Farne Islands 30th June 2013

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Blythman

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Alan
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Very nice Alan - lovely variety, composition, exposure and colours (and enjoyed the captions).

I'm over there in 10 days for a day trip so long as the weather holds.
 
Impspeed said:
Very nice Alan - lovely variety, composition, exposure and colours (and enjoyed the captions).

I'm over there in 10 days for a day trip so long as the weather holds.
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Thank you David, much appreciated.

You'll have a great time. Everything is 3 weeks or so late this year, so you may well be visiting at the peak of the action
 
I do hope so. I used to go to Skomer quite a bit but since moving to Dubai it's difficult to get holiday organised during the right time of year to get across.

Went to Farne back in 2011 in June and it was lovely.
 
Blythman said:
Some pictures from the Farne Islands on Sunday.
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Strange coincidence - My wife and I were on holiday in the area and took the last pm trip to Inner Farne the same day. I imagine you were in the all day photography group leaving around the same time as us?

This was our sixth visit to the Farne Islands over nine years (I think). Prior to this year's trip, our last was the all day photo trip in 2011. On that trip among the crowds around us, we became really concerned that the Farne Islands had simply become a money spinner for the National Trust and Billy Shiel. We have seen the BS fleet increase year by year and the number of visitors increase accordingly. We have seen the birds become more and more stressed and visit by visit retreating further and further from the visitor areas. On the all day trip, we witnessed an eider duck in a state of panic having been caught by the boats arriving when she was trying to escort her chicks across country to the sea.

We also got the impression that the number of birds has fallen off in the last few years. I'm not sure if that is supported by the statistics though?

We saw notices that there are efforts to restrict access, but the fleet of fully laden boats shuttling back and forth doesn't support that in our eyes.

We were prepared this year to be upset, and we were. We decided that we'd seen the good times and would never return.

Am I wrong? Can someone with better knowledge of the statistics contradict our impressions?
 
Hi Steve

I think I can say that the weather has been a major contributor to a reduction in birds. Last year for instance the puffins were flooded out of their burrows while they were sitting on eggs or rearing young. Many didn't have a chance to start again. Similarly, with the rain, tern chicks were killed due to being cold and wet. Saw them getting dried by hairdyers. No doubt eggs and chicks of all the other birds suffered similarly.

Contrary to your suggestion that birds are moving away from people, I can say that the most successful breeding terns are those who nest close to the paths. They are bothered less by predators such as gulls, and pro-actively choose those nesting sites. So the visitors have a positive impact on the terns.

There were terrible storms in March which led to many seabirds being washed up on the north east coast and caused real concern, particularly about the puffin population. Despite this and the late spring, speaking to the senior warden, he says its been a great summer on the Farnes. They periodically survey each bird population. This year it was puffins and he says we should expect to be pleasantly surprised by the results of the census..

I'm not doubting you have genuine concerns, but its certainly not all doom and gloom, and needs some balance
 
Thanks for taking the time to respond Alan. The Arctic Terns are a special case and I see they have now taken to feeding chicks from the pathways. I saw several doing that. The wardens had put up chicken wire to try and discourage them as they are in danger from so many human feet around. As far as I could see they just continued to feed their chicks through the wire. Years ago the terns used to mount really fierce attacks on visitors. Nowadays, it all seems a bit half-hearted and more out of habit than any desire to protect their young. So, nothing I said really applied to those nutcases.

On reflection, my comments probably just as much arise from the change between what used to be a delightful experience to one of overcrowded, queuing boats, and the expansion of the local economy and NT facilities which clearly reflects a serious income stream. I can't help thinking that the birds might be closer to the bottom of the priority list in the face of all that.

I take on board your explanations - Thanks. I really do hope I am totally wrong.
 
Hi Steve,

I totally agree with you, your observations are correct. We have been visiting the Farne Islands since we first visited Northumberland in 1982 and have been every year, with the exception of only two, in all that time.

Last year on a trip to Inner Farne we could hardly escort our two nieces round because of some very arrogant people with cameras, I wouldn't class them as photographers, they were just ignorant, agressive people who did the hobby an injustice.

I have some video from 1992 on the boat with my wife, my son and his friend with Billy Shiels Snr. R.I.P. and only four other passengers, the date was June 27th. This gives some idea of how things have progressed.

My last all day trip was 2010, we couldn't get onto Staple Island because of the swell, instead we were given a sail around by William Shiels and he landed us on Longstone until Inner Farne opened in the afternoon, we then got an extra hour on Inner Farne in lieu of not landing in the morning. That was a pleasant day with pleasant people but I couldn't help noticing then how difficult it was getting round the island once the other boats started landing.

I think the reason for the increase in people taking photographs arrived with the onset of digital cameras making photography so much easier. Twenty or thirty years ago most of the visitors were birdwatchers, there were very few pro looking cameras to be seen then as opposed to today, so I think technology has a big part to play in this situation.

All the best John.
 
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