| I’ve been spending the last few weeks working on final edits to the images I captured in England. I was only able to shoot for a few days before coming down with Covid, which brought my participation in the workshop to a screeching halt. Still, it was a fun and rewarding time, brief as it was. This summer’s adventure was a workshop based in Seahouses, a small seaside town on England’s Northumberland coast and the jumping-off place for tour boat trips to the Farne Islands about five miles offshore. The Farnes are an internationally important habitat for breeding colonies of some 200,000 seabirds, representing 23 species, that come to nest and raise their young during the spring and summer months. As an Arizona desert dweller, I knew next to nothing about the varieties of seabirds that populate these islands. After every photography expedition, when I get back home and start work finalizing my ‘keepers’, I go online to google more interesting details about the subjects I’ve captured with my camera. As a result, my photography leads me down a rabbit hole of never-ending learning experiences. The original intent of this week’s newsletter was to share bits and pieces about the entire experience, from seabirds to castles to ancient history. But the flood of trivia became so voluminous, I had to narrow things down to just one topic. Let me introduce you to the Arctic Tern. |
| These small elegant birds are famous for their epic migrations to and from their breeding grounds in the UK and the Arctic, all the way to the Antarctic for the remaining months of the year, a distance of between 44,000 and 59,000 miles round trip each year, the longest recorded of any animal. Their long wings and scissor tails support their ability to glide for long distances, conserving energy during these epic flights. Their gliding ability is so effective, they are even able to sleep while airborne. The migration follows the light and warmth of the sun, so that each year they see two summers and bypass winter. Because they live between 20-30 years, one tern in its lifetime will fly the equivalent of three round-trips to the moon! Terns nest on open ground, scraping out shallow depressions that are vulnerable to predators. To protect their nests, they cluster in tight colonies and aggressively defend their space by attacking any and all perceived threats. So effective are these fierce little warriors that other species of birds often nest nearby, benefitting from the air cover provided by the terns. |
| The Farne Islands have been looked after by the National Trust for nearly 100 years. Visitors are ferried by boat from the Seahouses harbor to the islands in tightly scheduled shifts. Wooden boardwalks traverse the small islands to control foot traffic and NT rangers monitor the tourists. The day we visited Inner Farne Island, home to a famous colony of breeding Arctic terns, the rangers warned us that the birds were really on the warpath. As we clambered ashore from our vessel and headed up the walkway, terns fluttered and circled above our heads, screaming threats and dive-bombing us, occasionally even landing on our heads to deliver a sharp peck or two from their pointy red beaks. Visitors are advised to wear a hat! I had to wash mine at the end of the day, thanks to the decorative white streaks it had acquired during our visit. When the Covid epidemic hit in 2020, the islands were closed to both visitors and staff, remaining closed the following year as well. The unexpected result was that the terns abandoned their colony on Inner Farne Island entirely. In normal times resident wardens keep the vegetation under control to maintain the open space preferred by the terns for nesting. Due to the absence of human traffic for two years running, the vegetation became overgrown and predatory large gulls proliferated. In 2021 the terns abandoned Inner Farne entirely and found other locations for their nesting colonies. When traffic opened up again in 2022, wildlife lovers were thrilled when the terns returned once again to their traditional nesting sites. But sadly another crisis is devastating the Farne Islands bird population. An epidemic of avian flu has spread from domestic flocks to the wild, killing thousands and possibly tens of thousands of seabirds. Shortly after our workshop ended, the islands were closed once again to tourist traffic. Wardens are now dressed in hazmat suits as they gather up the corpses of deceased birds in an effort to minimize the spread of the disease. The National Trust is calling this outbreak an ‘unprecedented wildlife tragedy.’ |
Sorry to end on such a sad note. It seems that epidemics have been a way of life these past few years. Still, I’m happy to share my collection of ‘keepers’ from this star-crossed workshop. The gallery can be viewed from the link below.
