Recently a trip to the Northumberland coast provided some excellent opportunities to take photographs of species that I had not previously seen or recorded. We arrived at our hotel at Bamborough Castle in the late afternoon following a long trip up by minibus where we checked in, dumped our bags, grabbed photographic gear and headed down the road to Seahouses and the inner harbour to see the very obliging Eider duck that seem to spend most of the year there. We were lucky with the light and the receding tide and also the fact that there were several female Eiders with their recently fledged offspring to observe along with a few handsome males. Getting low down on the beach I had close encounters with the birds as they foraged along the shoreline hunting for food amongst the recently exposed sand and rocks especially as the light faded and the low sun provided a glow to the ducks.
On the Sunday the winds had eased somewhat but as we had to drive home we were limited to a morning trip out to Inner Farne Island but it was well worth it. On arriving at the island we rushed over to the areas frequented by the Puffins and I spent the majority of my time photographing these amazing little birds trying to get pictures of them with beaks full of sandeels for their chicks that spend their first few weeks underground in burrows. Each time a Puffin would arrive with food they had to avoid the Black backed Gulls that were trying to rob them of their sandeels before diving into the burrows.
