30th
Dec. It was surprisingly mild for the
time of year and apart from some grey and threatening cloud we passed under on
our way north, the skies were clear. Our
first stop at Fenham Flats was to be very different in terms of temperature
than last winter when we were here in thick frost and biting temperatures. Our first birds of any significance were seen
as we walked towards the hide, these were Brent Geese (pale bellied), and not
too far distant. We spent a good bit of
time outside of the hide and watched what appeared to be a movement of Skylarks
overhead, and photographed the geese as best we could. At some point Sam picked up the distant call
of Peregrine Falcon, but we never had a sighting of the bird.
Brent Geese
Once in the
hide we found the sea fairly quiet of birds but did pick up a small raft of
Long Tailed Duck in the distance, Red breasted Mergansers and Eiders. A flock of Dunlin in flight put on a bit of
display, More Brent Geese flew in to feed and a few Wigeon also landed at the
tide-line. To the north there were large
numbers of Shelduck and many Dunlin and Curlew, and amongst them we counted
into double figures Grey Plover and the odd Knot. Some birds were just too distant to make out
with the scope. Other waders seen
included Oystercatcher, Turnstone, Black-tailed Godwit and Redshank. We left for Stag Rock only because we would
run out of time if we had not. Befoe we left we had a Queen Bee checking out the area. There can
be great birding in winter light but the days are so short.
Brent Geese
We were
surprised to find so many people on the beach at Bamburgh and it wasn’t easy to
park. A walk along the beach brought us
little other than Pied Wagtail and Rock Pipit.
It seems the number of folks about had disturbed the birds and this was
confirmed when we met AJ who informed us that the Purple Sandpipers had flown
north having been disturbed by a dog walker.
Nevertheless, we had good sightings of close in Long Tailed Ducks and
eventually Common Scoter. A single
Slavonian Grebe was seen briefly nearby a flock of Eider Duck. Other birds seen included Shag and Guillemot
and over the fields to the east Kestrel and a mixed flock of Linnet and Twite,
but I can’t say I personally found Twite amongst the flock. Conditions here today were far calmer than on
our last visit.
Brent Geese
On the way
to Seahouses we took a cursory glance at Monk House Pool where we saw little of
note. After lunch we decided to try for
the Bean Geese reported nearby Seahouses.
We found large numbers of Pink footed Geese but no Bean Geese were
identified.
We decided
to end our day with a bracing walk at Long Nanny thinking we might still have a
chance of finding the Shore Larks even though the light was beginning to fade a
little. We found no Shore Larks but had
an excellent walk in a wonderful atmosphere now that we almost had the area to
ourselves with all other visitors making their way home. It was a very pleasant way to end the day and
we did see a pair of Stonechat and a Little Grebe.
Having ended
the day with long Nanny almost to ourselves and in peace with the world I’m
mindful of one of the best books that I read in 2018 which was The Outermost
House by Henry Beston (1888-1968).
Beston spent a year of his life in the 1920s living a solitary life in a
beach house on Cape Cod. We should use all
our senses when with nature, although how many people can say that they do I
wonder? Well, whether you do or you
don’t I would suggest that anyone would benefit from reading the Outermost
House. My copy has already been shared with
two other people who thoroughly enjoyed it.
I usually
end the year with a recap of lots of experiences during the previous twelve
months. Well, not this time. I don’t wish to become predictable! I will say however that my best experiences
of the 2018 were during the two weeks I spent touring with Sam on the Out
Hebrides. The year has not all been
plain sailing for me, but I am not going to make any complaints.
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