Monday 12th April comments:
The fine, settled weather continued and at times, the North Sea resembled a pond – it was that calm. The breeding birds have continued to settle and the early start to the season continued – we’ve now got Guillemot on eggs! The first Guillemot eggs were seen on the cliffs of Inner Farne – some seventeen days earlier than two years ago! However more unexplainable was the lack of Puffins – the entire population departed for the open sea, disappointing the visiting public in the process. Despite the absence, it was still a very pleasant day to be on the islands.

On the migration front, the number of Mediterranean Gulls has increased – we’ve now got four with two second-summer birds (potential breeders). Other birds of note included a male Velvet Scoter through Inner Sound (with the lingering large Common Scoter flock) and some impressive Corvud passage.