Farne Islands Part II

So, to continue from the last post, we have now approached Inner Farne Island, known for its tern colonies. There are indeed Arctic terns everywhere, but on the tiny sandy beach near the landing point, ringed plovers were nesting and rearing their chicks.



Ringed plover
Charadrius hiaticula Linnaeus, 1758
Charadriidae; Charadriiformes; Aves; Chordata
Farne Islands, Northumberland, May 2011

This plover had three chicks which were following it around, but I couldn't photograph them. So, onto the Arctic terns...



Arctic tern
Sterna paradisaea Pontoppidan, 1763
Sternidae; Charadriiformes; Aves; Chordata
Farne Islands, Northumberland, May 2011

Arctic terns are one of the bird world's greatest wonders; annually they make a round trip of over 70,000 km (>44,000 miles) from the extreme north to the extreme south of the globe and back again, to take advantage of ideal breeding conditions in the northern summer, and ideal feeding conditions in the southern summer. Of course, the Farnes are nowhere near the Arctic, but the isolated and predator free islands provide a haven for not just these terns but other species too.



Arctic tern in flight
Details as above



Eiders (male on left and right, female behind)
Somateria mollissima (Linnaeus, 1758)
Anatidae; Anseriformes; Aves; Chordata
Farne Islands, Northumberland, May 2011

There were eiders on nests and females with ducklings scattered around the interior of the island, but on one of the coasts there were a few males.



Razorbills
Alca torda Linnaeus, 1758
Alcidae; Charadriiformes; Aves; Chordata
Farne Islands, Northumberland, May 2011

There were again masses of kittiwakes, shags, puffins, and guillemots on this island, as well as a few more razorbills.



Sandwich terns
Sterna sandvicensis (Latham, 1787)
Sternidae; Charadriiformes; Aves; Chordata
Farne Islands, Northumberland, May 2011

Although they are by far the most numerous tern species on Inner Farne, the Arctic tern is not the only one. Interspersed are a few common terns (S. hirundo), which are almost indistinguishable from the Arctic terns, and maybe the odd roseate tern (S. dougallii), which is very rare with only a few breeding pairs in any one year. Slightly more numerous however, are the Sandwich terns, named after the Kentish town I presume and not the snack food. They are noticeably bigger than the Arctic terns and have a shaggy crest and black bill tipped with yellow. The only colony I saw on Inner Farne was close to the centre of the island and fairly distant.



Arctic tern divebombing
Details as above

Because the terns nest so close (foolishly close?) to where people walk, the terns defend their eggs and chicks by divebombing passers-by. We were all advised to wear hats, and as mine didn't blow away despite the winds picking up, it proved quite useful against beak-inflicted scalp bleeding. It's more comical than anything really, although I'm sure the wardens and other staff who are exposed to them every day would say otherwise. Almost like something out of a certain Alfred Hitchcock film, but with a comedy element, and too cute to be sinister.



Atlantic puffin
Fratercula arctica (Linnaeus, 1758)
Alcidae; Charadriiformes; Aves; Chordata
Farne Islands, Northumberland, May 2011

The puffins were the co-star of the island along with the Arctic terns, because, although they were much more civilised and less noisy, they waddled along and flew about in a charismatic yet slightly undignified way. Puffins built their burrows close to the boardwalk in many places, and I was to be rewarded for my sitting in sea bird droppings with this excellent view:



Atlantic puffin
Details as above



Atlantic puffin
Details as above



Arctic tern
Details as above

That's it for my Farne Islands trip, I had an excellent time that can't be described in words. If you haven't seen tens of thousands of seabirds in the same place with your own eyes, not to mention smelled and heard them too, this description can hardly do it justice.

On a final note, as a group, the nine of us on the trip from London to Northumberland and back in two days amounted to exactly 100 bird species seen. I didn't see all of those, but came close. While totting up our list on the way back, we discovered not one of those eighteen eyes or ears had spotted probably the most ubiquitous and widely known bird in the UK, the robin. Grey plovers, an osprey, and a thousand puffins, but no robin. Although, just days previously, one flew into my house for all of five seconds before darting out again. That's irony for you.

Farne Islands: Part I

Last Friday and Saturday I went on a birding trip to Northumberland. Most of Friday was spent either travelling up there from London or on various sites along the way trying to spot as many bird species as we could. A lot of species were seen at Rutland Water in the tiny county of Rutland, famous for its breeding ospreys. Whilst I was there I saw a few new species of bird I'd never encountered before, including the gorgeous yellowhammer (Emberiza citrinella), which I had previously only heard, and tree sparrows (Passer montanus), far less common than their once ubiquitous cousin, the house sparrow (P. domesticus). When in Northumberland itself, we decided to stop at various streams and brooks to look for grey wagtails (Motacilla cinerea) and dippers (Cinclus cinclus). We did see a few individuals of both species, and I managed to get a couple of poor shots of the dipper.



White-throated dipper
Cinclus cinclus (Linnaeus, 1758)
Cinclidae; Passeriformes; Aves; Chordata
River Breamish, Northumberland, May 2011

After a comfy night's rest in our bunkhouse near the town of Seahouses, we set off for the harbour in that town for a boat tour of the Farne Islands. These islands, as you are about to see, offer almost unbelievable views of various species of breeding seabirds. The tour took us to Staple Island, then briefly around some of the smaller islands, and finally to Inner Farne Island, before going back to the mainland, lasting six hours with two hours on each island.

The first thing that strikes you as you approach Staple Island is the masses of guillemots, puffins, shags, and kittiwakes that you see. There are simply thousands of birds on the rocks, in the air, and on the sea.



European shag
Phalacrocorax aristotelis (Linnaeus, 1761)
Phalacrocoracidae; Pelecaniformes; Aves; Chordata
Staple Island, Farne Islands, Northumberland, May 2011

The shags are congregated close to the landing point so they are the first of the birds to offer fantastic views. With their dinosaur-like heads, glossy green-black plumage, shaggy quiffs, and emerald-green eyes, they are perfect objects for photographic study.



European shags
Details as above

In the above photo, one shag is providing nesting material for the other in the form of seaweed, which is abundant around the islands. They will also use grass to create their nests.



European shag
Details as above

Although it appears that this shag has caught an eel or a snake, it is carrying the steadfast of the sea kelp (Laminaria sp.) that this seaweed had attached itself to the rocks with. Shags differ from their close relative, the great cormorant (P. carbo) by lacking any white on the plumage. Cormorant colonies are also present on some of the Farne Islands, but none were seen on Staple or Inner Farne.



Northern fulmar
Fulmarus glacialis (Linnaeus, 1761)
Procellariidae; Procellariiformes; Aves; Chordata
Staple Island, Farne Islands, Northumberland, May 2011

Fulmars look quite a lot like gulls to the untrained eye, but differ mainly in their shape whilst flying and features of the head. Fulmars are petrels and are related to albatrosses. As such, the 'tube-noses' as they are called, can be recognised by the namesake nostrils which are used to excrete excess salt from their bodies. Fulmars are also known for vomiting a stale broth containing parts of their last meal when threatened. Thankfully, this is as close as I got to any fulmar.



Atlantic puffin
Fratercula arctica (Linnaeus, 1758)
Alcidae; Charadriiformes; Aves; Chordata
Staple Island, Farne Islands, Northumberland, May 2011

The main attraction for many, including myself, to visit the Farne Islands, is not shags nor fulmars, but puffins. Puffins need no introduction to most, as they are familiar to the majority of people (at least in the UK), and hold a place in many people's hearts. The puffins did not disappoint; they were the only bird to show incredibly well both on Staple and Inner Farne Islands.



Rock pipit
Anthus petrosus (Montagu, 1798)
Motacillidae; Passeriformes; Aves; Chordata
Staple Island, Farne Islands, Northumberland, May 2011

Rock pipits are small birds in the same family as wagtails. They are common on rocky shores around the UK and other parts of western Europe.



Common guillemots
Uria aalge (Pontoppidan, 1763)
Alcidae; Charadriiformes; Aves; Chordata
Staple Island, Farne Islands, Northumberland, May 2011

Guillemots, known as murres in the US, seemed to be by far the most numerous of all the birds on Staple Island. There were thousands perched on a single cliff. They are closely related to puffins, but have a more penguin-like shape, except when flying of course. Guillemots are known for crowding together en masse on cliff faces; they are able to do this because they do not make nests which take up room. Instead, they lay a single pear-shaped egg on the bare cliff. Simple physics dictates that a long egg will roll around in a circle without ever falling off the cliff, unlike a round one.



Razorbill
Alca torda Linnaeus, 1758
Alcidae; Charadriiformes; Aves; Chordata
Staple Island, Farne Islands, Northumberland, May 2011

The razorbill was not as numerous as either of the other auks (puffin and guillemot) on the Farnes, but it still afforded great views. Reminiscent both of penguins and its close extinct cousin, the great auk (Pinguinus impennis), the razorbill is so called because of the similarity of its bill to the old fashioned razor.



Black-legged kittiwake
Rissa tridactyla (Linnaeus, 1758)
Laridae; Charadriiformes; Aves; Chordata
Staple Island, Farne Islands, Northumberland, May 2011

Kittiwakes are small gulls that are quite numerous on the Farnes as well as in other parts of the northern British Isles and coastal North America. In any of these places though, the kittiwake chooses only the most inaccessible cliffs on which to build its nest, providing excellent protection for their eggs and chicks.



Female eider
Somateria mollissima (Linnaeus, 1758)
Anatidae; Anseriformes; Aves; Chordata
Staple Island, Farne Islands, Northumberland, May 2011

Whilst walking around on the dolerite cliffs of Staple Island, I nearly stepped on a female eider sitting on her nest. Thankfully, I saw her before I almost extinguished her life. I was soon to see many more ducks in a similar position, including this individual. She was the most confiding duck I have ever seen, even more so than domestic mallards. I was afraid to touch her, although I could have done so very easily, for fear of stressing her out, but my trip buddies were stroking her like a pet cat. I can tell you, the eider very easily deserves its reputation for having the softest feathers around; no wonder they were used to stuff pillows and duvets.





Grey seal cow (above); and cows and bulls (below)
Halichoerus grypus (Fabricius, 1791)
Phocidae; Carnivora; Mammalia; Chordata
Farne Islands, Northumberland, May 2011

Lying on almost every rocky shore on the Farnes were colonies of grey seals. The bulls (around twice the size of the cows) can be easily distinguished from the cows in the above photo.

In the following post, I get bombarded by Arctic terns and get even closer to some puffins, all on Inner Farne Island, and you will hear about the case of the missing robin.

A Selection from my Portfolio

So, tomorrow I'm taking a trip to Northumberland in the north of England, close to the Scottish border, where I'll be staying for one night. On Saturday I'll be taking the boat to the Farne Islands, well known for its breeding colonies for hundreds of thousands of birds, including eiders, terns, puffins, guillemots, kittiwakes, and more. Until I've gone, come back, and edited my photos, here are some photos from my portfolio taken in the last few months. All photographs by Mo Hassan.



Poet's narcissus
Narcissus poeticus Linnaeus, 1753
Amaryllidaceae; Asparagales; Liliopsida; Angiospermae
Hyde Park, London, April 2011



Canada goose goslings
Branta canadensis (Linnaeus, 1758)
Anatidae; Anseriformes; Aves; Chordata
Forty Hill, Enfield, North London, May 2011



Great crested grebe
Podiceps cristatus (Linnaeus, 1758)
Podicipedidae; Podicipediformes; Aves; Chordata
Hyde Park, London, April 2011



Daisies
Bellis perennis Linnaeus
Asteraceae; Asterales; Magnoliopsida; Angiospermae
Forty Hill, Enfield, North London, May 2011



Great tit
Parus major Linnaeus, 1758
Paridae; Passeriformes; Aves; Chordata
Lee Valley Park, Cheshunt, North London, February 2011



Male common (ring-necked) pheasant
Phasianus colchicus Linnaeus, 1758
Phasianidae; Galliformes; Aves; Chordata
Tyttenhanger, Hertfordshire, April 2011



Eurasian robin
Erithacus rubecula (Linnaeus, 1758)
Muscicapidae; Passeriformes; Aves; Chordata
Lee Valley Park, Cheshunt, North London, February 2011



Jackdaw
Corvus monedula Linnaeus, 1758
Corvidae; Passeriformes; Aves; Chordata
London Wetland Centre, May 2011



Blue tit
Cyanistes caeruleus (Linnaeus, 1758)
Paridae; Passeriformes; Aves; Chordata
Lee Valley Park, Cheshunt, North London, February 2011



Male red-crested pochard
Netta rufina (Pallas, 1773)
Anatidae; Anseriformes; Aves; Chordata
Amsterdam, March 2011



Male stag beetle
Lucanus cervus (Linnaeus, 1758)
Lucanidae; Coleoptera; Insecta; Arthropoda
Enfield Town Park, North London, May 2011



Male mandarin duck
Aix galericulata (Linnaeus, 1758)
Anatidae; Anseriformes; Aves; Chordata
Forty Hill, Enfield, North London, May 2011



Viviparous, or common, lizard
Zootoca vivipara (Von Jacquin, 1787)
Lacertidae; Squamata; Sauropsida; Chordata
London Wetland Centre, April 2011



Male marsh frog
Pelophylax ridibundus (Pallas, 1771)
Ranidae; Anura; Amphibia; Chordata
London Wetland Centre, May 2011



White-winged wood duck
Asarcornis scutulata (Muller, 1842)
Anatidae; Anseriformes; Aves; Chordata
London Wetland Centre (captive collection), April 2011



Peacock butterfly
Inachis io (Linnaeus, 1758)
Nymphalidae; Lepidoptera; Insecta; Arthropoda
Kings Meads Nature Reserve, Hertfordshire, April 2011

Antwerp Zoo

Antwerp Zoo was by far the most accessible of the three zoos I visited two months ago (wow, it's been that long already!?) in Europe. It is located adjacent to the city's central railway station, ideal if you're coming from out of town, but even more conveniently, our hotel was located a mere two minutes' walk away. It's a small zoo, about the same size as Artis in Amsterdam. Although I don't feature any of their inhabitants in this post, the reptile house and the aquarium were very impressive. Less impressive though is the zoo's exhibit for nocturnal creatures. It was far too dark in there, lacking even the usual long wavelength lighting for the benefit of visitors. I wasn't able to get any photos in there. Oddly, Europe's only kiwi is kept in a standard-looking aviary. With it being completely nocturnal, and the sleeping quarters being off view, I'd be very surprised if anyone ever saw the bird. The same is true for the Cape genets (Genetta tigrina) apparently sharing their enclosure with African brush-tailed porcupines (Atherurus africanus) in an enclosure with visitor access only to the part exposed to sunlight.

Antwerp Zoo's inhabitants seem to be quite heavily biased towards those from central Africa (the okapi, eastern lowland gorilla, turacos aplenty, bongos, and Congo peafowl being a few examples): my thinking on this is that Belgium had imported lots of creatures from what is now The Democratic Republic of Congo (then, the Belgian Congo), and many have carried on breeding up until today. This won't remain the case for the eastern lowland gorilla, however (see below).

Here's a few of the highlights from Antwerp Zoo, heavily biased towards birds and mammals...



Siamang (male)
Symphalangus syndactylus (Raffles, 1821)
Hylobatidae; Primates; Mammalia; Chordata
Antwerp Zoo, March 2011 (and all other photos on this post)

The male siamang is a distinctive type of gibbon with his throat sac clearly visible in the above photo. He uses it to create an apparently almost deafening call which reverberates around the southeast Asian rainforests in order to communicate with other members of its species. They are a plain black coloured species of gibbon, unlike most of the other members of the family, and it now resides in its own genus Symphalangus. That, and the species name syndactylus, both mean "fused digits", describing the partially webbed toes that put apart the siamang from other gibbons. I highly dislike the term "lesser apes" to refer to the gibbons, as although it is accurate in that they are smaller, lighter, and more agile than the chimpanzees, gorillas, orang utan and humans, it implies that they are lesser than us in other ways, i.e. more primitive.



Eastern lowland gorilla (female)
Gorilla beringei graueri (Matschie, 1914)
Hominidae; Primates; Mammalia; Chordata

There are four types of gorilla in existence today, making up two species: Gorilla gorilla is the western gorilla, and G. beringei is the eastern. Within G. gorilla we have the well known and widely distributed (in captivity) western lowland gorilla G. g. gorilla from central Africa, and the critically endangered Cross River gorilla G. g. diehli from the border between Cameroon and Nigeria, representing the westernmost gorilla race. The eastern gorilla consists of the well known but extremely threatened mountain gorilla G. b. beringei from Uganda, Rwanda, and eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, and the eastern lowland gorilla whose range is adjacent to the mountain gorilla's but does not extend to high elevations.

I am not completely certain that the above photo is of an eastern lowland gorilla, but going by the number of western lowland gorillas I have seen, this one just looked different. The fur was more uniform black without the brown and grey shades that westerns have, and the head was less dome-shaped, which indicated a female. If I'm wrong and anyone out there knows otherwise, let me know in the comments.

This is the only eastern lowland gorilla kept in captivity in the world, and the only one outside of Africa. It was formerly more common in zoos, but has not had the same success as its western relative. It's likely, although I haven't had this confirmed, that Antwerp and other Belgian zoos had a population of eastern lowland gorillas since colonial times, and since exportation of wild gorillas doesn't happen anymore (hence why there are no mountain gorillas in zoos either), the population has dwindled, and the Antwerp individual is the only one of its kind left.



Great blue turaco
Corythaeola cristata (Vieillot, 1816)
Musophagidae; Musophagiformes; Aves; Chordata

Turacos are an exclusively African order of birds, most of which are very brightly-coloured. The less vivid members, the excellently-named go-away birds, and the plantain-eaters (because they apparently like the small bananas which also give Musophagiformes its name) are grey, brown, and white in colour, but the members of the genera Musophaga, Tauraco, Ruwenzorornis, and Corythaeola are coloured mostly in shades of green and blue, with highlights of every other colour possible. Such a range of hues is possible due to the presence of a unique pigment called turacoverdin. This is the only true green colour to be found in birds (with the exception of parrots, who have their own pigment too), as the green present in other birds is really yellow refracted in a way to appear green. The red in the turaco's wing, a pigment called turacin, is a copper-based pigment that differs entirely from the red in other birds. Most birds obtain their red coloration from carotenoids in their food, from fruits to brine shrimp, but it is unknown how the turaco synthesizes its own pigment, but both turacin and turacoverdin are known to be similar to porphyrins such as haemoglobin and chlorophyll which are both extremely widespread pigments in the animal and plant worlds respectively. Turacos have been allied with the cuckoos for most of taxonomic history, but they are now placed in an entirely different order with unknown affinities within the bird class as a whole.



Guira cuckoo
Guira guira (Gmelin, 1788)
Cuculidae; Cuculiformes; Aves; Chordata

The guira cuckoo is a South American member of the cuckoo family. Apart from the roadrunner (Geococcyx californianus), made famous by Warner Bros., the most famous member of this family is the Eurasian cuckoo (Cuculus canorus), infamous for being a brood parasite, almost comedically so, with the hatchlings dwarfing their foster parent, often a teeny warbler or other small songbird. It was this that went through my mind when I saw this guira cuckoo at Antwerp Zoo, with what looked to be a newly-hatched bird in its beak. It wasn't until I was able to study the photos I took in detail that I noticed that it wasn't a baby bird but a baby rodent in its grasp, probably a pinkie (the term given to newborn rodents fed to reptiles in the pet industry). Soon after this photo was taken, the cuckoo swallowed its prey. Guira cuckoos are not brood parasites like their Old World cousins. They regularly feed on hatchlings in the wild, and although this bird was sharing its cage with other birds, none of them have hatchlings that look like a baby mouse.



Barred buttonquails
Turnix suscitator (Gmelin, 1789)
Turnicidae; Turniciformes; Aves; Chordata

Buttonquails are partridge-like birds of unknown affinity, most usually closely allied with the cranes and rails in the order Gruiformes or just outside it in their own order Turniciformes. Buttonquails are unusual in that they show a sexual role reversal: in the above photo, the bird towards the top of the photo, despite being more boldly coloured than the lower one, is the female. The male buttonquail takes care of the eggs and chicks, and the female is polyandrous, meaning she mates with many males. This is the opposite case of most birds, where the males are either monogamous, staying with their mate for one brood or for life, or polygynous, mating with many females. The female is also the more territorial sex, expelling rival females from her own home range. The female is also the one to attract males by producing a booming call.

Perhaps because of the lack of parental care from the mother, the buttonquail chicks hatch highly developed and can fend for themselves despite being looked after by their father. Buttonquails are distributed in most of the Old World with one species penetrating southwest Europe. The barred buttonquail has a broad distribution across southern Asia.