Long Nanny

Last week I went up to Beadnell via the bus and walked down to the Long Nanny just to see if it was feasible,Meadow Pipits and Skylarks seemed everywhere but no Stonechats, the site as expected was deserted the beach looked as though it had been ravished by the winter seas , the sand stack that I last saw Sand Martins investigating   has vanished and even the course of the burn has changed slightly . The Tern nesting area seems much lower than other years and I fear for the birds on the large Spring tides . only a few Gulls on the burn outlet but there was a large flock around a nearby pool in a field , about  12 or so Ringed Plover along the beach in with Sanderling . I walked to High Newton along the beach which is by far the easier and quicker route although I prefer the route along   the short grass path which is good for Butterflies but as I had to connect with the bus I chose the quicker route ,which saw me have time for a drink in the nearby Joiners Arms.

 Looking towards Beadnell in the distance

 The Burn as it snakes it 's way to the sea

 view from the warden's hut

 It will not be long before the air will be full of birds

 looking towards Newton to the south

 The Wardens Hut at the Long Nanny

 Coming back through Craster we are halted as they attempt to pull a fishing boat with a length of rope tied to the back of a van !!!

Craster harbour from the bus, it was here that a Med Gull took up residence for a year or two

 Passing Warkworth castle

 Amble Braid the weir covered by the tide

Amble and the Marina

On the Bus again !!!

17th March A walk around Newbiggin via the west side of the Golf Course then Beacon point the tide high and a group of pipits on the seaweed up to 10 birds and I picked out 4 birds that had the look of  Littoralis  but all keeping either their distance from me or each other constantly chasing each other from their chosen spot, a quick look in the bay on the way back 4 Med Gulls on the beach 

 2 of 4 med Gulls in the bay

 2 Dunlin in a small left behind as the tide fell

18th March Another bus trip this time to Amble then I walked down to Cresswell for the bus home its a long walk not much to show for it but it was another fantastic day its just good to be out 

 only added a single Siskin on the feeders,unable or unwilling to carry the scope all this way I was unable to give East Chevington and Cresswell a good look over , Red Throated Divers in the bay and a small movement of Gannets north.

 Looking back at Amble single Common Scoter in with the Eider here

 Coquet Island which despite being so near I have never been on yet !!
Lapwing on the slopes from the Tern Hide ,plenty of Feral Geese this reserve has been dubbed the "Goose Farm "

 Hauxley was the lunch stop giving me time to count the 148 Curlew roosting on the island also a Bar Tailed Godwit to add to my bus list
Spot the birds ,2 grey Partridge hide in what looks like hardly a dip in the ground ,I had not seen the one on the left till I looked at  the photo, a small flock of Linnets also  here with a couple of Twite in  which is why I was scanning the ground for them  , 30+ on my last visit

21st Started with another visit to ST  Mary's but it was rapidly obvious  there was not mush around the waders pushed off the rocks which included a couple of Purple Sandpipers  so I headed towards Tynemouth for a walk along to the Fish Quay ,lots of Butter Burr in flower a very large patch  along the steep grassy hillside ,nothing of note at the Quay so I got the ferry across and a bus along the coast to Whitburn just to work out how to get there but  by this time it was late afternoon 

Photos out of sequence this is the  Fish Quay from the ferry 

 Curlew leaving the rocks as high tide pushes the waders off, the prom is one of the best places to see this

 Large patch of ButterBurr near Tynemouth

 This rather tatty Comma sunning itself on the path

 Tynemouth Castle from the Ferry

22nd took the bus to Newbiggin  started off in the bay only one med Gull seen though the tide was well out walked along the beach to Beacon point but it was not till I headed back saw my first Wheatear of the year and on the bus list, it was in no mood to hang around and headed north along the beach , picked up 6 or so pipits but they just flitted overhead and back along the beach also , high tide is a much better time to get a good look at them. Stopped off at Ashington for the Waxwings sitting atop a small tree and dropping onto some berries across the road , just getting the camera out the bag and they had gone waited around but they did not return ,plenty of berries though so they should hang around .

My first Wheatear of the year

 Always lots of Dog Whelk shells in the bay ?

 Looking across to Beacon Point Newbiggin, several signs of old trees along the shore this the best example of  I suppose an ancient tree, Cresswell beach has an excellent showing of tree stumps but only seen occasionally.

23rd another sunny day  with a walk along the coast to St Mary's Island stopped at the cliffs to get some close up flight shots of the Fulmars only to find not one around nor further along in the next bay , the wetland had a few teal Mallard, Redshank and 2 Snipe not seeing many Snipe around, 5 Purple Sandpipers and 3 Knot with the numerous Sanderling, Redshank and Oystercatchers on the rocks as the tide came in 4 Pied Wagtails and a few Pipits along the links beach could not get anywhere near them.

 Low tide view of St mary's Island

Bewicks Swan at last............

Saturday was not the best of days to be out so I did not bother turning out , except a text re: two Bewick's Swans just less than a mile away and I was out the door and scoping them within minutes , finally after a few years of not seeing any in the County, seemed to be one or two reports of Bewicks over on the east side , why are they moving now and where have they come from .

Sunday after far too much wine the night before , you know those nights when you say go on then I'll just have one drink, so it was late morning before I started to head up the coast , called at Amble just for the walk, several Med Gulls here today , a colour ringed bird new to me but has probably been here awhile, they have finally done something with the prom and now you can get on at the end of the Quay and walk around .

An interesting notice of proposed visits to Coquet Island Lighthouse , not sure how this is going to work, but I must admit not having been on the Island I will certainly be giving it a go !!

Late afternoon stopped at Hauxley heading down to the new hide on the West side , but the footpath flooded so that was the end of that, a few Tree Sparrows in and around the feeders, part of the old west hide is now overlooking a cleared area and the sea , not sure if it is going to be a new feeding area or if it is also intended for seawatching . A couple with a Springer Spaniel which was just left to go anywhere it pleased including the water , I found myself just about to say something, but instead just mumbled under my breath TOSSERS !!, actually the area was very busy with people everywhere, now either they too had a bit of a hangover or the sunshine had brought them out , I hope for the state of the nation that it was the sun, I thought it a waste of time going down too the Ponteland hide so we headed off for East Chevington ................. the final birds of the day 3 Short Eared Owls

Adult YJU7

Wild Weekend (but only the weather)

Saturday was a wild day to say the least,it was intention to go to Linton Pond to check out the gulls if around, I called in at QE11 lake but no Meds for me plenty of Black Headed & a few Common, the message of the Glossy Ibis near the Budge screen and showing well ,so I thought it would be in the small pool to the left, a good opportunity to get some decent photos, I was there in five minutes but the bird was way over to the right and had been there all morning , it showed briefly but you needed a scope to get a view till it went behind some vegetation, so I headed off to Linton instead.
Going through the small woodland it was like another world being sheltered, opened the shutters to find the pond covered with Geese a couple of hundred Pinkfeet soon lifted and dropped into the field out of sight before I could get a count , 536 Canadas present these must surely be increasing rapidly, perhaps the NWT could take some Christmas orders, about 100 Greylag but a lot just out of sight in the corner & good numbers of duck also here.
I have bought the Gulls book and having read at least the introduction fully I stated to sort out the gulls and successfully ID'd and aged all the gulls there ,but as there was only 3 it was not much of a problem.
Sunday a lazy morning till we decided to go up to Amble again to check out the gulls in the harbour ,no Meds for me here either, and the larger gulls over the far side ,they still have not started to repair the quay so you cant get fully along.
A drive around to the braid to have a scan with the scope on the rising tide , hundreds of waders across the far side mostly Redshanks with a few Bar tailed, Knot and 3 Grey Plover , large gull roost with the majority birds being adult Great Black backs , loads of Wigeon feeding on the edges.
Called in at Hauxley just for a walk around , but the west hide has been removed , to be replaced according to the notice (end October) to me it was along with the Ponteland hide the only ones worth visiting , the large hide is useless in the afternoon as you look into the sun, so it was a walk to the beach and back to end the day.
Monday just a ride on the bike to St Mary's via Blyth harbour there are gates and fences up everywhere, although at the moment open, there could be no access to any of the jetties.
St Mary's quiet the adult med still at the Briardene carpark odd how it has returned to the same spot (presuming it is the same bird) an adult used to hang around the Blyth beach area but no sign of late. Looking through the Sanderling(links) I picked out three colour ringed birds ,had some last year in the north bay ,actually my last three visits to the north bay I have had no waders. Sent off the details and awaiting a reply, also noted still some Turnstones with colour rings ,sent numerous records in a few years ago and still waiting a reply, I think it should be a condition of use of colour rings that birds be at least monitored or good notice given that the study has ended.

Two colour ringed birds ,second left and first right

Another bird 2nd left and one centre

This bird looks like a differant study, not sure if thats a double or large red ring