#inner farne

[tim-dennis]

Puffin on Inner Farne Island

[johnnyslittleanimalblog]

In A Flap by Ian Lambert Via Flickr: A Puffin comes into land at Staple Island off the coast of Seahouses, Northumbria during the summer of 2010 The Puffins arrive at the Farne Island towards the end of May to mate. After the young fledge, they all leave the islands and head back to sea until the following year. The Farne Islands are one of the largest breeding sites for the Atlantic Puffin in the UK

[tim-dennis]

Brownsman lighthouse, Farne Islands

[lumpydigits]

I was at the coast the other weekend, here's a little sketch of Inner Farne!

Had nice weather but didn't really get time to sit and draw or paint on the beach, so I did a little sketch from a photo one evening.

Had a play adding some semi-accurate colours this evening, & some fun playing with textures.

[romanceoftheworld]

Farne Islands, juni 2013 - Papegaaiduiker -Puffin (Fratercula arctica) by Martha de Jong-Lantink Via Flickr: Genieten tijdens een workshop van Hillebrand Breuker www.pixus.nl

[johnmargettslincoln]

Puffins

Puffins are delightful birds that only code to land to breed. The Farne Islands, off the Northumberland coast, is one of the main breeding grounds for puffins in the British isles. They belong to the National Trust who control people landing on the islands. The general public are only allowed to land on two of the islands – Inner Farne and Staple’s Island – and on Inner Farne only in the…

View On WordPress

[laroque09]

Tuesday.  A trip round the Farne Islands.

Following the fish, birds feeding off the Farne Islands.

Here’s our journey, courtesy of Billy Shiel’s boat.  We pass one of the most densely populated housing estates in Europe – but despite having to jostle for a tiny space to call home, this community is not socially well-integrated .  Kittiwakes don’t live with puffins.  Cormorants won’t talk to guillemots.  Grey seals loll indolently beneath the cliffs, doing as little as possible till hunger forces them into the sea to hunt.  The stench is intolerable.

  We land on Inner Farne, taking our hats as per instructions.  This is why.  Arctic terns nest all over the island and they have young to protect.  We are the enemy, as they make clear, as they hurtle towards us, piercing our hats and hands with their dagger-like beaks.  I nurse a war-wound on my finger.

A wary arctic tern .

Ready to attack.

Preparing to strike.

Warning me off.

We decide puffins are less bellicose.  They waddle about among the undergrowth, occasionally pottering down into their burrows.

  Puffin at rest.

Exercising wings

Watching from a burrow

Then it’s time to explore further.  The cliffs are cordoned off, but there, immediately  beyond the fencing are birds in their hundreds, caring for their young.  They’re close enough to touch.  We don’t though.  Being so close we can see every detail of their (usually ramshackle) nests, their plumage, the young unfledged birds, and this is privilege enough.

  Eider ducklings.

A cormorant and young.

An adult cormorant spreads its glossy wings

You can’t spot the kittiwake young in this shot, but they’re tucked underneath, honest.

A razorbill protects her young.

A cormorant nest – with lots of other nests nearby.

With thanks to Maureen and Andrew for organising this trip for volunteers at NT Fountains Abbey and Studley Royal, and to the volunteer rangers at NT Farne Islands for managing this special place, despite irreparable damage to their hats.

An arctic tern above Inner Farne.

In which I am attacked by a tern, charmed by some puffins, and visit a nursery. Tuesday.  A trip round the Farne Islands. Here's our journey, courtesy of Billy Shiel's boat.  We pass one of the most densely populated housing estates in Europe - but despite having to jostle for a tiny space to call home, this community is not socially well-integrated .  

[fra298]

... Eye to eye ... par Philip Male Via Flickr : An Arctic Tern flying straight towards me. Inner Farne, Northumberland.