A Stormy Start

As the New Year gets under way, massive seas and strong winds have been battering the Northumberland coastline. An important reminder of the power of the sea, it is always amazing how much can change in the space of a few days.

© Allan Watson

On the ominous day of Friday 13^th, the coastal rangers and volunteers braved the elements to complete a bird survey. Battered by the winds and a fair amount of sleet, they survived to tell the tale and although there weren’t many birds to spot at sea they were treated to some spectacular rolling breakers.

Despite the wild sea, the coastline seemed to be holding its own. But over the following weekend, high tides cut away the dune edges at Seahouses and Newton Links. The wooden boards of a bridge at Embleton were wrenched from the support beams and floated upstream and there is no sign of the bottom few steps at Beadnell’s southern beach entrance. Evidence of an incredibly high tide line was littered all the way along the coast.

The tide creeping up a footpath in the dunes © Kevin Redgrave

The rangers have since been busy checking the properties and trying to repair any damage. Although we have been relatively lucky this time and damage has been minimal. We are constantly working to ensure our coastline is able to adapt to these weather events. Looking after 755 miles of UK coastline, the National Trust aims to work with nature to manage our changing coastline. We want to innovate – to have the courage to try out new ideas; and to be driven by long-term sustainable plans.

If you want to find out more about the National Trusts plans for the future management of our coastline visit:

https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/features/living-with-change-our-shifting-shores

The 2015 Seal Summary

So the figures are in, it’s been another bumper year for the Grey Seals Halichoerus grypus on the Farne Islands!

The Farne Islands are home to individuals year round and are an ideal breeding ground for the seals, for a number of reasons.  The islands have a plentiful supply of sand eels Ammodytes, which can make up around 70% of the seals diet, although they do take a variety of fish if the opportunity arises.  Secondly, the islands provide shelter in the form of haul out areas and suitable breeding sites.  Disturbance from human activity is also at a minimum and so with all of these factors combined it is easy to see why the population continues to increase.  This is great news for the grey seals as the UK holds 38% of the world’s population.

The place to be if you’re a weaned pup!   ©Ed Tooth

Grey Seals will pup in the autumn months, with varying start dates at different colonies.  Here on the Farnes we will usually see the first pup being born in September, with the main bulk being born from October to late December.  This year was no different with two pups discovered on the South Wamses on the 18^th September.  Unfortunately, as with many pups born early in the season, they didn’t survive the first 24 hours.  We can only assume that they were washed away by the spring tides that we were experiencing at the time. 

The season kicked off proper on the 14^th October with six pups born on the North Wamses and two on Brownsman.  From then on numbers rose steadily with a peak in mid-November when 187 new pups were found.    Traditionally the Outer Group of islands holds the majority of ‘rookeries’ and the seals there will typically pup much earlier than those on the Inner Group.  It really was a case of the rangers moving out and the seals moving in, as just a week after we moved off Inner Farne 21 new pups were found!

Weaned and ready (?) to go. ©Ed Tooth

After our last visit on the 14^th December we had a grand total of 1876 pups born around the Farne Islands.  This is the highest number since the early 70’s and sees a 7.8% increase on last year. 

As we reach unprecedented numbers it will be interesting to see how the population fares.  We have already seen how dynamic the population between islands is, with a transfer of the main colonies from the North and South Wamses at the turn of the century to Brownsman and Staple in the current day. The former two islands had 1032 pups born whilst none were born on Staple island and only 10 on Brownsman.  Contrast that with 2015 and there is a dramatic difference with 655 on Brownsman, 566 on Staple, and only 489 on the North and South Wamses combined!  It is thought that the reason for this is that Staple and Brownsman afford more protection to the pups and so survival rates are higher on these islands.  This can also be seen in the mortality rate which was 27.5%.  Although this may seem high it is relatively low considering the bad weather we have had.  In the past we have seen mortality averaging at 40% when the main rookeries were based on the exposed islands of the Wamses.  

The obligatory but completely justified photo of a day old Grey seal pup.  ©Lana Blakely

Despite the wet and windy weather attempting to thwart our efforts to count the seal pups, the rangers were able to get out on a regular enough basis to carry out all of the necessary counts.  Many thanks to all of the seal team of 2015 for all of their hard work and enthusiasm.

We are now on the mainland and already preparing for the 2016 season. We hope to see you all out there soon!

'Dicing with death' on the Farne Islands

The breeding birds are long gone but there is still plenty to do for the team on the Farne Islands. As they prepare to close the Islands to visitors for the winter season, the rangers are adjusting to exciting yet potentially hazardous seal pup monitoring. Lana, one of the Islands rangers lets us know how the team are getting on. 

'I am happy to report that there have been very few close calls so far and all our limbs are still intact however the phrase ‘dicing with death’ does come to mind when dealing with some of the more possessed pinnipeds. The process involves five or more of the rangers covering the islands counting the already sprayed pups and searching for unmarked pups.  When an unmarked pup is found three rangers distract the females whilst the sprayer dyes the pup’s tail being careful to avoid the pup’s eyes.  Spraying expeditions are carried out every four days to ensure we don’t become overwhelmed by new births and that we don’t compromise the welfare of the pups by causing a detrimental amount of disturbance.  So far we have sprayed approximately 60 pups in a range of dye colours.'

Day old seal pup on Staple Island.                                                                                  ©Tom Hibbert

'As well as seals to entertain us we’ve been kept busy counting the migratory birds that use the Farnes as a much needed rest stop.  In the last couple of weeks we’ve had good passage of Thrush (Blackbird, Song thrush, Redwing and Fieldfare) heading through, with numbers of Redwing and Fieldfare hitting the thousands (1197 and 1321 respectively), as well as an impressive count of 148 Brambling. 2015 has also been a good year for Short-eared owl sightings with a peak count of 8 (possibly more!) on the 16^th Oct.  This matches the record count of 8 on 13^th Oct 2011 for this lovely bird.  During this time we had a large influx of Goldcrests with up to 60 birds counted on one day.    We had great views of these trusting little birds, the highlight being a group of 5 cuddling up together to keep warm whilst roosting in a Greater Burdock.  Last, but by no means the least was a lovely surprise in the form of a Dusky Warbler on the 16^th, representing the 8^th record for the islands and making it two years on the trot for this lovely little “Sibe” warbler.  Good views were had by all.

This time of year also sees us carrying out lots of maintenance work that couldn’t be done during the breeding season.  We have just had 3 tons of wood delivered to Inner Farne to carry out important boardwalk repairs. On the habitat management side of things, lots of strimming and nettle removal has been carried out in preparation of the breeding birds returning next year.  We hope that by opening up areas formerly taken over by nettle we can create additional nesting areas for Sandwich, Common and Arctic who require a short sward height to nest successfully.'

3 tons of wood being transported over to the islands!                                                                  ©Ed Tooth

'After our last opening day on 1^st November, the next few weeks will see us replacing large sections of the boardwalk in preparation for next seasons visitors.  Seal pup monitoring will hit its peak in the first couple of weeks in November so it will be all hands on deck for the ranger team!  Watch this space for further updates on how the seal season progresses.'

First seal pup of the season

The first seal pup of the year has been born on the Farne Islands, marking the start of this year’s annual seal count by the Islands’ resident Rangers. 

© National Trust

Every year, over 1500 pups are born on the islands, which is one of the largest Atlantic grey seal colonies in England with a population estimated at 5000. 

The breeding season for seals on the Farnes sometimes starts as early as mid-September with the majority of pups being born in October and November. Although the pups can swim at an early age they don’t normally leave the breeding colony until they have been weaned and moulted their white coats.

© National Trust

Low Newton BioBlitz 2015

On the 21 and 22 August, the Northumberland Coast ranger team hosted the first ever Low Newton BioBlitz. For 24 hours an amazing team of volunteers, recorders and members of the public raced to count as many species as possible in the Low Newton area.

Divers searched the seabed, fishermen emptied their lobster pots and volunteers worked through the night to survey bat, moth and small mammal species. From rockpools to woodland to sand dunes, species lists were created from all the different habitats in the area.

                                                                                                 © National Trust

Since then, with the help of the Environmental Records Information Centre North East and volunteer recorders, the ranger team have been busy collating the data and the results are finally in, along with hundreds of brilliant photos.

Larinioides cornuta                    © Paula Lightfoot

Over 939 individual records were handed in, creating a whopping final count of 554 species. Among these were 70 bird species, 142 flowering plants,16 species of fish.

This Grey Chi moth was one of the 100 moth species found.

© National Trust

A green shore crab shedding its shell was found in the rockpools along with 12 other crustacean species.

© National Trust

Common shrews a bank vole and this water shrew were all discovered in the small mammal traps.

© National Trust

The ranger team would like to say a massive thank you to everyone that took part and helped to make the event a success. The data collected plays an important role in mapping species distribution and is vital to informing our conservation work on the coast.

We even found a lobster in the rockpools!                                         © National Trust

Butterflies at the Long Nanny

The Long Nanny reserve is not just an amazing place because of its nesting Terns; but also for its incredible sand dune system.  Teeming with wild flowers and the pollinators that feed upon them, it's well worth an explore!

© Vicky Knight

This year, the ranger team have spotted 14 different species of butterfly on site.  With 3/4 of the 59 species in the UK declining, the Long Nanny reserve is an important habitat for these beautiful insects.

Butterflies are recognised by the government as indicators of biodiversity.  Their fragility makes them quick to react to change so their struggle to survive is a serious warning about our environment.

Assistant Ranger Vicky Knight has been monitoring the Long Nanny site this summer. "My favourite and probably most common butterfly on this site is the Common Blue (Polyommatus icarus)." she says. "In the butterfly family Lycaenidae (or the blues), around 50% of all species are associated in some way with ants.  This relationship varies between species, ranging from loosely and unspecific to strictly obligate.  With Common Blue butterflies, the larvae secrete nutritious droplets from a specialized gland which ants feed upon.  In return the ants protect the larvae from parasites and predators.

© Vicky Knight

"Another welcome visitor to the site is the Painted Lady (Vanessa cardui), one of our largest species.  A very powerful flyer, the Painted Lady is well known for its ability to migrate great distances.  They fly between 500m and 1km up in the sky during migration and can reach a speed of 30mph.  Over a series of steps by up to six successive generations, this species undertakes a 9000 mile round trip from tropical Africa to the Arctic circle- almost double the length of the famous Monarch butterfly in North America.

© Vicky Knight

"Another of my favourites is the Dark Green Fritillary.  The most widespread fritillary in the UK and found in huge numbers at the Long Nanny reserve.  It is a very powerful flyer, being able to live in windy coastal habitats.  Its larva feed upon the Common dog-violet (Viola riviniana) which is plentiful on site.  Thistles are a favourite nectar source- often seeing two or three Dark Green Fritillaries feeding off one flower."

© Vicky Knight

Help Butterfly Conservation get a better understanding of butterfly populations and distributions in your area by taking part in the Big Butterfly Count.  It has all ready started and needs as many people as possible to take part.  Visit www.butterfly-conservation.org/bigbutterflycount2015 for more information.

The Breeding Season is Upon Us

The remote offshore location of the Farne Islands provide a home to over 87,000 pairs of seabirds, and passerines, with 24 nesting species. The islands are famed for their Puffins and Arctic Terns but many more species live alongside the main attractions making the Farnes one of the most significant seabird reserves in the country. Though some species live on the islands all year round, most are migratory, flying in for the summer months to breed and raise their young. Some birds return year on year, flying huge distances from the Antarctic and Africa to raise a new brood.

Each year one of the key tasks for the Rangers on the islands is to survey the thousands of breeding birds. The information gathered each year adds to a knowledge base of seabird population health, movement and well-being within the bird and scientific community.

Why do we monitor bird populations?

Watchers / wardens / rangers have monitored the bird life on the islands since the 1880's, but it was only in 1970 that systematic recording really started. Management of the site relies upon accurate information - are the measures we put in place for nesting birds having the desired effect? Is there a plentiful food supply? What part does the weather play in breeding success? What we do know is that bird numbers have increased from 27,000 pairs in 1970 to the 87,000 pairs we see today.

How do we do it?

Counting ever changing colonies of seabirds is not easy. They don't stay still for long. The cliff-nesters, such as Kittiwakes and Guillemot, require an early morning start, a relatively flat sea, and a number of Rangers in their Zodiac inflatable boat. All the cliff-nesters are counted ten times, over ten mornings, from both the boat and the land, and the figures averaged out. Some species which have a prolonged nesting season, such as Eiders, are mapped, while Terns are counted in one day - the Rangers judge the optimal time for this.

Numbered, painted stones you will see around the islands marking monitored nests

The team follow a standard methodology which is used at all seabird colonies in Britain. This means that when comparing figures, for information, between colonies, we can be confident that everyone has counted in the same way.

Our data is shared with other bodies for example, the BTO, RSPB and critically, The Joint Nature Conservancy Council. The JNCC collates all seabird records, from every colony in Britain, and presents an annual "snapshot" of the health of our seabirds. From this report it is easy to judge the real importance of the Farnes in the national, and international, picture.

How will this coming year compare to last year?

Last year the mild summer weather combined with good food availability led to an excellent breeding season on the Farne Islands. The majority of seabirds showed welcome population increases with some species bouncing back from recent poor seasons. Some of the most notable highlights included:

Shag up 37% to 795 pairs (from 582)
Kittiwake up 21% to 4,175 pairs (from 3,442)
Eider up 16% to 639 pairs (from 552)
Sandwich Tern up 16% to 959 pairs (from 824)
Arctic Tern up 15% to 2,212 pairs (from 1,921)
Guillemot up 4% to Farnes record of 51,883 individuals (increase of 1,835)

The year also gave a welcome boost for the Shag population following heavy mortality during the winter of 2012-13 which halved the Farnes breeding population the following year. There was also welcome news for Kittiwakes as the population increased by 21% and good numbers of young fledged; a positive step forward following recent poor breeding seasons.

As has been the case in recent years, it was also another good year for the islands' breeding auks with Guillemots at record levels, Puffins producing huge numbers of fledglings and the Razorbill population maintaining itself. Other birds to show increases included both the Arctic and Sandwich Terns, whilst Eiders (also known as Cuddy Ducks) made a welcome increase. Other highlights included the Farnes' first ever confirmed breeding of Shoveler whilst Northumberland's only breeding pair of Red-Breasted Mergansers nested again.

In general, it was an excellent breeding season. Strong population numbers, a plentiful food supply and the summer's settled weather contributed to high numbers of young fledging the islands. Encouragingly this success story was mirrored along other east coast seabird colonies; halting the well documented declines witnessed in recent years.

So how will this year compare?

We will have to wait and see. Birds are now nesting, Puffins are burrowing, Guillemots and Shags have started laying, and still more birds have yet to arrive. Our Ranger team are busy monitoring activity again, geared up as the main season approaches. We will post regular updates across the year on the blog and on our website www.nationaltrust.org.uk/farne-islands/visitor-information

Our website also contains all the information you need to help plan a visit in the coming months to see the birds for yourself. Our Rangers are always on hand to chat about the work they are undertaking and update on latest sightings. We highly recommend a visit in May and June to see the breeding season at its peak. At this time it is always advisable to bring a hat! For the National Trust, a charity, every visit we get to the islands directly helps support the continuation of this vital conservation work.