One of my favourite places in the world and one of the best things to do, is a boat trip to the Farne Islands. Dr Janet Simkin and I were not allowed to go to the Farnes with our students so we went on our own – well, together on our own.
Only 8 on the little (Billy Shiel) boat, instead of the usual 30, so this was amazing. The mist came down just as we were coming back to land and it was the most exciting, choppiest, lowest visibility I have experienced. We had no idea whether we were heading for Seahouses or Denmark.
We saw sandwich terns (no Artic terns), puffins, guillemots (including bridled), razor bills, kitiwakes, gannets … and other gulls. Seals of course – but the dolphins who had been displaying yesterday and the last few days chose to stay hidden.
(If you notice a better quality of photograph, it is because Janet took all but one of them!)
