Coquet Island: Exclusive look behind the scenes of the wildlife sanctuary reserved for birdlife

Northumberland Correspondent Tom Barton was granted exclusive overnight access to an island reserved just for birdlife for ITVX

One mile off the Northumberland coast from the village of Amble lies an avian paradise.

Reserved exclusively for birds, Coquet Island is an internationally important habitat home to 40,000 breeding seabirds.

Among the population are many rare or endangered breeds such as Roseate Terns, Common Arctic Terns, Sandwich Terns, and Puffins.

Other than staff and volunteers from the RSPB, people cannot set foot on the island, but ITV News Tyne Tees was granted exclusive access - giving a unique chance to see what happens behind the scenes.

Just a few months ago, in peak breeding season, the almost deserted RSPB nature reserve would have been covered with nests, eggs and chicks.

Come September and the island is quieter, but the conservation work is all-year round.

On the list of jobs to be done is clearing out the nest boxes used by Britain’s only breeding colony of the rare, red-listed Roseate Tern.

The effort to protect them from avian flu - when they return after winter - follows the epidemic which devastated bird populations on the island and left staff there traumatised.

Sarah Dalrymple is coastal species officer for the RSPB which looks after the nature reserve.

"The staff that worked out here had to deal with a lot of dead birds and we're seeing that reflected now in the numbers that have returned," she said.

"Common Terns, we're seeing them down by about three quarters. We've lost a lot of birds. Black-headed Gulls, again, just a big drop in numbers.

"But on a positive side we're seeing lots and lots of healthy chicks fledged and that's been a really positive sign that hopefully these populations will bounce back to what they were before bird flu."

Despite the optimism among the conservationists, the spectre of bird flu still hangs over the island.

Donning a biohazard suit to swab a dead juvenile gull for avian influenza, Sarah explained: "We haven't seen much bird flu in our seabird colonies this year thankfully which is a relief.

"But we still need to monitor it, we need to be on top of it, we need to watch out just in case it comes back."

Elsewhere on the island, site manager Stephen Westerberg and volunteer Richard Cope set up mist nets.

These allow them to ring birds so they can keep track of what is passing through the island and where it goes next.

Richard explained that while the busy breeding season was over, the island remains an important habitat throughout the year.

"Year round there's always something to see - some wildlife - right the way through the season," he said.

"We're fortunate here just as we get to the end of September now, migration's in full swing.

"We're just starting to get that real cold weather movement - the real clear out from Scandinavia now. We're starting to see pipits and wagtails coming through."

And while this sanctuary for wildlife is mostly uninhabited, humans have managed to make their mark.

Built on the foundations of a monastic cell that dates back more than 900 years, a lighthouse has stood on Coquet Island since 1841.

The building plays home to volunteers, and due to the isolated nature of the island, it is off-grid, meaning no electricity or running water.

Dinner is cooked and eaten by candlelight, just as the pots are washed with only the aid of a flickering flame.

Water, food, gas and wood for fires has to be brought from the mainland, and site manager Stephen is charged with working out the logistics.

"A lot of my job is just organising shopping and taxi service often during the breeding season," he explained.

"It takes a bit of planning. Having to carry everything onto the island on the boat, it has to be manageable.

"But also it's waste. All our rubbish, anything we don't use, it's all got to go back off the island as well."

Despite the clear challenges, every eight years the buildings are repainted white.

This quieter time of year allows for a team of decorators to come onto the island for an different kind of conservation.

Having six men working on the island requires a lot of water - fourteen tons of it - as well as four tons of diesel which they have delivered by ship.

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