Farne Islands

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Weather Report

Dry, warm with long sunny periods.

Telephoned the people who run the trips to the Farne Islands about 8AM and booked myself on the all day trip.

Drove the two miles to Seahouses, parked and walked down to the quayside where I paid for my boat ticket and boarded the ship. Well small fishing boat would be more accurate. The islands are only a couple of miles offshore but we took the scenic route looking at cliffs, bird and seal colonies. After about an hour we landed on Staple Island where we were to stay for a couple of hours. Later we were picked up and ferried across to Inner Farne where we spent another two hours.

The islands are famous for their bird and seal colonies although the seals are not so evident at this time of the year. The birds are there in their tens of thousands - puffins (everyone’s favourite), guillemots, razorbills, cormorants and arctic terns being prominent. The latter nest adjacent to the path - by adjacent I mean within inches. This causes problems - look where you are placing your feet or you might stand on a chick. We were warned that sadly this had recently happened. The parent birds are not over impressed with humans and aside from making a great deal of noise take great delight at pecking human heads. You are advised to wear a hat. Even with headwear the peck can be like being hit with a small hammer. I was attacked on several occasions.

Elsewhere birds such as cormorant sit serenely on their cliff-top nests and you can - but obviously should not - reach out and touch. The puffins of course steal the show and many individuals seem to pose for the camera.

A very enjoyable day.

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