit shot, but a pair of quite confiding dunlin were a bonus, especially as the sun came out and lit the seaweed too.
First we were hijacked into snapping a few swallows that were using the wind that tracked along the sand dunes to hunt. At times they were held stationary as they flew into the strong winds enabling some unusual opportunities to catch them in flight. Several times they flew by at head height (I was kneeling) just a couple of feet away - never thought I'd miss a swallow in flight shot as it was too close to focus. These were the best of my efforts. Have a look at a larger version on the 'latest pictures' web album 
In the harbour the female eider duck had a few ducklings in tow. No males around, but as they were already in eclipse plumage this was no real loss.
Monday evening I was off to Dunbar .............. but that's another post. A few more shots of most of these birds on the web album - just use the link above or to the right.
Day 2 saw the wind pick up as expected so we were diverted to a landbound day - more of that to come - but we did get out again on the Monday, albeit with a delayed landing on Staple, round the back door, and a heavier dose of cloud.
- puffins can hold multiple fish like sandeels at the one time. you can see how the jaw hinge is wide to allow for this, but how do they catch them all?
- Shags are pretty in close up. Their chicks are from your nightmares!
- terns are fun to watch but tricky to get lit well (must buy a flash) - and I do wish there was some microchip device that prevented the bling having to be used. It really spoils the line of those legs, and I can't yet bring myself to start trying to photoshop the rings out.
- watch where you sit on the boat when the weather is choppy. On our second trip out we were threequarters of the way out when a wave broke fully over a couple on the back corner of the boat. They only had light rain gear on and were pretty soggy. Heading from Staple to Inner Farne they stayed in the same spot - at least they were heading in the opposite direction. Sadly the sea is a fickle master, and incredibly the same thing happened to the same couple in the same spot. No-one else, just them. On the final leg, the trip back to Seahouses they shifted to the other side. You've guessed it. Another drenching, and I got a fit of the giggles. Like a kid. Couldn't stop. They didn't see, fortunately, but I just couldn't help it. Thank God the wind and spray meant my hood was up and my head tucked down. [In the unlikely event you're reading this I'm sorry, although I have to say you both took the drenchings surprisingly well. But seriously you must have pissed off Neptune in a big way some time in the past].
