The view of the hotel we are staying in at Ashington. Lots of mute swans and this whooper is with them.
We chose the hotel as it close to the various nature reserves we wanted to visit, plus it was in pleasant surroundings with lots of birds on the water and in the woods.
Our second day was spent driving to Seahouses and visiting the Farne Islands. We were booked on the 1330 sailing so had time to explore Seahouses. As we walked around the harbour we saw plenty of eiders, both male and female. As it was low tide there were birds in the harbour including a smart looking grey plover. House martins were collecting mud and nest building on the nearby houses and we saw a pair of swifts over the harbour.
Walking further along we could see kittiwakes nesting on the cliff ledges and a male stonechat flew close to us, as did a meadow pipit as we walked back to the harbour.
Only able to land on Inner Farne at the moment, so the boat took us close to some of the other islands.
Lots of puffins on the sea.
Seals
Auks on the cliffs
When we landed on Inner Farne it was good to be able to see and talk to Heather, who used to be an assistant warden with the RSPB at Blacktoft Sands. She explained to us that Arctic terns were not on eggs but that they are around surveying the area. Lots of puffins, guillemots and razorbills, less shags as they have had a bad winter due to the storms. After listening to her welcome talk we wandered around the island. It was the first time that I have not been attacked by terns, as they were not nesting. On my last visit I remember seeing lots of sandwich terns, but there was just one flying around.
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