Inside the Circle Day 7 Part 2 – Time for a lie down

I managed to get over the intense moment of puffin fever and headed along the base of the cliff to see what else could be photographed. Access was restricted by a few discreet signs to rightly protect the breeding birds from unnecessary disturbance. I decided to walk to the far end of the island and work my way back but it was not the easiest of terrain with large boulders and an absence of any good footpaths. It soon became apparent that two of my target species of Brunnich’s and Black Guillemots was not going to happen as the birds were all perched precariously high up on the ledges of cliff face.

Another of my target species the Great Black Backed Gull was going to be possible. As one of the world’s largest gulls they are very impressive and I have long held a fondness for them. As I scrambled my way along the island, I was unnervingly getting occasionally dive-bombed by these huge birds. Arctic terns attacks I can put up with but having a Greater Black Back come in on a full speed dive and swerve centimetres from your head tests your resolve. I decided to take a few portrait photographs of the birds which was my intention rather than flight shots.





I reached the far end of the island hoping it might offer chance of a perched Black Guillemot but still none were located. As soon as I turned I was unexpectedly confronted by two Twite feeding on some remnant decaying seed heads.


As I wandered back along the island there was a row of loafing Shag lined up along the low cliff edge above the sea. They are very attractive birds with their iridescent bronze and green feather but certainly carry an air of the prehistoric about them.


I also decided to take a few photos of a nesting bird. Shag seem to incorporate almost anything in to their ramshackle nests which often include general flotsam such as pieces of plastic and rope.



This bird had decided to use the remnants of a dead bird. I love the green colour of those piercing eyes.



While close to the cliff edge there was also some nesting Kittiwake close to the top which offered a good angle for photography and so I naturally took the opportunity while passing.



Below birds circled over a grey arctic sea.



I continued my scramble back along the island and it was obviously time for the island to take revenge for narrowly escaping the near death experience with the previous slip on the stairs. While crossing a large boulder once again I suddenly saw my feet extending horizontally before me but this time the landing was not as fortunate as I came crashing down heavily. Most of the impact was taken by my left elbow. Whoever decided to call it the funny bone had an ironic sense of humour! I was in agony, and by the end of the day my elbow had taken on the size of a red tennis ball. Subsequent x-rays on my return to UK fortunately showed there to be no bone damage but some pain continues to this day as a reminder of my trip to Hornoya.

With my mood and elbow severely dented by the fall, I decided it was time to sit somewhere quietly to photograph some birds. By this point I was close to the floating landing pontoon and noticed big rafts of guillemots occasionally drifting in close which looked like an unusual opportunity to get some water level photos of the birds on the sea.






There were plenty of birds with the bridled eye marking which is more common on the northern populations.








On one occasion I thought two Brunnich’s Guillemots were going to come in very close but the whole flock were put to dive en mass by another photographer coming down the walkway to the pontoon. The birds subsequently surfaced out of range.

I decided to cut the time on Hornoya by two hours and take the earlier boat back so there was still plenty of the day left to go and photograph some other birds. On arrival back in Vardo harbour there were several Arctic Terns diving close to the landing stage for fry. Given the sun and blue sky but in a brief appearance I thought would try and capture some of the action. This proved quite difficult given the erratic flight pattern of the birds resulting in a large number of photos fit for the computer waste bin.












I left Vardo with throbbing elbow and headed south on the coast road once more but the birds I encountered during my last few hours of camera time in Norway will need to wait for next post.

Seabird Safari - Part 4

This is my final installment of my recent trip to the Farne Islands. Before I describe the fun that was had on the last stop of the tour on Inner Farne Island, I thought I would post a photograph of a passing Shag so I could devote the rest of this post to my target species on the island.

I had a clear plan for Inner Farne Island , I was not to be distracted by the puffins, and had the 24-70mm wide lens fixed to the camera before my foot had touched the jetty. As you land on Inner Farne the path from the landing area takes you up through an Arctic Tern colony. They tend to take exception to people and constantly attack the visitors who usually tend to quickly pass through the colony. Those without a hat usually come off worse and sometimes there is even some blood shed. The onslaught of the birds is relentless and it is a fairly uncomfortable experience to endue for any length of time. I decided I would try put up with the attacks for a while in order to try and get some photos of the birds in flight with a wide angle lens. Arctic Terns really are stunningly beautiful and elegant birds in flight with their translucent wings and long tail feathers. That is of course if you can get beyond them trying to do a woodpecker impression on your head with a very sharp bill. Interestingly this year they semmed to have developed a new tactic of attacking exposed ears rather than just the head. Some of the photos from this bombardment of birds are shown below:

This photo was taken with the lens at 24mm. The birds come at your so quickly and so close that the camera autofocus has little chance. Getting photos at this distance and with the weaving flight of the birds proved very tricky.

I suppose there is room for just one photograph to bring the trip to the Farnes to a close.

Overall an enjoyable and productive day out on the islands with some very fortunate weather conditions. Unfortunately the following day the planned trip to the Gannets of Bass Rock was cancelled due to the wind blowing up a sea swell. The planning for next years June excursion is already under way and is going to hopefully take me much further a field and northwards.

Seabird Safari - Part 2

There were some glum faces sat around the breakfast table as the rain fell heavily outside. Surely we were not going to be hit with poor weather for the second year running, following the mists of last year. Fortunately soon after leaving the harbour quay the rain stopped and the skies started to clear as we headed out towards Staple Island. As usual I was on the look out for any passing birds as we were shipped out to the island but the combination of a crowded rocking boat and fast moving sea birds is never an easy combination. I did manage to get a photograph of a passing gannet. I love they way they skim the water when flying out at sea.

The boat paused briefly to check out some grey seas that had hauled themselves up on to a small area of exposed rocks. They are so much easier to photograph than the birds.

We then went onwards to Staple Island, which I put in the third installment, but had to leave early due to a swell that was developing and fast tidal currents. This meant that the boat had to motor around for about 1.5 hours before we could make the landing on Inner Farne Island. A cormorant drying out its feathers after a fishing expedition.

Another cormorant surfaced at the base of the cliffs with what initally looked like a wrasse but turned out to be a fish known as a Lumpsucker. I always thought these fish were a grey / brown colour.

The smaller and greener Shag were also present perched along the base of the low cliffs.

The light suddenly became very harsh which is probably the worst conditions for trying to photograph kittiwakes, that were nesting along narrow ledges on the cliff face.

To finish off this post in one area where the boat stopped briefly there were a small number of puffins perched along the cliff top, This bird was in the process of jumping between rocks.

Heading North for Seabirds - Other Species from Staple Island

While on Staple Island, although I concentrated mainly on the puffins there are a few other bird species present to keep the camera shutter busy. The isalnd has huge numbers of guillemots although I did not take many shots of them. A moment of 'affection' between a pair.

The guillemots were being kept busy my the constantly circling gulls that were trying to pick off unguarded chicks. Nature in the raw.

A few razorbill were also present.

Number of Kittwake were coming in back in to nests with their characteristic calls.

and numbers of Shag were present and mainly sitting on nests.

Business end of a shag with that unusual green eye
Our next stop on the tour was a 2 hour stop off at Inner Farne Island which is my favourite out of the two landing sites due to the Arctic and Sandwich Terns but that will have to wait for the next post.

Seabird Tour - Shags and Puffins

The next birds that we came across on the island were the shags, kittiwake and razorbill on the ledges. By this time the sun was out full strength and the light quite harsh.

I finshed off on the island doing some Puffin portraits before dashing back to catch the boat. An enjoyable ending to the trip.

There have been three Shag that have taken residence up on the local Marine Lake and but conditions have created some difficult shooting. The rough water added some mood to the shots though.

On the local beach there have been some impressive gatherings of Knot and BLack and Bar tailed Godwits.

I am working on a plan for getting close to the Godwits but at the moment have just settled for shots off the seawall as I arrived a little too late on the receding tide.

Sanderling are always fun to photograph as the scurry around the tide line.