TRANSFER TO NEWCASTLE CENTRAL STATION WITH STOPS AT HARTHORPE VALLEY, WOOLER
WEATHER: cloudy to start with a cold wind in the Harthorpe Valley, then sunshine and light winds
Our last morning began brightly with some cloud but no wind, two of the group went out for an early morning walk and came back with a couple of new sightings which including Greenfinch and Yellowhammer, they also saw Sparrowhawk, Kestrel, Common Whitethroat, Chiffchaff, Tree Sparrow and several common species.
One late note from yesterday was that Marie heard a Grey Partridge calling from the field behind the hotel, it was confirmed using Merlin.
Group 2 - left to right - Kate (always late!), Margaret, Marie, Susan, Neil, Doreen and Ros.
After loading up the bus with our luggage and saying farewell to the lovely staff at the hotel we set off for the Harthorpe Valley some 30 minutes away. We stopped once along the way to view a river from an fine old arched bridge, but saw only Common Buzzard, Common Whitethroat and we heard Yellowhammer and Chiffchaff. From Wooler the wind goty progessively worse, it was very windy in the Harthorpe Valley as we drove along a 2-mile long approach lane.
Song Thrush
We saw only Wood Pigeons, Crows, Jackdaws and Magpies as we moved slowly into the valley. The wind was quite annoying, it was keeping all the birds down and we only had glimpses of birds in flight. We tried to track down Willow Warbler and Blackcap without success, but we saw Mistle Thrush and Pied Wagtails and a good number of Sand Martins.
Mistle Thrush
At the end of the valley we parked the bus and made our way to a small wooden footbridge, we had more success there with sightings of Siskin, Grey Wagtail and a pair of Spotted Flycatchers.
All of a sudden, it seemed, the sky cleared, the sun came out and the wind dropped, it was a miracle!! Within minutes the birding improved dramatically, we had Mistle Thrushes all around us, Song Thrushes too, Siskins and Goldfinches were coming down down to drink and the Spotted Flycatchers were showing well. A Willow Warbler beame extremely showy, we also saw Chiffchaff and Chaffinches.
blue sky at last over the Cheviot Hills
Our best bird was the Red Grouse, from the track we scoped the slopes of the Cheviot Hills that surrounded us and we found some distant Red Grouse, they were very hard to see in the heather. A little later on we found more Red Grouse and this time they were much closer, everyone was happy that they had seen them.
very distant Red Grouse
more distant Red Grouse, there are eight in this piocture can you see them all?
Butterflies emerged into the sunlight, we saw several species including Comma, Small Tortoiseshell, Red Admiral, Speckled Wood. Meadow Brown, Small Skipper and Common Blue. A Golden-ringed Dragonfly was a nice find too!
Golden-ringed Dragonfly
But all too soon it was time to go, we had to leave this beautiful place and head off to the centre of Newcastle. I dropped off the group at 1pm, it was sad to see them go, a four-day trip is far too short!!
I drove back towards the north and stopped at Hauxley Nature Reserve near Amble for a late lunch. From the hides I enjoyed some great birding in lovely warm sunshine. I found a couple of new birds for my list. A flock of 51 Black-tailed Godwits flew in, they were all in summer plumage, fantastic. A Dunlin also appeared and along with Bar-tailed Godwits, Curlews, Redshanks, Lapwings and a Common Sandpiper I had myself a little wader fest.
summer-plum Black-tailed Godwits
a Blk-tailed Godwit, Dunlin and a Redshank
Bar-tailed Godwits with a couple of dozing Curlews
Two Little Gulls were still present and a I found the elusive Little Grebes too. The bird feeders were very quiet I saw only Tree Sparrow, Chaffinch, Blue Tit, Pheasant and Collared Doves.
At 5pm I set off for Edinburgh and arrived at 7pm, after checking in the minibus, I was in good time for my 10pm flight My wife collected me at Bristol at 12:30am ans I drove us home, meeting a lot of 'Glastonbury' traffic along the way. I was tucked in bed at 2am.