Storm Arwen

 Well it has been an eventful week. Storm Arwen struck the Northumberland coast at full force last Friday evening with northerly winds peaking at over 100mph. A testament to the ferocity of the storm was a 90 year-old Holy Islander who said he had never seen anything that strong from the north in his lifetime! The storm left a trail of destruction with whole swathes of forests flattened, structural damage to buildings and hundreds of thousands of people left without power.

The Met Office warnings associated with Storm Arwen and Lindisfarne NNR location

 Here at Lindisfarne National Nature Reserve we were smack bang in the middle of the rare Red Met Office warning area. The strongest of the winds arrived overnight into Saturday, luckily on a falling neap tide meaning damage to the Reserve was reasonably light. However, the causeway was significantly damaged by the strong currents as the tide rose. Our bird hides suffered some damage to roofs and screens. Several trees were also down across fences and we lost several signs.

Storm damage to the causeway

Welcome sign was washed further down the coast from the causeway. Now thankfully retrieved

However, the thing that suffered the most, as always, was the wildlife. Stormy seas prevented birds from feeding and the severe cold and wind chill accompanied by the exceptional winds meant that all there energy was focused into keeping warm. A storm surge accompanying the winds caused the intertidal area to be covered for longer periods than normal depriving Wildfowl and Waders from the mudflats and essential food.

Thousands of pieces of Dead Man's Fingers (Alcyonium digitatum) - a species of soft cold water coral - were ripped from the seabed owing to the power of the storm

During winter it is vital that the wintering bird populations are not disturbed as many of the birds at Lindisfarne NNR have migrated thousands of miles to reach this protected oasis. When they arrive they are almost on deaths door having used huge amounts of energy to fly here. All their time is spent feeding up and resting, gaining fat reserves to make the daunting journey. 

Regular disturbance effects the birds in two ways. Firstly birds waste important energy resources and fat reserves flying away from disturbance sources. If this happens frequently enough the birds won't lay down enough fat reserves to keep warm through the winter months and to make the long journey back to their breeding grounds in the high arctic thus resulting in a death sentence for many. Secondly, the feeding grounds on the Reserve are intertidal with many species feeding on the worms and molluscs within the mudflats or on the eel grass beds. This means that the feeding areas are only uncovered by the tide for certain parts of the day. If the birds are moved off these areas the amount of time they can feed is vastly reduced resulting in less fat reserves and less resilience to bad weather. Please be aware of feeding birds when visiting the coast and give them the space they need to feed and rest.