More little terns on a glorious day

After a day off on the Saturday, we return north to look for little tern feeding areas on the north side of the Long Nanny colony. It is a glorious day, the sea is mirror calm as I look toward the Farne Islands from Seahouses. I wish I could be out there. I see Moby (Graeme Harrison's boat) out by the islands 7km away, presumably with a dive party.

Although the beach at Seahouses looks suitable, I don't see a single little tern, nor does Julie at her watch point a bit closer to the colony. We move a bit closer, and see very little activity (one bird passing (perhaps the same bird) and me seeing lots of courtship behaviour in Beadnell Bay. That's great, because we're seeing a clear pattern of this species concentrating in a narrow strip within 6km of the colony in one direction, and less than that in the other. This is entirely consistent with findings at other colonies.

When we finish, Graeme returns his dive party to Beadnell and we offer him some help with taking his boat back down to Amble (we've chartered him for an extra five days for the rest of the week). He lets me drive all the way down and take the Moby into the Marina. It's fantastic to glide effortlessly across the smooth seas at 30kn in beautiful weather. This is great for me to keep my Powerboat certificate current. I get the RHIB into the berth reasonably well - a bit more Reginald Molehusband than a smooth elegant entry. Oh well, not too bad for an unfamiliar boat.

Graeme brings 'Moby' and the North Norfolk Diving Club back into Beadnell Bay