The Birds of the Farne Islands

 Thousands of seabirds on spectacular cliffs and hundreds of seals on rocky shores, The Farne Islands in Northumberland are one of England's wildlife spectaculars.

Background, Location, Access and Facilities

The Farne Islands are a small archipelago lying approx 3 km off the coast of North Northumberland. The Farnes are the easternmost outcrop of a sheet of tough igneous rock called the Great Whin Sill. Visible from land they are accessible by boat from the nearby small port of Seahouses from where tourist boats operate six months of the year. The Islands are owned by the National Trust and whilst landing on some islands is permitted the facilities are limited to public toilets. The main attractions on the islands are the huge breeding seabird colonies and the breeding colony of Grey Seal. Some 90,000 visitors make the short trip from Seahouses each year.

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Cliff Breeding Birds of the Farne Islands

Many seabirds use the relative safety of the Farne Islands to breed in colonies of impressive numbers. On the steep west facing cliffs breeding birds include the large European Shag, 1015 pairs and the enigmatic Black-legged Kittiwake with 4275 pairs. The ‘auk’ species of which Common Guillemot are the most numerous with 43.864 individuals counted and smaller numbers of Razorbill with 326 pairs.Many of the tourist boats arriving at the Farnes motor very close to the crowded cliffs allowing superb views and photographic opportunities of one of the UK’s most wonderful wildlife spectacles.

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Island Breeding Birds of the Farne Islands

The flat grassy slopes of the island tops are punctured with thousands of burrows, summer breeding homes to the colourful and enigmatic Atlantic Puffin. During the breeding season some 36500 pairs use the islands to raise their young. Recent years have seen a decline of about one-third in the breeding population; the reasons for this are not clear but may be connected to the availability of the Puffin’s main food the Sand Eel.Apart from the Puffin, over 3500 pairs of Tern use the island to breed, predominantly of two species the large dark billed Sandwich Tern and the smaller red-billed Arctic Tern. A small number of closely related Common Tern, c100 pairs, also breed annually as has a single pair of the much rarer Roseate Tern in recent years.

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The terns often nest very close to the access paths and protect their individual territories vigorously. Human visitors can be repeatedly attacked with the terns using their sharp bills which occasionally drawing blood on unprotected heads. A visit during the breeding season is an experience not to be missed.