Time flies

So. Where do I start? Do you even care for my reasons, or should I say excuses for the lack of posts?! Well to cut and very long, multi-geographical story short we had a fall, then I stood on a nail, got lifeboated off the Farnes (thanks to the RNLI!), attended the World Championship Gig Racing weekend on Scilly then returned to planet Farnes to be greeted by hords of Arctic Terns and the likes as well as another fall!

The Farnes at its best! Birds everywhere!

Anyway. There really is too much to tell, and I have a habit of going on and on so I'll let the pics do the talking. But first an update on island life. After being cut off for the majority of April due to strong winds and big seas, May has alas started along similar lines seeing us closed twice in the last week. BUT! Every cloud and all that, as strong winds (especially from the east ie from the continent) and poor visibility bring huuge numbers of common migrants including some rarer bits including 2 Wryneck and a cracking male Red-spotted Bluethroat. One bird I really wanted to experience out here. Magic! Since then the weather has calmed somewhat but strong winds today brought a heathly passage of Manx Shearwater, which is just as well as the land was very quiet! Anyway. Enough talk, more pics!

Confused! A Black Guillemot that spent a day on Ladies Path

Hashtag crippled. Male Bluethroat.

Canny Wryneck

Mega rare. Long-tailed Tit! First spring record since 1965!

Little Terns have been regular at blowing my mind!

And the best of the rest...

Female Restart roosting on our urinal!

Tree Pipit looking nice!

Pied Flycatcher in its natural habitat...a rocky shoreline

More Bluethroat stonkness just because he is dandy!

2nd summer Little Gull that spent an hour in with the roost.

Roseate Terns looking very sexy..!

And people say they have trouble spotting Roseates!

April Incidents

Ring Ouzel showing those silvery wings

Back when it was hot, well warm. For a day.

Well its just incident after incident of late, the ones where you have to write a report, and by report I mean gripping yarns played out across my notebook as today (exactly 1 week since the last fall) we once again experienced the sweet taste of visible migration! From Moorhens to Wryneck's its been white knuckle this past week, and thats just the temperatures.

Purple Sandpipers getting ready for the big blow

Another low pressure whipping air up from the near continent brought good numbers of terns to inland areas, but it was all about the passerines here in the North Sea.

Classic Farnes birding..always check the buildings!

I wont bore you with totals but will with a brief account. The day started slow, as most fall days here seem to. Although an arrival of thrushes and Robins was evident along with the appearance of the first Redstart of the year showed potential. But by late morning things picked up considerably with 2 Ring Ouzel passing through along with a smart male Redstart materializing. Robins numbers peaked with 4 Blackcap, 5 Willow Warbler and 2 Chiffchaff while Wheatear hit 6 and a late Redwing and Fieldfare juxtaposed the spring birds. The final flurry of arrivals happened at 2pm, capped by a Wryneck nonchalantly hopping around the Veg Patch (in the same field of view as 2 Redstarts, 2 Blackcap, 1 Willow Warbler, 6 Robins and a Moorhen - big up the Farnes!).

Wryneck semi-pic. Well I had a semi...

I love Redstarts.

Willow Warbler feeding on bare earth, increase the grip (no pun intended)

Female Redstart looking rare (note side-kick Robin)

A late Fieldfare represented the temperature brought by gale force ENE winds.

So besides this recent fall, a steady procession of bird has graced Inner Farne of late including a mega-rare Moorhen hanging out in our Veg Patch and adjoining Shag colony.

Now there's a combo you don't see everyday!

Willow Warbler when it was sunny...(nb Robin in background, they're everywhere!)

No bramble so a wall will do for this female Blackcap

A day spent trying to get a decent pic of one of last weeks Ring Ouzel resulted in this.

Thrush/chat combo a la Farnes

Just after the fall of last Thursday subsides, a smart male Black Redstart turns up!

Bye bye Ring Ouzels...

Chick! Mallard to be exact.

Alibaba Wagtail.

Speak soon.

    

Going Loco(stella)

Kittiwake rainbow. Oxymoron.

Coorrrr. Phew. Maaaah. Iiiish. Etc. What a week or however long its been. Ups and downs in every aspect. Wind, seas, temperatures, visitor numbers and all importantly BIRD numbers haha.

So in a nutshell the past week has seen us closed for 5 out of the last 7 days, 3 days due to stormy Northerlies, 1 day for Southerly gales and today, due to brisk Easterlies and rain. These latter conditions deposited a spectacular early spring fall that most birders dream of. We lived (and live) it!

Whats at the end of the rainbow? Inner Farne! And loads of birds!

Today brought great diversity and numbers of birds including 42 Robin, 4 Wheatear, 1 Ring Ouzel, 2 Blackbird, 8 Song Thrush, 1 Grasshopper Warbler, 2 Blackcap, 1 Willow Warbler, 7 Chiffchaff, 3 Rook, 2 Brambling and 1 Lesser Redpoll. A classic day where birds were watched dropping out of the sky and one dead stick headge held 20 Robin, 2 Blackcap and a Grasshopper Warbler. Amazing. Here’s some photos:

Zoothera style Ring Ouzel photo.

Lesser Redpoll adding to our biodiversity.

This is whats its about! Grasshopper Warbler chilling out under one of our benches1

Sick. I go loco over these!

Corking Wheatear.

Ring Ouzel trying to avoid my elongated lens..

Classice Farnes...Willow Warbler (or Wallblers haha).

Rooks flying over being rare.

Robins everywhere!

Otherwise despite (or perhaps due to) the unsettled conditions, grounded migranst have been sparse. Yesterday saw a Hooded Crow pass west while a 1^st year Med Gull brought quality to the evening roost, which a couple of days ago held a stonking 418 Common Gull! 

This male Blackcap trapped himself in our Info Centre in strong Southerly winds, and seemed pretty shell-shocked at his situation!

But he perked up once the sun came out giving classic Farnes views!

On the same day this female Blackcap also turned up and acted totally rare1

Non-passerine action in serrator form..(Red-breasted Merganser)

The black (and grey) speck is a Hooded Crow I promise!

Sandwich Terns with part of the Common Gull superflock.

Knock knack Chiffchaff let me in!

This female Reed Bunting was nice.

The breeders have been getting hammered by all these winds, but some brief favourable blows brought our first Arctic Terns while the first Eider nests are also appearing, its all gearing up!

Big waves hitting the cliff nesters.

The sexiest auk...the Razorbill.

Kittiwakes loving life in the wind.

Guillemot eggs are becoming slowly commoner.

Eiders are back on the land.

The price of cliff nesting:

Avian vibes have been very positive but the leppers (that is, moths) have been getting down also. One of the noctuid (a larger type of moth) pupa I collected from a dry stone wall on Inner Farne hatched the other day, revealing a spanking Angle Shades. Great moth, and of course definitive proof of breeding which just shows you that records can lie as this species was only recorded twice last year and was presumed an immigrant….how wrong I was!