This wasn't a group trip but a personal one that made my wife and I very excited. Read on; it's a "Must Do" trip for any birdwatcher either keen or not so keen.
My wife and I had a week's holiday in Northumberland in late June/early July with the intention of doing some birdwatching and some sightseeing in a part of the country hitherto unvisited. The Farne Islands was to be one of our destinations. Inclement weather caused us to put off our trip until Friday 4th when it looked set fair. So we drove to Seahouses to catch a boat for the all day trip to the Farnes. In the breeding season landing is only permitted on Staple Island in the mornings and Inner Farne in the afternoon. Unfortunately for us we were told on arrival at the harbour at Seahouses that the swell was too great to land on Staple Island at all so we bought tickets for the next best option which was a cruise round all of the islands and three hours on Inner Farne.
During the two hours wait, we contented ourselves with a walk along the cliff tops watching birds on the sea shore, particularly Eider ducks with their young which are very common on the Northumberland coast.
So onto the boat which took us on a tour of the islands and we were soon amongst the Puffins bobbing about in the swell. Did you know that when they take off from the water that Puffins use their orange webbed feet as ailerons until they are well airborne and well above the waves? The cruise around the islands was scintillating and we had superb views of Grey Seals basking on the rocks as well as excellent views of the cliff-nesting birds but nothing could have prepared us for the birds on Inner Farne. As soon as we disembarked the boat we were faced with the sight of Sandwich Terns "nesting" on the beach to the left of the jetty and mixed Arctic and Common Terns to the right on the rocks. . The warden had told us that we must stay on the marked path and mind where we put our feet. At the end of the jetty, the fun started. There are definitely unmarked boundaries to the collective territory of the Arctic Terns and the end of the jetty is one, then we under aerial attack the white squarking dive bombers and this is where a stick, walking pole of umbrelle comes into its own to fend them off and a hat helps protect the cranium. The Arctic Terns attack your head from all angles mostly with glancing blows. Seeing them fly straight at our faces, squarking with mouths wide open gave us great views down their throats; they are a brilliant red colour. They were nesting everywhere around the old chapel and visitors' centre and the young were on the footpath at our feet. Just by the old chapel door an Eider was nesting; she sat her ground.
We moved on to the cliff edge, out of range of the Arctic Terns to find adult Shag with their young just the other side of the protective fence, posing for portraits. Just a little further away were Kittiwake, Guillemot and Razorbill families, all within easy reach of a modest telephoto lens and all quite unconcerned by all of the humans clicking away. All around us on the land were Puffin burrows with adults going in with beak-fulls of sandeels and coming out empty. Overhead the air was thick with more Puffins flying hither and thither. It's hard to describe; you have to be there to experience it. The Puffins didn't let the humans us get too close; just occasionally we'd see a head pop out of a burrow near the path edge then quickly disappear again.
Our three hours on the island was over all too quickly and we had to run the gauntlet of the Arctic Terns again to get to the jetty and the awaiting boat. This time one was more successful, drawing blood through my baseball cap. Another thought I was too close to it's chick on the nest trying to get a better picture and drove me off; yet another left its mark on my backpack.
It was a memorable day that I will never forget and I hope to repeat.
Stuart Harrison
A hat
A walking pole, stick or umbrella to fend off the Terns
A camera, even a disposable one
Lunch. There is no food or drink to buy on either if the islands
Warm clothes. The islands are very exposed
Sun cream for the same reason.
Telescope. You are not likely to need it unless you want to do some digi-scoping or sea watching However, you could take the tripod to hold the camera.
At the time of our excursion, the all-day boat trip was £20 per adult ( we paid £18pp for the part-day trip) and there was a landing charge of £4.50 per adult on Inner Farne (free for National Trust members). See the Boat Trips and National Trust links below for up-to-date information. There is Pay-and-Display car parking at the harbour at Seahouses and at a public car park nearby.
June or July to see the nesting birds
Bird Watching magazine June 2003
"Bird Watching on the Northumberland Coast of Outstanding Natural Beauty and Heritage Coast" published by Northumberland County Council available at Visitor Information Centres (£3). This is a super booklet with all of the recommended bird watching sites shown on simple maps including what you might see at different times of the year.
"Birdwatcher's Britain" Pan Books ISBN 0 030 28028 7 - possibly out
of print
Ordinance Survey Landranger Map 75
Boat trips to the Farne Islands
National Trust Information on the Farne Islands
We stayed in a rented cottage for a week in Alnwick, probably the biggest town between Newcastle and Berwick-upon-Tweed, and just off the A1. Our week wasn't long enough to do justice to Northumberland and we didn't have time to visit many of the coastal birdwatching sites nor much of the Northumberland National Park. The week we were there just happened to be Alnwick Fair Week which starts on the last Sunday in June and includes entertainment during the day in the town square every day up to and including the following Saturday.
We went by car taking just under six hours to do the 300 miles to Alnwick including a comfort stop and a lunch stop on the way. It's an easy journey via the M1, M18 and A1, assuming no holdups.
There are several coastal villages with B&Bs, hotels and holiday cottages. Bamburgh, Beadnell, Craster, Alnmouth and Amble might be suitable and all close to recommended birdwatching sites.
All of the photographs in this report were taken by the author and his wife. They have been cropped and optimised for quicker downloading. For the terminally technical the equipment used was an Olympus OM2n with 75-150mm zoom and an Olympus MJU zoom compact. The film was Fuji Superior colour print film rendered onto CD by the processing company.
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A pair Arctic Terns with their chick |
A basking seal, taken from the boat |
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A Shag with quite a clutch |
The Guillemot commune |