Today is a special day and the weather is glorious as we head to Seahouses for our trip to the Farne Islands with Billy Shiel’s fleet. I don’t know why I didn’t think of this option sooner, instead of being fixated on going to the Isle of May. Seahouses’ harbour is undergoing restoration and we have been warned that the harbour car parks are closed and we may need to arrive early to secure parking in town. We can do ‘arriving early’. It also gives a fisherman of my acquaintance the chance to get his fishing boat fix.

The St Cuthbert III is running slightly behind schedule and is full for our trip. We don’t manage to secure a seat on the edge of the boat but that doesn’t matter too much. We set out for the Farne Islands, which are in two groups, the Inner and Outer Farnes. There are 28 islands at low water but only 14 at high tide. Like many islands in the area, the Farnes were a monastic settlement and St Cuthbert died here in the seventh century. We circle the Outer Farnes and view the cliff-side nests and the Atlantic grey seals; there are 3000-4000 of these in the area. We pass the Longstone Lighthouse, of Grace Darling fame, which was built 1825, at a cost of £3000 and was manned until 1919. Grace and her father are notorious for their 1838 rescue of nine survivors from the Forfarshire.

The islands are home to 80,000 puffins or ‘Tommy Noddies’ as they are known locally. They live up to thirty years and mate for life, returning to the same burrows each summer. They spend the winter at sea, not touching land until the following spring. What I hadn’t realised was that they lose their iconic bills in the winter, when the bills are black. The orange colour is generated from their sand eel diet. The more sand eels they eat, the brighter the bill. Natural selection means that the brighter bills, in other words those who are the most efficient providers of food, are the most attractive. Apart from the puffins, there are also 50,000 guillemots nesting on the islands. The smell of guano is powerful and all-pervading.

We disembark on Inner Farne, are greeted by the rangers and run the gauntlet of the dive-bombing, nesting terns. We listen to a short talk by the ranger. We are unable to go in St Cuthbert’s chapel as terns are nesting in the entrance. In fact, birds are everywhere. Even with my not very wonderful, under £100, camera I manage some half decent photographs.

So today the wildlife haul included: black-headed gulls, black-backed gulls, herring gulls, eider ducks, lapwing, feral pigeons, house sparrows, starlings, jackdaw, swallows, mallard, cormorants, guillemots, common terns, razor bills, shags, oyster catcher, Atlantic grey seals, a  rabbit and the iconic puffins. The wildflowers are also at their best at this time of year, with red campion, stitchwort, sea campion, poppies, broom and bluebells being prolific. What is really sad is that so many people would struggle to name the wonderful flora and fauna that surround us. It is our planet, we need to take an interest in it, nurture it, celebrate it, protect it and share our love of the beautiful landscapes we encounter.