Monthly Archives: February 2011

Diving Savusavu Fiji

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The reef around the Fijian island of Vanua Levu provides a once in a lifetime experience. Daku Resort at Savusavu has recently teamed up with L'Aventure Jean-Michel Cousteau to offer unforgettable diving at affordable prices.

One Million Pages Viewed

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Three years ago I began posting the full texts of earlier editions of my guidebooks on Google Books. Eleven editions of my South Pacific travel guides are now online with over one million page views since 2008.

January visit

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Inner Farne Pele Tower standing strong
Baron and bleak - Inner Farne mid-January
Winter victim - Oystercatcher (ringed!) found dead on Inner Farne
Saturday 22nd January comments:
The late January period brought a rest bite in the weather (and more importantly the sea state) allowing access to the islands. It was the first visit of 2011 and I suspect not the last but it was good to catch up with them, just to check for any storm damage and to see the general shape of the place. The islands can look very desolate at this time of year, with no breeding birds and a lack of any serious vegetation although it wasn’t as quiet as expected…

Good numbers of Guillemots were loafing about the waters with ‘several thousand’ on the cliff ledges of Staple Island. Its typical behaviour at this time of year as birds will come and go with fine weather during January-March but where still some way off the breeding season. As well as the Guillemots, Fulmars were present in reasonable numbers whilst Shag’s were already showing off their summer plumage crests. However it’s still early days and despite the flurry of activity, the islands remained quiet apart from the odd over-wintering Wren. On a sad note – I discovered a dead Oystercatcher on Inner Farne, a victim of the winter although the bird was bearing a ring so should bring some interesting data.

The only birds of real note were the wintering wildfowl on Knoxes Reef with a pair of Gadwall (a scarce visitor to the islands) with over 150 Mallards (this pair have been here since early November last year). Alongside this 61 Wigeon, 18 Teal and 12 Goldeneye which made up the reasonable haul of ducks.

I’ll hopefully return in the forthcoming weeks and will keep you posted.

Against the odds

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Fighting fit - a Seal pup on Brownsman (David Andrews)
Skinny but alive - one of three Seal pups in Holland
Farne Press release:
Seal pups makes incredible journey and survive

Three young grey seal pups born on the National Trust’s Farne Islands off the Northumberland coast have been discovered hundreds of miles away on a Dutch beach. The first of the ‘Farne Island three’ was found on the 13 December 2010 and was less than three weeks old when it made the 350 mile journey. After being found by a member of the public it was taken to a seal rescue centre in Holland.

Pups two and three were found on the 6 and 7 January 2011 and were taken to the same centre. All of the seal pups are recovering well and will be released back into the wild once they have put on enough weight; and they could potentially return home to the Farne Islands or another UK colony.

David Steel, National Trust Head Warden for the Farne Islands, said: “This is a remarkable tale of determination and survival in the turbulent waters of the North Sea. For three young grey seal pups to make it through such an ordeal is amazing.” Late November and early December saw easterly winds and stormy seas around the Farne Islands which would have played a part in sweeping the seal pups far out into the sea.

More than 1300 pups are born each year on the Farne Islands. Although grey seal pups can swim at an early age they don’t normally leave the breeding colony until they have weaned and moulted their white coats.

The colours are rotated during every colony count; two of the seals had blue dye putting their birth around 30 November, and the third pup had yellow dye, putting its birth date at around mid November. Home to one of the largest grey seal colonies in England the Islands are also famous for its hundred thousand seabirds including puffins. In 2008 otter prints were discovered on Brownsman Island after the mammal braved the swirls and tides of the area around the Farne Islands.

David Steel added: “The two pups with the blue dye would have still been dependent on their parents and the third pup would have only just gained its independence when they began their mammoth journey. Young pups have been discovered along the Northumberland coastline but this a real rarity.”

Tagging and survey work on grey seals has been taking place on the Farne Islands since the early 1950s – the longest running study of grey seals in the world – and the place where seal tagging was pioneered. The survival rate of grey seals in the stormy sea around the Islands is low with more than 45 per cent of pups not surviving the winter months.

On the up!

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Fat and content - a second coat pup (Graeme Duncan)
Mother and pup (David Andrews)
Snow white (David Andrews)
Only three weeks old... (David Andrews)
Home sweet home, from the cottage window (David Andrews)
The dust has settled, the seals have been counted and its all over foe another year. The Farne grey Seals population experienced a good autumn (for numbers born) but I suspect once all the numbers are crunched, we will (as expected) have lost a few - we run at a loss of 50% in normal years. The final island-by-island totals include:
South Wamses 418
Brownsman 358
Staple Island 343
North Wamses 293
Northern Hares 54
Knoxes Reef 12
Big Harcar 11
West Wideopens 6
Longstone 3
Nameless 1
Overall total: 1,499

Thank you team

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Farnes Team 2010
happy and proud - Senior warden Jason

Having a funny Tern - Graeme

Friends? Jamie admiring the local wildlife
Raising money for 'Movember' - David
And just having a laugh...the lads
Wednesday 14th December comments:
The season may be over but I've still got plenty to update you all on. A good starting point would be the team - we've been out there since early March and we've welcomed over 45,000 visitors, 183 different bird species, 80,000 breeding seabirds and not forgetting over 1,400 Seal pups. We've had our 'up's and down's along the way, but a big THANK YOU to all the team for another good year - I hope you all enjoyed and you'll all remember the Farnes - its an amazing place but made even better by the people who take care of it. I wish everyone luck and hopefully some of you will return for another year on the islands. So from this head warden, thank-you and enjoy the winter.

Off!

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Second-coat Seal pup checking we're going...
The move is on

Arrival in Seahouses

Seahouses Harbour like you never seen before - snow galore!
Monday 6th December comments:
What an epic. Little did we ever imagine that we would be leaving the islands for the winter in heavy snow! The final few weeks have been cold and bitter at times although we’ve got on with the job and even managed to find some interesting birds – the Stone Curlew was the most outrageous!

Departure day finally arrived on Saturday and as usual, Brownsman was evacuated and everything and everyone was moved to the jetties awaiting the final boat to take us west, to the mainland. The season has had its moments, the ups and the downs, the good and the bad, but at long last, we were leaving.

Having dodged the Grey Seals, the boat arrived on time to collect us and away we went to the frozen wasteland that was the mainland. I’ve never seen snow in Seahouses harbour and the place was covered, so it made life a bit harder but soon the team were in action, moving equipment, sorting recycling and storing boats for the winter.
Eventually the dust (well snow) settled and the team relaxed to celebrate into the small hours of Sunday morning in Seahouses. The season is over and the wardens have gone. Long live the Farnes.

However that not the end of the story. Keep reading as I’ll bring a team roundup, a seal roundup and much more very soon.

On the first day of Christmas my true love sent to me…

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Pure brilliance - a sketch sent over by John Steele capturing the moment
Snapping from Brownsman - Stone Curlew (honest!!) on South Wamses (Graeme Duncan)
Wardens in action, Jason and Steely taking shelter (Graeme Duncan)
Wednesday 1st December comments: We see some strange and wonderful things out on the Farnes, but today even made the most optimistic warden gasp in disbelief.
Picture the scene; a cold icy easterly wind blowing for the umpteenth day, snow blizzards coming and going, solid icy ground and marauding Grey Seals on Brownsman. Welcome to 1st December.
So why, oh why did we have a Stone Curlew arrive on the islands?
Stone Curlews breed in southern England in small numbers and usually migrate out of the country by late autumn. The species is a real rarity to Northumberland and the last Farnes record dates back to 1950 when an individual was killed against the Longstone Lighthouse.
This morning resident warden Jason flushed a bird from the vegetable garden on Brownsman, which flew over to the nearby South Wamses. There it remained, amongst Grey Seals on a shingle bank for the majority of the day, much to the delight of the island warden team. What a crazy bird. This bird should be nowhere near the Farnes, or Northumberland, or the North-east come to think about it. We’ll never know where this has come from, but the weird world of the Farnes continues to throw up surprises. Now how does that song go…on the first day of Christmas my true love sent to me….a Stone Curlew on a seal beach…

Snow pups

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Looking west towards the mainland - Bamburgh Castle covered in snow
(Graeme Duncan)
A new born pup in the snow (Graeme Duncan)
Moulting pup in the snow (Jason Moss)
Sunday 27th November comments: You know its cold when the beach freezes. Not only that, snow forms. Its that cold. The north-east has been blasted with arctic winds bringing plenty of the white stuff with it and we’ve not escaped. The Seals have been covered, the islands dusted and the wardens are cold (but happy!).
So what’s it like on the Farnes at this time of year? Well today we ventured over to Inner Farne to finally 'close' that particular island down. In the process, we were caught in a blizzard but we survived and got on with work. We also checked out the new born Seal pups on the inner group before eventually heading back to Brownsman. We finished the day by moving various bits of equipment from the cottage to the jetty, which is no easy feat with several adult Seals and pups along the route (never mind the freezing conditions). Regardless we made it back to the cottage just before dark to settle down for the evening.
So how cold was it? Well my right hand needed warm water pouring over it before it would open – painful and cold and maybe we pushed it a bit today but mission accomplished. Now we can settle down on Brownsman and get back to the Seal colonies, in the snow...

Seal days

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A Seal pup on Brownsman with Longstone in background (David Andrews)
You looking at me? Seal pup up close (Graeme Duncan)

Thursday 25th November comments: It’s been an interesting time for the Grey Seals on the islands as unlike the previous year, we’ve had some serious storms from the north and east (bringing with it, some huge swell). As well as cold temperatures (not that Seals are bothered about cold temperatures!) but the seas have been mountainous. Although its early days, we’ve certainly lost Seal pups but we expect that on these small rocky islands, as nature can be a cruel mistress.
Despite the weather (ranging from biting northerly winds to sleet and hail), the team have got on with work and we've been active on the colonies. At one point, we took shelter behind a rock face from a sleet storm and were joined by two Seal pups - we couldn't blame them, its was horrendous. Regardless we;'re still not finished and I would not be surprised if we even got snow over the next few days, its that cold!

Latest pup populations…

South Wamses 389
Staple Island 327
Brownsman 296
North Wamses 269
Northern Hares 31
Big Harcar 3
Longstone 1
Total 1,276

Woody

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Farnes seventh record - a Woodlark on Inner Farne (Ian Fisher)
Looking a bit wet, Woodlark showing well (Ian Fisher)

Woodlark (Ian Fisher)

A lingering Black Guillemot (Graeme Duncan)
A good autumn for Common Redpolls on the islands (Ian Fisher)
Sunday 21st November comments:
It’s the late autumn and we’re still on the islands. We’ve got just over two weeks remaining before we head back to the mainland for the winter but before then, we’ve got a job to do. The stormy season is truly upon us and trips to the mainland have become few and far between. However this isn’t anything new at this time of year and we’ll focus on the Grey Seal colonies over the next few weeks before we eventually move off.
The past week has been generally quiet for birds although Auks have been the noticeable exception. Good numbers of Guillemots and Razorbills have returned to Farnes waters whilst Little Auks are being recorded daily, with at least one Black Guillemot lingering.
Friday witnessed a flurry of migrants as easterly winds produced late passage with the pick of the bunch involving a confiding Woodlark, representing the seventh Farnes record. The bird showed well on Saturday for an admiring group of keen Northumberland birders and at one stage, came within 8ft of the admiring crowd! The bird appeared to be reacting to a camera shutter lenses and once in position at the feet of the birders, decided to start singing in ‘sub-song’! Yet another strange and wonderful visitor to these extraordinary islands.
Other birds of note included several Common Redpolls (it’s been a good autumn for them) along with both Short-eared and Long-eared Owls. Also of note was three late Chiffchaffs, a scattering of Woodcock and reasonable numbers of Thrushes moving west towards the mainland. The Seal colonies continue to go from strength, with over 1,000 pups although I’ll bring you all the news and updates over the next few days. The winter is almost upon us and you don’t need to remind us out here – its definitely cold!!!

The $60 Million Dream Home

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The Wall Street Journal recently purchased this unique article on their online website.  The story reads that recently in FLorida a group of wealthy art collectors and philanthropists dined on risotto and listened to chamber music at a 10-bedroom estate on a private island off Florida’s Biscayne Bay.

 The mansion isn’t owned by a Russian oligarch or a certain NBA player who recently moved to town. It was built purely on speculation by developers in search of a buyer. Here is what the Wall Street Journal had to say about this unique island mansion.

The developers of the $60 million Miami Beach house say the estate, which has cost them $30 million so far, has one of the state’s first in-home projection 3-D movie theaters. The home, which was built by developers Shlomi Alexander and Felix Cohen, also has a hidden art vault, an elaborate security system and a wine room that can be accessed only via fingerprint identification. Materials like mother of pearl, rare marble and Austrian oak are used throughout. To find the right gold-flecked marble for the master bathroom, the developers say they flew to Italy to personally pick it out from a quarry. To get inspiration for the home’s waterscape and pool, which has a waterfall cascading from the second floor, they visited the Amanyara resort in the Turks and Caicos Islands. 

To read the full article visit The Wall Street Journal.

Rimrock Island

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rimrock-island-1Located in a environment that could be right of a Steig Larson Novel, Rimrock island is actually located in Northern Ontario Canada.

You won’t believe you are in Northern Ontario when you see this Work of Love and Art and at the same time have the coziest 4 bedroom cottage to enjoy solitude on your own Island……or share it with family and friends. The Norwegian influenced architectural design, finishing touches and the honey coloured open pine ceilings and walls can only be appreciated by seeing this property. You won’t believe it!

The Island is approximately 3.5 acres and the waterway of Wilson Lake is approximately 270 acres with less than a dozen cottages on this spring fed lake.

As you approach the property you will be greeted by a newly built single boat house in 2007 which is surrounded by a deck on both sides. Adjoining the boat house is a 40’9” x 14’ deck…just the right size for storage of water toys, a canoe, a dingy and Muskoka chairs and lounges. A few stairs and a beautifully rounded huge rock section with scattered lichen and beautiful moss plus the leaning red and white pines grace the walkway to the 12’ in diameter parapet.

For more information on this property visit Private Islands Online