ADDERSTONE HOUSE – BAMBURGH – MONK’S POOL - BUDLE BAY – HOLY ISLAND
WEATHER: sunny and warm all day, moderate breeze. Temp 14 -25C
That lovely Yellowhammer that everyone went crazy about yesterday started singing at 4am right outside our rooms, not so lovely now eh? I was tempted to throw an old boot at him.
At 6:30am we all met up in the car park just to look for birds in and around the grounds of the hotel. We had views over cultivated fields, some hedgerows and grass pasture on a sloping filed across the main road. We saw the pesky Yellowhammer and his wife a few times as well as the local Goldfinches, Barn Swallows, House martins, House Sparrows, Starlings and Pied Wagtails.
our local and very vocal Yellowhammer
Rooks, Crows and jackdaws joined Wood Pigeons dashing across our filed of view in all directions. We found two Curlews in the grass meadow and a Roe Deer joined them.
After breakfast we set off for the day in the direction of Bamburgh which is 4 miles from our hotel. We stopped at a large gated entrance to a large stately home, in the past I have seen many species in the overgrown grounds. This year the house is under renovation and the grounds have been ‘tidied up’. A disaster for wildlife but now easy on the eye.
We still managed to find several species for our list: Pete found three Mistle Thrushes, a Stock Dove sat in a nearby tree. Several tree sparrows appeared, landing on some telephone wires down the road a short way. We heard Chiffchaff, Willow Warbler, Song Thrush (one appeared later), before we drove on.
At Bamburgh we turned off towards Seahouses and stopped along the beach road to scan Monk’s Pool. There, during this high tide period, we found a few species but not many. Lapwings, Coots, Moorhen, Mallards, a Stonechat, Reed Buntings, meadow Pipits, Skylarks and a few gulls.
At Budle Bay we arrived just as the tide was turning, small areas of mud began to appear. A family party of Eider Ducks swan very close to us, three adult females with four chicks swan by. In the distance we could see hundreds of Common Shelducks, also Curlews and Oystercatchers.
Budle Bay this morning
A small group of seven Goosanders were seen distantly and Pete found a pair of Eurasian Wigeon. The tide receded but we did not see dozens of waders dropping in to feed, it was a little disappointing! We did see Little Egret and more Goosanders before we left.
Little Egret
A Common Buzzard went onto the list as we drove to the causeway that leads across to Holy Island, a string of cars were ahead of us as we crossed over to the island a little ahead of the recommended time, it was certainly okay to cross.
The first thing we did as we walked through the village was stop for a coffee and a cake, we sat outside in the sunshine to eat. For the next hour or so we spent our time scanning the mini-harbour and the channel between Holy Island and St Cuthbert’s Island looking for a Black Guillemot. It did not show, we saw Common Guillemots, a lot more Goosanders, dozens of common Eiders and a large number of Grey Seals but not our target bird.
Lindisfarne Castle
We then walked up to Lindisfarne Castle where a pair of Fulmars were nesting on a window sill, how enterprising was that? We logged Linnets, Skylarks, Lapwings, Goldfinches and Pete found a Rock Pipit.
three old relics - the 12th Century Lindisfarne Priory and Mike & Lorna
From the coastal path we added Ruddy Turnstone to the list we saw more Eiders and a few Gannets and more seals.
Back in town we sat and ate a late lunch at 3pm! We then decided to take another look at the bay for the Black Guillemot. We walked to the top of the Heugh ( a large ridge that protects the harbour) and from there we were successful, hooray! Whilst scanning the distant channel near St Cuthbert’s Island someone said isn’t that the bird just down there near the shoreline! Well I never, there it was sitting on the water looking up at us, it was still a couple of hundred meters away but perfectly viewable.
record shot of the much sort-after Black Guillemot
Whilst there we also found Curlew, Bar-tailed Godwit and a Redshank as well as the usual large number of Goosander, Eider Ducks and Grey Seals.
We left the Island around 4pm and drove back to the hotel arriving around 5pm, the Yellowhammer was singing again from the bushes behind the hotel.