Cordless Dave and I went up to Northumberland the week before last with the aim of photographing puffins in flight with a mouthful of sandeels. The train journey up was seamless. We had only 10 minutes to wait at Berwick railway station for the bus to Seahouses. This was my first time in Northumberland and I was impressed with how clean and peaceful everything was. The bus meandered down and across the A1 passing Lindisfarne and Holy Island en route. We spotted a buzzard from the bus and thought it a good omen - funnily enough, we only one other raptor and that was a kestrel.
We checked in at our excellent digs (superb homemade cake - PM if you want details - they were so kind to us and also accommodate the wardens from the Farnes at times). We were three minutes from the path through the golf course and onto the beach and cliffs - just what the doctor ordered. Straightway we saw skylarks and were able to photograph them. We have these at home but they always seem more remote.
The next and new bird to us was the rock pipit; they were everywhere
Down on the beach, we then came across the little plover with its plaintive cry
We went up across the cliffs until we came to one where we tried to snap fulmars in flight. We were quite successful - but much less so with the sand martins.
The next morning, we were out at six am on a fulmar hunt. It was blowing a gale (and our trip that day to the islands was subsequently cancelled). It was pretty hard to stand up on the edge of the cliffs, let alone keep a camera steady. I don't know if you saw the TV programme on St Kilda in which there was a snap of a hovering fulmar. The updraft against the cliffs was allowing them to hover. I became a specialist photographer of fulmars' backsides. Here is a less extreme snap showing the hovering bird
Because of the bad weather, we were kindly taken down to Newton Pool where we tried snapping sandmartins again (one for the record), and met a group of Dutch birders with the biggest collection of cameras and large lenses that I have ever seen. One lady even had a three-wheeled pushchair to carry her kit. We gradually made our way back along the coast to Seahouses, spotting linnets, larks, shelducks etc en route (I managed several lark flight shots and a close-up of one on the ground). We called in at Long Nanny to see the Arctic and little terns. We saw plenty of the former and one feeding chicks. The little terns were nesting so far away that we could not see them.
The next morning, although the weather was a lot better, the sea was still too high to go the islands. We went instead to the beach beyond Bamburgh and were rewarded by a social grouping of female eider with chicks. At 11 45, we rang the boat people at Seahouses to learn that luckily boats would be leaving for Inner Farne only at 12 30. We caught the bus and arrived in good time.
It was still pretty choppy and the boat very steadily made its way to the island with puffins, guillemots and gulls flying all around. It was not the best platform for photography! We had a good look at the
Grey Seals and cliff nesting colonies before landing for about three hours. First, we had run the gauntlet of the nesting Arctic terns who rise up, clack their beaks in warning and then try to peck you on the head. After that, never have so many puffins been photographed by so many people.....
The puffins were everywhere, nesting or standing on the ground, or zooming crazily across the sky (some with sandeels!). This first shot shows a pair on the ground
This is one of many of the bird and eels in flight
I like this picture of an Arctic tern because it reminds me of a pied kingfisher and I love the juxtaposition of the scalet beak and legs
I noticed this fracas between a pair of oystercatchers and a female eider - no harm was done
A lot of very serious photographers were photographing the cliff birds with some very serious equipment - this razorbill and chick was a favourite subject
There were also quite few sandwich terns. This was was continuously flying around with a sandeel in its mouth. It didn't seem to eat it and perhaps it was intended as a courting gift.
We sadly left Inner Farne pretty well photographed out.
Next day, we were due to leave for home but still got in our 6 am walk along the cliffs when I took this pair of nesting fulmars showing their strange beaks
The pictures can only give a small flavour of what there is to see and there is a maximum of ten to a post, I believe. I hope I have not been too verbose but I have tried to give the flavour of an amazing trip, and one that I would fully recommend.
I will eventually post more pictures in the gallery, if anyone is interested.
I hope those due to go out next week have the same luck as us.
Colin
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