Northumberland Day Four, Saturday 26th September 2026

Another great forecast after yesterday's cloudy day saw us heading north and over the border into Scotland to visit St.Abbs & St.Abbs Head. 

The drive up was an easy one and it wasn't long before we were parking up at the National Trust for Scotland car park.

We explored all the coastline along here as far as Pettico Wick and the lighthouse headland and the impressive Mire Loch. It is an absolutely stunning area and we were duly impressed.

Bird and wildlife sightings included 3 Roe Deer, 3 Raven, an adult Whooper Swan on Mire Loch, 2 pairs of Stonechat and a mixture of commoner species.

After enjoying this super area, we wandered the short distance into St.Abbs itself and had some well earned lunch and a look around the harbour and village. What a lovely area, with the locals being so friendly also, we will definitely be back.

After enjoying St.Abbs we headed back to Bamburgh for a few hours enjoying some lovely views of a flock of Common Scoter, Red-throated Diver and feeding Gannets off Stag Rocks, before having a final visit to Budle Bay, before heading back to the cottage to pack.

What a brilliant mini-break this has been, Northumberland and the Scottish coast have been superb and we already cannot wait to come back.

Bamburgh Castle

Stag Rocks Lighthouse

Stag Rocks & Bamburgh Castle

St.Abbs

St.Abbs Head

Mr & Mrs R, Mire Loch

Harker Rocks

Mr & Mrs R, Pettico Wick

Stunning Scenery At Pettico Wick

Roe Deer Doe & Fawn, Mire Loch

Northumberland Day Two, Thursday 24th September 2026

 I got up early this morning to attempt to see the Brant again at Budle, before Tracey and myself headed out for the day to Lindisfarne.

I managed to see it, albeit at a greater distance, but at least it was still here for visiting birders to see.

Other nice birds seen included 4 adult Whooper Swans, 2225 Pink-footed Geese, 81 Pale-bellied Brents, singles of Spotted Red and Greenshank.

After enjoying Budle i went and picked up Mrs R and we headed for Lindisfarne.

As on our previous visit here, we walked all around the island taking in the North Shore area, Coves Haven, Sandham Bay, Emmanuel Head and the historic castle and priory ruins.

It really is a special place, with its history, stunning scenery and wildlife.

We managed a total of 59 species during our visit, with the best sightings going to 2 Arctic Skua, 7 Manx Shearwater, 3 Red-throated Diver, 185 Common Terns, 2 Wheatear and 4 Stonechat.

The following are my fave photos from day two.

Budle Bay

Lindisfarne

Old Ruins In The Dune System, On The Way To North Shore

North Shore

North Shore & Green Shiel

North Shore

Coves Haven

The R's At Coves Haven

Sandham Bay & Emmanuel Head

Mrs R, Sandham Bay

Emmanuel Head

Lindisfarne Castle

Guile Point

Bamburgh Castle

Lindisfarne Priory 

Lindisfarne Castle

St.Mary's Church

Northumberland Day One, Wednesday 23rd September 2026

Tracey and myself had booked to stay away at a lovely cottage at Glororum, approx. 5 minutes drive from Bamburgh on the stunning Northumberland coast .

So this morning, we set off bright and early on our journey north.

After a relatively trouble free journey apart from the usual traffic around Newcastle we stopped off at Warkworth for some well earned brekkie, before travelling onto Seahouses.

The weather was a bit showery as forecast, so i dropped Tracey at the shops while i went to have a look at the sea in the blustery northerly.

I managed to record 38 species from my watchpoint at the harbour which included 21 Eider, 2 Red-breasted Mergs, 3 Arctic Skua, 1 Manx Shearwater, 2 Red-throated Diver, 15 Arctic, 2 Common and 5 Sarnie Terns.

After an hour Tracey joined me and we headed off to the cottage.

After we un-packed our gear, i travelled the 5 minute journey to Budle Bay while Tracey settled in at the cottage.

I had visited here several times in the past, so new it was great for birds.

While scanning a flock of Pale-bellied Brents, i briefly saw what i thought was a Black Brant in amongst them, but it was pretty distant and i hoped they would come nearer. Un beknown to me another birder had also seen the Brant and we eventually managed better views and much closer than i had originally seen the bird. I managed some decent phone-scoped video of the bird and it appeared to be mated to a male Pale-bellied Brent, with a hybrid young tagging along with them also.

After several messages on the local birders WhatsApp group it became clear that this was a Northumberland mega and only the second record for the county and the first since 1999!!!!.

What a start to the holiday!, other species enjoyed on this first visit included 2 Mergs, 5 Spotted Redshank, 2 Greenshank, 4 Med Gulls(Adult, 2nd W and 2 1st W), 46 Pinks and 54 Pale-bellied Brents.

The River Coquet, Warkworth

Drake Eider, Seahouses

Eider Pair, Seahouses

Great black-backed Gull, Seahouses

Bamburgh Castle