A long overdue trip to the Farne Islands today in Northumberland. The Farne Islands are a group of Islands between 2 and 4 miles off shore from the mainland. There are no permanent residents on the Islands, only the National Trust bird wardens who inhabit the islands part of the year.

The islands have many inhabitants, first and foremost is a large colony of Grey Seals. Spread over the islands you can see these inquisitive creatures both in and out of water.

In addition to the seal population the bird life on the islands are vast and diverse. The nesting Shag above keeping a close eye on her young.

The father also close by providing food when necessary.

Guillemots are another very common bird on the islands, this one with a rather nice fish for his young.

Finally we need to mention the Puffin, a comical little bird who nests in burrows on the soft peaty ground. It’s rather comical watching them flying in with a mouth full of fish or sand eels for their young. The seagulls waiting to steal the offering.

It’s a great day out, sailing from Seahouses it only takes about an hour to get to the outer islands. There are many options for getting out to the islands with at least 3 tours heading out at least twice per day.

All the images shot with a Nikon D700, using a Nikon 1.7x TC, Lens being the 70-200mm F2.8 lens. Auto ISO was enables to ensure I could achieve a reasonably fast shutter in the bland grey light. Aperture Priority, Pattern Meter and in many cases continuous focus mode.

Enjoy, GHL.