Farne and away

Another day in the North of this fair island, another tick in the box as I board Billy Shiel's boat trip to the Farne Islands to get the ubiquitous shot of Puffin avec Sand Eels. But of course, this is the UK and the promised "barbecue summer" finished several months ago. So after a very choppy crossing to Staple Island (narrowly avoiding several seals), it turned out to be too rough to dock so we dejectedly returned to Seahouses to wait for clearer weather.

A second attempt an hour later saw us sucessfully land on Inner Farne, only to be attacked by the infamous Tern colony. For once, I was prepared and had my camoflage beanie for protection, but some of my fellow travellers weren't quite so fortunate and provided plentiful supply of nesting material to the birds.

Over the course of two hours, I was lucky enough to see shags, oyster catchers, kittiwakes and more puffins than you can shake a stick at. Okay so there wasn't a full platoon of the little clown-faced auks as it was nearly the end of the season, but they were so much easier to see than waiting for one to stick its head over the parapet at Bempton.

I'm already planning my trip back there next year in the middle of the season in the hope of catching sight of some babies in their burrows before fledging. Well worth the trip!