No place like home...

The inhabitants of the Long Nanny tern site are an eclectic bunch. From May to the end of July the site becomes home to over a thousand pairs of breeding shorebirds. For Arctic terns their arrival is the end of a long migration from Antarctica and little terns travel from the warmer climes of West Africa to join ringed plover, a year round resident of our coast. Arriving with slightly more luggage than their avian co-habitants, five National Trust rangers also call the site home for three months of the year.

 

The Long Nanny tern site © Rachelle Regan

Although the main focus of the site is the breeding birds, it harbours hundreds of other species that flourish inside the protected boundary.  The dune flora has enjoyed a spectacular year. Bloody cranesbill swathes the dunes in a blanket of brilliant pink, interspersed with the yellow of crosswort and the brilliant blue of speedwell. Three species of orchid can be found hidden among the marram grass and clumps of harebell brighten the pathways. This variety creates amazing habitat for the many species of butterfly and moth found in the surrounding dunes of Newton Links.

 

Bloody cranesbill and bird's-foot-trefoil © Kevin Redgrave

Wildlife can be found in strange places. As the summer progressed the stock fencing became adorned with hundreds of creamy cocoons containing the pupa of burnet moths. A bag of fence posts left on site made a perfect hiding place for common lizards, with as many as eight individuals in one bag. A common shrew has even taken up residence in the rangers hut.

 

Common Lizard © Will Whittington

With the excitement of the summer migrants it is easy to overlook the sites permanent residents. Foxes, badger, and deer can be seen all year round. Many species of wader, including curlew and oystercatcher, spend the winter months in Beadnell Bay. Toads and hedgehogs hibernate throughout the winter and drinker moth caterpillars can be seen sunning themselves in the dunes. Although the end of the summer will bring a brief reprieve for these locals it won’t be long until new migrants start to arrive, ready to over-winter on the Northumberland coast.

Drinker moth caterpillar © Kevin Redgrave

It's All Kicking Off

Mid-may on the islands is always an exciting time of year; the seabirds are all back and we are fast approaching having all our species on eggs. It's not all about the seabirds though, as May also brings with it the excitement of migration.

First, an update on the seabirds. Guillemots, Razorbills and Shags are all on eggs, and some of the latter on chicks! The Kittiwakes will not be far behind, and we expect to see them on eggs any day now. Incubation periods for these birds range from 30 to 40 days, so come mid June the cliffs will be covered in seabird chicks. With all this action on the cliffs, it means its a great time of year to visit, especially as in the next few days we also expect to see our first Arctic tern eggs!

Razorbill incubating. Not the most comfortable-looking of positions ©Ed Tooth

Guillemot tending to it's egg ©Ed Tooth

Proud Shag with 3 prehistoric looking chicks ©Ed Tooth

Speaking of Arctic Terns, these magnificent wanderers are well and truly back, and in recent days have been creating their nest scrapes ready for imminent egg laying. You may remember that last year we put some geolocators on the Terns, so we could track their movements over the winter. We are very excited to report that we have seen at least 4 of them back on the islands. Now all we have to do is catch them again!

Arctic Tern sporting geolocator number 9 ©Ed Tooth

We are also pleased to report that our habitat trial plots are being well used at present. We set up a number of shingle and sand plots around Inner Farne and Brownsman to see if the Arctic Terns would use them. For us, it's a way of controlling the rampant vegetation effectively, and for them it's hopefully some ideal new nesting habitat. Our Sandwich and Common Tern are also back and days away from egg laying, and when combined with the hundreds of Black-headed Gulls, they make central meadow a noisy and crowded place.

Arctic Terns displaying on the new shingle plots ©Ed Tooth

And we can't forget the Farnes favorite, the Puffin. Most of the occupied burrows now have eggs, and above ground the islands are littered with thousands of theses colorful little characters. Puffin cam is also proving a hit in the visitor center. Three out of the four cameras are beaming live footage of incubating Puffins, and we are keeping all our fingers and toes crossed that in around a month, visitors will be able to get a unique insight into the underground world of a Puffling! We have also spotted our first Eider ducklings of the year, and the islands are now home to hundreds of dedicated females sitting tight on their clutches of eggs.



Puffin cam in action

Nesting Eider lying low ©Ed Tooth

Away from the seabirds, it has been an exciting week on the islands for migratory birds. Each spring the rangers constantly check the weather forecast, hoping to see easterly winds pop up. In the last few days an easterly airflow from the continent made all our dreams come true, and we enjoyed a fantastic few days birding. The accolade of star bird goes to the Thrush Nightingale that was found on Brownsman on the 10th, the eastern European equivalent of our own Nightingale. There was a frantic dash for the boat as rangers took turns visiting Brownsman to get fantastic views of this rare vagrant. It represents only the 4th record for the islands and the 11th for Northumberland. Running a close second was not one, not two but THREE Bluethroat that visited the islands. A strong supporting cast including Gadwall, Black Tern, Iceland Gull, Marsh Harrier, Tree Pipit, 3 Spotted Flycatcher, 5 Redstart, 2 Black Redstart, 11 Wheatear, Garden Warbler, 10 Blackcap, 4 Lesser Whitethroat, 6 Whitethroat, 2 Sedge Warbler and a Grasshopper Warbler has made for some very happy rangers this week.  

Star bird! Thrush Nightingale ©Ed Tooth

Stonking male Redstart ©Ed Tooth

Grasshopper Warbler putting in a rare appearance out in the open ©Ed Tooth

One of the three Bluethroat to visit the islands ©Charlotte Altass



With more easterlies forecast for next week, and tens of thousands of seabirds present daily, now is surely the time to visit. So grab your Tern hat and binoculars and come and see us!

A Fresh Perspective!

It's been a busy few weeks on the islands as birds and rangers alike settle in for the new season. In this post, new Assistant Ranger Tom Hendry tells us what it was like coming to the islands for the first time as a Farne Islands ranger, and also what he and the team have been seeing over the past week.

The team hard at work on the new boardwalk ©Tom Hendry

"Heading out into the North Sea from Seahouses harbour, I was excited to reach Inner Farne; the tiny windswept isle that I would call home for the next six months. I’m very familiar with the Farnes, having visited many times since I was young. The prospect of working ‘out there’ on the easterly-most isle in a cluster of over 25 was nothing short of thrilling. Buffeted by fierce currents, submerged reefs and hidden rocks; I would be joining a team of Assistant Rangers for the 2016 season on behalf of the National Trust. Despite us being a mile off the Coast, we would hardly be alone, for its no secret that the islands are a paradise for birds.

This was clear on approaching the islands, as thousands of Puffins were rafting in the sea waiting for us. Having wintered in the Atlantic, puffins are true seabirds, and many of these birds still have dark smudges on their otherwise white faces. The ‘clown-make up’ metaphor is rightly used for puffins, and in late March it appears that the birds are still applying face-paint in anticipation of the new breeding season. However beautiful and flamboyant puffins appear in summer, it’s still a treat to observe them in this subdued, non-breeding plumage… a sight usually reserved for lonely winters spent on high seas, away from the prying eyes of humans.

Here one day, gone the next. Puffins on Inner Farne ©Tom Hendry

Inquisitive eyes were spying on us as we docked at the jetty, as several Grey Seal heads bobbed up and down in the bay. There is genuine curiosity and intelligence at work here and it’s a strange yet delightful feeling to be ‘watched’ by another creature for a change. The rangers had arrived.…

Seabirds Setting up Home

Thousands of seabirds had already landed on Inner Farne, with more coming in all the time. The Shags are surely entrenching themselves on the cliffs, and can be seen gathering clumps of vegetation and sticks to build their nests. These green-tinged and cool-crested birds are already pairing up, and can regularly be seen preening one another. The early birds are already on eggs and we expect to find more and more every day. The handsome and gentle faced Kittiwakes are also building nests, and can be seen courting on the cliffs. Their distinctive call and clean markings make them everyone’s favourite gull. The Fulmars are also back… these little round winged albatrosses are also engaging in courtship.

Shag sitting tight ©Tom Hendry

The aforementioned Puffins descended on Inner Farne in their hundreds, and proceeded to check out their burrows (and kick the rabbits out!) and partake in a little spring cleaning. After a couple of days, they left to resume rafting and feeding out at sea. They knew storm Katie was on the way and didn’t want to stick around. Needless to say, we all await the true return of the ‘Little brothers’ with great excitement. The chocolate-brown Guillemots and the jet black Razorbills also made a brief return to the cliffs to perform courtship, but much like the puffins, many soon departed to continue rafting and feeding in the North Sea. It’s great to see all of these beloved seabirds again, but its early days yet, and it feels like birds and rangers alike are just settling in.

Pathways and Flyways

Common but not forgotten. Fieldfare on Inner Farne ©Tom Hendry

On reaching Inner Farne in late March, I was a little shocked to see how stunted and brown the vegetation was. I usually visit in summer, when the island is much greener and as lush as an outcrop in the North Sea can be, so I was pretty surprised to see Wrens darting about. However impressive the landscape on Inner Farne is, at this time of year it is quite barren with few obvious hiding places. The wrens seem to possess an ability to appear and vanish at will… emerging from a gap in the boardwalk only to hide between dry blades of grass in the time it takes to raise your binoculars.  10+ Wrens were present on Inner Farne this past week, and they were joined by a host of other passerines which fluttered life into this not so barren isle. 

Migration is an exciting time for nature lovers. There’s nothing quite like the thrill of experiencing it on a small island, where birds seemingly drop out the sky. Surprises are everywhere. 24^th March was a particularly good day, which begun when my colleague discovered a Woodcock inside the visitor information centre (I found a Goldcrest in there a couple of days after). The first Chiffchaff of the year was also present on this day, as was a very handsome male Wheatear, which lingered for a few days. Seeing the first of these familiar spring arrivals is always great, but the added presence of Fieldfare and Redwing; wintering visitors returning to Scandinavia, gave such sightings a surreal touch where seasons merge, along with flyways.

A stonking male Wheatear on Inner Farne ©Tom Hendry

Other migrants this week have included Common Snipe, Blackbirds, Song Thrush, Robin and White Wagtail. A strong Southerly wind has left several of these species sheltering in the lighthouse garden and behind walls. Raptor sightings have included Peregrine and Merlin, and sessions of seawatching have produced Common Scoter, Red-throated Diver, and impressively, two flocks of 44 and 19 Whooper Swans that flew North, the later rafting on the water. Despite all these spring arrivals (and departures), one bird family was missing last week, one which gives the Farnes so much of its charm; the terns. I’m pleased to say that on 27^th March, the first Sandwich tern was spotted out at sea, flying towards Bamburgh. In the evening roost the following day there were no less than 14, surely an Easter treat everyone can appreciate!"