Coquet Island

While up in Northumberland in June visiting the Farnes, we also ventured south to visit Coquet Island. Although fairly small in size, this very special island still supports 44,000 nesting seabirds every year. It is perhaps most well known for its population of the UK rarest species of breeding tern: the roseate tern. 

The RSPB manage the island and have helped to safeguard the population here since the 1970s and in 2016 the number of roseate terns nesting on the island reached 104. 

The RSPB have created special nestboxes for the terns that have been tailored to their requirements and this has proved very successful. On our boat trip around the island, we saw several pairs resting on these nestboxes, but also quite a few on the rocks close to the water. 

The puffins were still spectacular here and the numbers of common and arctic tern were also very impressive. 

We also saw more grey seals here than we did on the Farnes and there were plenty of obliging eider on view in Amble Harbour as we headed out by boat to the island. 

On the journey back to Seahouses, we called in at the Long Nanny tern colony near Beadnell for one last tern on the trip. It didn't take long to find the little terns here which we could watch flying along the beautiful sandy beach on their way back to colony to feed their chicks. Watching the one site we were able to see little, sandwich, common and arctic tern.