Farne Away IV

OK it had to come.  No photo diary of a day at the Farnes doesn't include puffins, and despite my determination not to spend all my time on them the memory card soon started to fill up.  I knew I should be able to get some better flight shots, and although I still haven't got 'the' shot I did make some more progress.

Portrait shots weren't too different from my old ones though, and the wet weather seemed to have caused some muddy tummies.  Sadly I heard it was worse than that and a lot of the very young pufflings didn't make it this year as the nest holes flooded.

So nothing terribly new, but let's face it who could resist them!

Farne Away III

The first time I landed on Inner Farne I was blown away.  I'd seen film of skuas dive-bombing people encroaching on their territory, but to have this happen multiple times as the terns came shrieking in was unexpected.  As you walk up the boardwalk from the jetty you have to focus on your feet to avoid stepping on the chicks wandering off the grass as their parents hover above with food.  That first impression is something like this....

The more bold terns sit on people's hats and shout away.  That's not so bad, the most you have to worry about is some new decoration of your hat .....

But the real problem are the ones that don't land.  Look closely at those bills. 

Sharp.   Very sharp.  At the time it just feels like a hard tap, but this visit, despite my baseball cap Kay counted 15 bleeding punctures on my balding scalp.
The wind direction didn't really work with the light this time, so I struggled to get the shots I really wanted, but a few passable ones were in amongst the near misses.  And how cute are those little ones?

As always you can see bigger versions of these pics by clicking on them or going to my web albums.

Farne Away II

The seals make a nice aperitif, but it's the cliff faces that really whet the appetite, peppered with auk species, kittiwakes and shags.

The beauty of the early all-day trips is that you get the chance to spend time on the 2 islands that allow visitors, welcomed on the first by puffins, the second by arctic terns.  And therein lies one of the problems with occasional visits to the Farnes.  Both these species have the tendency to grab your focus and distract you from the other birds no less deserving of attention.  I've been before.  I knew this.  Yet I still got sucked in, especially by the puffins, but I did try honestly!  I guess the answer is to make a couple of trips in rapid succession so that you finally get overloaded by 'flying puffin/tern with beakfull of sandeel /fish shots'.  Anyway more of puffins and terns later.

I did take some snaps of guillemots (more brown than black, something I hadn't really noted before) including the first pics I have managed of the 'bridled' form (spectacled would seem a better name) complete with punk offspring, and some pics of one in Happy Feet mode.

Razorbills (these are black) are a real favourite with their Desperate Dan chinline and that fabulous eye line.  One appeared to have landed on such a small ledge it couldn't move.

The fact that at the smallest I had a 300mm lens was a bit of a problem with the shags  - they are big and close, but I did like the impact of the green eyes and yellow mouth in the shot below.  And how ugly are those chicks!

I didn't really get a shot I liked of the kittiwakes, this squeezed in view of feeding being about the best.

Next time  - must try harder

Islands and Highlands 3

The trip to Northumberland was mainly about the Farne Islands, but the boats return late afternoon, the sun is up a good few hours before they set off and the Sunday trip was cancelled due to high winds, so we had time to have a look around.
The first evening was about more than looking around. Some advice. If you head up that way at the weekend book accommodation ahead! Saturday evening was spent around Seahouses, Beadnall Bay, Bamburgh and Alnwick searching for somewhere to stay. In the end Kay and the internet were roped in, and we finally sorted out a place in Seahouses - but not a proper B&B, just a kindly soul who sometimes took 'overflow'!
On the Sunday the weather wasn't great. We wandered down to the harbour at Seahouses and spent a few hours trying to snap gannets flying down the coast from Bass Rock, skimming the waves. Not great snaps, and more gannets to come in due course, but you can see how they hugged the sea.
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.
In the evening we headed for the reserve along the beach from Beadnall to see the terns, but never actually got there. 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 HERE
I did manage to snap one tern though. This is a heavy crop, but it still looks small. That's because it's a little tern.
Monday morning saw an early start, and the Seahouses headland brought a Grady, some kittiwakes, fulmars and a meadow pipit lit by the warm sun.
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.