Magical moments on the Northumberland Coast

Seems like ages since I last posted on here, end of July in fact - been out and about of course but sometimes you just get out of the habit! I'll no doubt do some kind of a highlights post of my late summer / autumn in due course but for now here's a round up of my latest little excursion squeezed in just before we went into lockdown2 - a midweek break on the Northumberland coast.

My base was a campsite near Seahouses and apart from two or three other people I had the place to myself, not that any of the facilities were open but hey ho, strange times and all that!

Day1

The Farne Islands from Seahouses

A mid afternoon stroll down to the sea front at Seahouses to get my bearings and stretch my legs after the long drive up from Yorkshire. Plenty of Curlews in the air and a few Turnstone and Sanderling on the beach. Just nice to get away to be honest and reconnect with a part of the country I haven't visited for many a year! Wasn't long before I spotted a group of Eider Ducks riding the swell, first of many no doubt and the first of many views of the Farne Islands - sadly not open for business otherwise I'd have gone.

 

Eider Ducks, Seahouses, 03/11/20

 

 

..and the same with the late afternoon sun glinting off distant gas installations made for a nice shot.

A covey of 8 Grey Partridge on the way back felt like a good trip tick and after sunset close on 2000 Pink Footed Geese flew over the campsite. Some even bigger big numbers doing the rounds on various local birding sites with up to 12,000 recorded early morning and dusk as they fly between feeding grounds and roosting sites - Pink Feet are clearly doing well!

Day2

Holy Island and Lindesfarne is a must for any birder up here but high tide is best and with that not happening till late afternoon I opted to go inland in the morning to Holburn Moss, a Northumberland Wildlife Trust site of international repute. A raised mire / bog thought to have been used by the monks of Lindesfarne for peat extraction and now an important wetland site. With nothing to advertise its presence (no doubt on purpose to deter too many casual visitors) I took one wrong turn and ended up walking 2 or 3 more miles than my 60 year old legs really wanted to go but when I finally came across it I was a bit gobsmacked - a thing of beauty in the middle of nowhere!

Holburn Moss, 04/1120

 

 

 

 

 

That was my first view as I clambered up the hill and rounded the bend! That's the western end and pretty as it was, apart from 200 or so Greylag Geese not much bird action at first glance but as I walked along its entire length to the middle bit ...

Holburn Moss, 04/1120

.. things suddenly got better, have to say I was totally responsible for flushing everything but it would have been difficult not to, 140ish Teal, 10 Wigeon, 40ish Mallard, more Greylags and about 100 Pink footed Geese flew in, and best of all Pintail, 27 in total and great to see in such an environment.

Pintail, Holburn Moss, 04/11/20

Pintail, Holburn Moss, 04/11/20

Holburn Moss, 04/1120

 

Much bird to-ing and fro-ing between here and Lindisfarne according to the info and bet its a good spot to camp out all day at to see what happens. Rough camping one time before I get too old for such things maybe?

On to Holy Island / Lindesfarne then and I was in good time for a drive across the causeway and a beat around the sand dunes and rocky foreshore before high tide. Plenty of people milling about the abbey and the castle and I was nearly tempted to be a tourist but chose to turn my back on the crowds - good call!

Back Skerrs & Snipe Point, Holy Island

Redshank, Holy Island, 04/11/20

The small bit of  rocky foreshore on the north of the island was a frenzy of activity with many wading birds - Mainly Redshank, Turnstone and Dunlin with a few Knot, Bar Tailed Godwits and a new bird for the year for me 3 Purple Sandpipers.

Bar Tailed Godwit, Holy Island, 04/11/20

Purple Sandpiper, Holy Island, 04/11/20

Purple Sandpiper, Holy Island, 04/11/20

After deciding not to visit the castle I was keen to at least get a few pics from this part of the island. Not easy as it's tucked away on the south side, but I reckoned if I climbed to the top of the tallest sand dune I might get some kind of a view, which I duly did and was rewarded with some fine views of not only Lindesfarne but also Bamburgh Castle in the distance and a fine and feisty looking Roe Deer to boot!

Lindesfarne Castle with Bamburgh Castle in the background, 04/11/20

Roe Deer (male), Holy Island, 04/11/20

Looking north over Goswick Sands

And with the 'big' lens ...

Lindesfarne Castle with Bamburgh Castle in the background, 04/11/20

The road onto Holy Island includes a causeway that becomes impassable when the tide comes so it was time to clear off if I wasn't going to get marooned on the island - wouldn't have been the end of the world, but the shadows were lengthening and I didn't fancy being suck in the dark for a couple of hours!

The van, Holy Island, 04/11/20

On the way back to the van I reckoned I had plenty of time, the incoming tide was still a way off I thought, so it was a slow meander back along the road seeing plenty of Curlew, Wigeon and a couple of Stonechats, took a van pic from distance, and drove back towards the causeway. Decided to stop for a cup of coffee still on the island side and was going to take some wader pics in the late afternoon 'golden hour', maybe get the telescope out - well that didn't happen because seemingly out of nowhere the North Sea started to encroach!

The van and the North Sea!

Bar Tailed Godwit, Holy Island, 04/11/20

I managed a couple of decent pics of a nearby Bar Tailed Godwit, threw the rest of my coffee into the drink and I was off!

Bar Tailed Godwit, Holy Island, 04/11/20

Wigeon, Lindesfarne, 04/11/20

The light was totally against me on the other side but there was lots to see as the tide came fully in with hundreds if not thousands of geese, mainly Pink Feet and Brents but also a big flock of Barnacle Geese, Shelduck, Teal, Wigeon, Redshank, Grey Plover, Dunlin all flying over to find somewhere else to feed and roost.

Barnacle Geese, Lindesfarne, 04/11/20

Incoming tide over the causeway

I suspect the tide crossing the causeway usually draws a small crowd but on this day I was one just a couple of other onlookers.

I left realising that although I'd been to Northumberland a few times before, I'd never been to Lindesfarne and Holy Island, I left vowing that I'd be back!

 Day 3

Ross, 05/11/20

Up early for my last full day in Northumberland, I'd already done a bit of research the night before on likely places to visit and decided upon Ross Sands to the south of Lindesfarne as there'd been reports of Snow Bunting nearby. Another gloriously sunny day and the 'oldy worldy' estate village of Ross was looking very neat and tidy (suspect the Duke of Northumberland wouldn't stand for anything less😏)

 

 

 

Pink Footed Geese, Ross, 05/11/20

The skies were full of geese, with some of those big numbers of Pink Feet I mentioned earlier, all flying over from roosting sites in Beadnell and Budle Bay and boosted by others clearly flying in over the sea from the north. I stopped counting at 3,000! A few Barnacle Geese too and then a small flock of Whooper Swans flew over. Too far away for me to hear them 'whooping' but a nice sight all the same.

Whooper Swans, Ross, 05/11/20

Ross Sands looking north, 05/11/20

Once through the sand dunes and adding 3 Stonechats and 50ish Curlew I was met by a wonderful expanse of beach with not a soul to be seen either way, and with clear skies and the sea so blue I took several pictures as I walked up towards Guile point with the Lindisfarne Castle always visible to the north and Bamburgh Castle steadily receding to the south.

Ross Sands looking south, 05/11/20

 

 

 

Ross Sands looking east, 05/1120

Ross Sands looking north, 05/11/20

Ross Sands looking north, 05/11/20

Ross Sands looking south, 05/11/20

Believe me I took many more as I tramped steadily northwards with no real destination in mind. The sense of wide open space, reflections of the sun on water and vast expanses of seemingly endless unblemished sand, not a single human being in sight and nothing to be heard except the sea slapping against the shore - it was a real Robinson Crusoe moment!

Birds were few and far between, a few Cormorants, passing gulls, a single Common Scoter beating south over the sea, until I decided to have a real good scan. Kept seeing the odd diver species offshore but too far out to identify - usually these go down as Red Throated Divers, being the most commonly seen (more of this later), then I kept seeing a a small group of ducks a way off behaving in a very strange way the like of which I've never seen  - they kept flying one way, then splashing down on the sea from height, then flying t'other way, splashing down on the sea - and so on, I had an idea what they were from their colouration (black and white) but thought I should take some record shots even though they were like half a mile away. Wasn't until I had a look at my pics, and thank god at least one of them was usable, zoomed in and my suspicion was confirmed - Long Tailed Ducks!

Long Tailed Ducks, off Ross Sands, 05/1120

 

Can't remember my last record of these iconic migratory seabirds that breed way up in the North Atlantic regions of Canada / Northern Russia and I count myself very lucky to add them to my year list!

Goldeneyes, off Ross Sands, 05/11/20

Also passing offshore were one or two small flocks of Goldeneye, rubbish pic but as with the Long Tails they were a way off!

As for those divers, well I reckon I'll have to put them down as Red Throated but one looked a fairly good candidate for a Black Throated Diver. Frustratingly they too were beyond the reach of my lens so record pics were all I could manage.

?Black Throated Diver, off Ross Sands, 05/11/20

Red Throated Diver, off Ross Sands, 05/11/20

I kept on walking the sands, enjoying the views and the fresh air, with Lindesfarne Castle getting bigger in my eyeline all the time, and still not a soul to be seen!

Lindesfarne Castle from Ross Sands, 05/11/20

I reached the bay just to the south of  Holy Island around lunch time and was somewhat startled to see what looked like two giant trig points looming up ahead of me ...

East Old Law Beacon, Guile Point, 05/11/20

West Old Law Beacon, Guile Point, 05/11/20

Awesome aren't they? Googling the info on them later I discovered that they were erected by Trinity House in the early part of the 19th century and their purpose was to guide sailors safely into Holy Island Bay by aligning the two beacons. Still in use until the 1990s when a solar powered light was fitted to one of the beacons (West Law East) leaving the other one redundant. They're both grade 2 listed buildings. I had my lunch under the shadow of that one above and found myself thinking about life aboard a boat!

Holy Island Bay, 05/11/20

Plenty of bird action in the bay, Brent Geese, Wigeon and more Pink Footed Geese passing overhead, Grey Plovers, loads of Redshank and all went up when a passing Peregrine Falcon cruised by. 

Aware of the journey back, I didn't walk any further - turned back and would have explored the sand dunes but it was strictly no access so it was a case of retracing my steps back to Ross. Got lucky on the way back with 3 Snow Buntings flying high over the sands - get in! No chance of a pic but here's somebody else's!

Snow Bunting (credit Steve Oakes)

Couldn't help taking more seascape pics on a walk back that offered little in terms of more birds. I did see my first human being though, a lone walker on the sands moving at twice the speed of me!

Lone walker on the sands, Ross Sands, 05/11/20

Looking back over my shoulder, with the light subtly changed, the views of where I'd walked were just as good  ..

Ross Sands, looking north, 05/11/20

Out to sea, the Farne Islands were looking good too

 

The Farne Islands from Ross Sands, 05/11/20

 And one last one, a lucky shot of a big breaker crashing in right in front of Lindesfarne Castle.

Lindesfarne Castle from Ross Sands, 05/11/20

My legs were feeling it during the last mile of a close on 8 mile walk and I was more than ready for a cup of tea back at the van. Feeling refreshed I drove up to Lindesfarne for high tide again and explored the saltmarshe at Beale. Got too dark for any decent pics but got some good birds - flushed a Woodcock from the field edge and was pretty sure I saw a small flock of Twite on the saltmarsh.

Day 4

Foggy Saltholme, 06/11/20

My last day and since I'd done all that set out to do up here in Northumberland, I opted for an early start back and a good few hours around RSPB Saltholme near Middlesborough on the way back. Rather disappointingly it became very foggy as I approached Newcastle (Fog on the Tyne?) and it persisted pretty much all day until late afternoon, but it was a steadily improving situation and it didn't spoil my visit to this cracking wetland site. 

Foggy Saltholme, 06/11/20

 

Teal, Saltholme, 06/11/20

Surrounded by the industrial landscape of Teeside, the reserve is a gem of a place, predominantly wetland with various scrapes and lagoons, there are also areas of grassland, scrub and some woodland. I managed to get around just about all of it and ended up staying there until mid afternoon. Added several new species to the trip including Common Snipe, Pochard, Black Tailed Godwit, Marsh Harrier and star bird - a late Blackcap in some bramble bushes alongside the Haverton viewpoint. 

Haverton viewpoint, Saltholme, 06/11/20

Stonechat, Saltholme, 06/11/20

The Blackcap was a lucky spot, just appeared in the bushes for a few seconds and then dived straight back in as soon as I lifted my camera! As the light improved I managed a couple of decent shots of Stonechats, of which I counted 9 in total across the reserve, and a nicely posed Great Spotted Woodpecker.

Great Spotted Woodpecker, Saltholme, 06/11/20

Stonechat, Saltholme, 06/11/20

Other birds seen here included 1,000 plus Greylag Geese and similar numbers of Wigeon, Teal, Goldeneye, appx 1,300 Lapwing, Fieldfares, Redwings, Dunlin, Redshank, Little Grebe, Shoveler and plenty of Meadow Pipits and Reed Buntings

RSPB Saltholme, 06/11/20

 All in all, a great midweek break, fantastic weather, some outstanding scenery, iconic landmarks and a good little outing for the new van!