One of the attractions of Northumberland is the many castles that are present along its stretch of coast. With the area being a battlefield between the English and the Scots, many large fortresses were built and fought over by both side. Of these castles, some are ruins, whilst others remain as private residences. Bamburgh is one of the latter, all polished up and glistening, the building casting a majesty over the area. That is where my interest in castles end, as a part of the general countryside, something wild like its cliffs, I have no passion for suits of armour and bone china, the stuff that lies within.
OYSTERCATCHERS resting on the rocks
I walked along the beach from Bamburgh over to Budle Bay, which is part of the Lindisfarne National Nature reserve, where at the right time a huge area of intertidal mudflats forms, with often vast numbers of waders present. On the other hand at the wrong time its just a large expanse of sand. Unfortunately I visited at the wrong time and it was a big area of nothingness, with few birds.
Inner Farne Island, sometime home of many seabirds, at this time of year an empty rock in the sea
The walk took in busy sandy beaches, rocky points and the bay. The usual WADERS were present and there were several flocks of TERNS resting away from walkers. Out in the bay there were small numbers of WADERS, with a couple of BARWITS and GREENSHANK, the only different species from what I had seen before on the trip.
Budle Bay
Out at sea there were big numbers of TERNS present, the birds nest in the area in large numbers and then spend their time out at sea when they finish, before migrating most of the way across the world. With them was a small flotilla of LITTLE TERNS, very late for this species, which is a late returner, early leaver type of bird and nice to get a view of them in their brief time on this island.
Harkess Rocks
After that walk I laboured on to Seahouses, a nice fishing village where in the right season people can embark on trips to the Farne Islands. Along the way, in a grassy field was a small lake called Monk's House Pool, which held a few Teal and some LAPWING round the edges, but nothing much else. Unfortunately Seahouses was heaving with tourists, staycationers like me, and there was no place to even park, so I headed further along the coast to Beadnall, again another fishing town popular with tourists. There I walked along the bay, a large sweeping expanse of a beach, but with all the tourists, the dog walkers and surfers, there was little room for birds, which was basically the same news from pretty much everywhere I went in Northumberland.
The area is beautiful to behold, but sometimes its hard to fully capture that when there are large numbers of people all competing to take a little bit of Northumbria away with them. It was a Sunday so there was more hustle and bustle than usual, but sometimes it can feel like too much. Its easier to fully appreciate an area when you have discovered it yourself, and not just another selfie among millions.
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