This day started with a band of sea fog, the fog horn on the harbour wall of Seahouses was sounding as the boats prepared for the trips to the Farne Islands which are just off the Northumberland coast - about a 20 minute trip if going to the closest. A number of companies run boat trips to the islands, either just sailing around the islands, landing on either Staple Island or Inner Farne Island or some do other longer trips to Holy Island or sunset trips. A search for 'Farne Island trips' will bring up a list of sailing companies (during busy periods worth booking) and worth reading up before hand from the likes of
tripadvisor...
Apart from the wildlife on or around the islands (birds, seals, dolphins etc), they also have another attraction in that of Grace Darling - for those that don't know she was the daughter on an English lighthouse (Longstone Lighthouse) keeper, who has become famed for participating in the rescue of survivors from the shipwrecked
Forfarshire in 1838 - more information can be found out
about her here. Some of the tour boats take the same route as she took on the rescue.
The Farne Islands are run by the National Trust as a nature reserve and at this time of the year it has thousands of nesting birds. An interesting blog by the National Trust rangers working on the islands can be found
here and give an insight of their work and the birds that visit the islands.
Some of the Puffins on Staple Island - thankfully for a while the fog broke only to return later.
Every good space taken with nesting birds - a truly wonderful sight as was the trip around the island bar the fog. Good reason to have a return visit...
The boys with long lens waiting for the Puffins to stick a head or two out the their hole...
Another blanket foggy start. This time on Holy Island on what was 'meant' to be a nice sun rise... Lindisfarne Castle is behind the boats just blending into the fog well...
Like the Farne Islands, the National trust looks after
Lindisfarne Castle. Other information about the Holy Island of Lindisfarne can be found
here or do a search by whichever method you choice.
The return trip, having left the island as the causeway floods, late afternoon now in the sun, shows the castle. The distant cloud is the bank of fog that had move off shore.
