Stunning Northumberland 5th - 8th May 2017.

After we booked to attend an Adam Ant concert on 5th in Newcastle and an overnight stay,the following 3 days were to be enjoyed in beautiful Northumberland and hopefully some decent weather.

Friday 5th

Not really birding in Newcastle,but wandering around the Quays it was great to see the lovely resident Kittiwakes nesting on the Tyne bridge and Peregrine overhead nearby.


Saturday 6th

We visited several places today which included Amble,Alnmouth and lovely Beadnell where we where staying and to be honest the weather was dry,but pretty cold still with a biting northerly,but we didn't let it spoil things and enjoyed the lovely scenery.Bird highlights included the tamest Eiders i have ever seen,with 20 birds in Amble harbour coming within inches of me,a real treat and a fantastic experience.
 Later in the day the best went to two Little Tern at Beadnell Harbour and more showy Eiders.

Sunday 7th

Today we planned to take part in a walk from Newton by the Sea,taking in the impressive Embleton Bay,Dunstanburgh Castle and lovely Craster.The coastline along here is particularly stunning and it provided us with some great bird highlights.A single Little Tern in Embleton Bay kicked the days sightings off followed by a confiding family party of Stonechats watched nearby as the parents brought food to their brood,fantastic to watch!.
 A single Dark-bellied Brent Goose passed north offshore and on the return leg back to Newton an unseasonal flock of approx. 150 Barnacle Geese followed in the same direction.Assuming these latter birds are of wild origin,then they must surely be part of the wintering population from Holland.
 The only other bird of note was a single Common Sandpiper on Low Newton Nature Reserve.
 After completing our walk,we drove up the coast to Lindisfarne seeing some nice bits which included a cracking singing male Grasshopper Warbler,male Wheatear and 100+ Sandwich Tern and obviously some stunning scenery.

Monday 8th

Sadly it was time to head back south after another fantastic trip away to this beautiful part of the world.

Sandwich Tern,Amble Harbour.

Adult Drake Eider,Amble Harbour.

Female Eider,Amble Harbour.

Female Eider,Amble Harbour.

Displaying Drake Eider,Beadnell.

Drake Eiders,Beadnell.

Turnstone,Beadnell.

Embleton Bay.

Embleton Bay.

Dunstanburgh Castle.

Male Stonechat,Low Newton.

Juvenile Stonechat,Low Newton.

Juvenile Stonechat,Low Newton.

Female Stonechat,Low Newton.

Turnstones,Craster Harbour.

North Bound Barnacle Geese,Embleton Bay.

Grasshopper Warbler,Lindisfarne.

Looking Towards Bamburgh From Lindisfarne.

Male Wheatear,Lindisfarne.

Male Wheatear,Lindisfarne.