Return to the mainland

Frozen Brownsman pond this morning

Bare Pinnacles on Staple Island

New arrival; Skylark - hard weather mover? 

Boat picks up team from Brownsman

The team of four saying goodbye to Brownsman...

....but still birding to the last

Wednesday 16th January comments:  We're off! It was 'plain sailing' today as we departed the islands having spent the previous six days based on Brownsman. Under normal circumstances we do not return until March but with the mild weather (lack of wind at least), we took full advantaged and completed some mid-winter management work on Staple and Brownsman.

The team of four have had a good (but cold) time on the islands and with such highlights as Long-eared Owl, Black Guillemot and a few more (including Twite and Skylark today) the 2013 bird recording season got off to a good start. The cottage on Brownsman even housed a hibernating Small Tortoiseshell butterfly...a hardy individual indeed. The islands did not see much snow during our stay although the ground (and pond) was frozen solid today.

We'll be back out in the near future for day checks but it'll be another eight weeks before we return as a team to kick-start the 2013 season off in style. I'll keep you posted over the next month or so and tell you why you must visit the Farne Islands this year; you'll not be disappointed!