Farne Islands - 18/7/2022

PUFFIN!

Where would a holiday blog from Northumbria be without a post about the Farne Islands. Craggy islands that lie a few miles off the coast, the Farnes strut around the sea with their majestic cliffs, home to tens of thousands of breeding seabirds. However visiting late in the season, a lot of the seabird colonies had dispersed, and now only a few thousand birds were present, although all the PUFFINS were still around, a bird that's always a fan favourite with their multi coloured beaks.

The Farnes have the largest GREY SEAL colony in the world

With bird flu decimating a lot of seabird colonies along the coast, as if our birds aren't under a lot of pressure anyway, there were no landing parties on any of the islands. Boat trips were going ahead, but they were just out on the water sailing round without alighting. I took the usual Billy Shiels boat, and as luck would have it only seven or so people were on board, giving loads of room to walk about, and change position, handy when you need to take a photo. The boat left Seahouses harbour, where several broods of EIDER were out on the water, growing out of their little brown fluff stage, and headed out onto the water.

PUFFINS nest on the cliff tops

As with this July it was hot, but there was a nice breeze on the sea keeping temperatures low. Conditions on the water were calm as we headed towards the islands. I have been to the islands in June, the peak of the nesting time and usually you get an idea of what to expect as you get closer, the noise, the number of birds on the sea gradually increasing. But today in mid July, things were oddly quiet, no birds about, it was eerily quiet. And then they appeared, the first PUFFINS, small birds flying out of the way of the boat, and the strange people aboard watching them.

Pair of SHAGS

Everyone loves PUFFINS, they are one of those species that even non-birdwacthers love, just because they are so cute. I never liked the name "clowns of the sea", which they are sometimes called, because it doesn't do the species justice. Ok, so they look fairly comic in their movements, but there is a certain grace to their movements. They nest later in the season, so most of the birds were still present today, they disperse at the end of the month.

More SEALS, they just haul out onto the rocks to rest

Less attractive than the puffins, GUILLEMOTS make up the numbers. With dark brown upperparts and a white underside they don't particularly stand out, but when there's fifty thousand of them they certainly make an impact. However today, in mid July most off the birds have nested and fledged young, and have left, so there were only the odd bird, late nesters, or those who have failed and started again. A few RAZORBILLS were around as well, different to guillemots, they have black upperparts, and that large distinctive bill. They nest on the cliffs, as do guillemots, but do so in much smaller numbers.

The guano, bird poo, stains the cliffs white ad have a pungent smell.

As puffins only nest on the top of the islands, and with no guillemots or razorbills about, the cliffs were eerily empty. However, despite the quietness of the abandoned islands, one sense was allowed to develop. The guano, the stains of white feaces that fall down the cliffs, signifying where birds had nested and pooed, gives off a very unique smell, one that's not unpleasant, but always gives that sense of being out among the seabirds. As a result I like the smell very much, a sign of being away from civilisation and its sterility.

PUFFIN!

On the Inner Farne, the largest and flattest island, ARCTIC TERNS were still nesting, with large numbers of birds wheeling through the air, with plenty of screeching from these freewheeling birds. It was a shame we couldn't alight as we used to do, because its hard to take photos of this graceful, yet fast flying and small bird. Also about were SHAGS, nesting on the cliffs, FULMARS, which fly with stiff unbent wings, and KITTWAKES, which are our true, sea gull.

SHAG

Aside from the birds, the Farnes are famous for a certain mammal, another fan favourite, the GREY SEAL. The Farnes are home to the largest grey seal colony in the world. Several thousand of them live around here, spending a large amount of time hauled out on the rocks that jut out of the sea here. Such inquisitive animals, they look right back at you, without the slightest bit of fear of men. 

                                        

After two hours on the water, we returned to Seahouses and dry land. These types of trip, out to the birds, are so enjoyable and such a great way to get away from it all. Birdwatching is such a great way to explore the world, to take you out to places that are really off the beaten track. And although a trip out to the Farnes isn't the most of adventurous of excursions, it is really a means to head out to the edges of civlisation.

Budle Bay - 17/7/2022

Bamburgh Castle

Budle Bay, part of the extensive Lindisfarne National Nature reserve, is a large tidal inlet, where expanses of sand are revealed at low tide. I took a short walk along the east side, starting from Waren Mill and heading all the way to Bamburgh. To begin with it was nice and quiet but by the time you get to Bamburgh there were hoards of dog walkers, with their naughty canines off the lead scaring all the birds away, so it was a quiet sort of day, birdwise.

This RINGED PLOVER had young close by

Being an estuary, WADERS are the order of the day, but despite all the glorious amount of mud to feed on, numbers were fairly low. WHIMBREL were pretty numerous, outnumbering the local CURLEWS. These two waders are very similar, at one point an individual of both species stood side by side. The whimbrel is around two thirds the size of a curlew, with a distinctive eye stripe and a bent rather than curved bill. Its the sort of bird that intermediate birders like to get their teeth into, testing the knowledge of the more experienced bird lover. Aside from the other usual species a GREENSHANK was also present. By the way they were acting, a pair of RINGED PLOVER were nesting in a roped off area. The parents feign injury to lead you away from any young that might be nearby, a handy tactic when you nest on a busy beach. 

The sandy estuary of Budle Bay

As usual for the area MERGANSERS and EIDERS were around in small numbers. A feature of the Bay is the numbers of TERNS that rest on inaccessible sand banks, while others feed on the sea, but this year the local colonies have been decimated by bird flu, and although there were some birds, numbers were much lower than usual.

There was a significant passage of SAND MARTINS, this one having a rest on the beach before heading out to sea

Being one of the first summer migrants to reach our shore, SAND MARTINS nest and raise young relatively early in the year, and by mid July are ready to leave again. Despite the atrocious Spring where I barely saw a single bird, they seem to have had a decent breeding season this summer, in Northumbria anyway. Birds were flying all along the coast, looking to brave it out at sea, and many of the birds were roosting on the sandy beach. Its always good to witness first hand the wonders of migration, to marvel at how something so tiny, something that fits into the palm of your hand, can know and be able to migrate to sub Saharan Africa from our shores and back.

RINGED PLOVER

Bamburgh with its dominant castle ruling the skyline, was the end route, with nearby set-aside fields full of blue chichory. It was a short walk, with not much of note, but I've decided to include it, just because its not one of the most obvious of choices for a blog on Northumbria. Yes, I've been to better places in Northumbria, but I'll give little Budle Bay a shout, just for the hell of it.

Northumbria; Berwick-upon-Tweed - 15-22/7/2022

Being a border region for so long, Northumbria shares many characteristics of its erstwhile conquerors. In the landscape you can see the ruggedness and haunting beauty of Scotland, seen in its many cliffs and islands. And yet it has that civility which reminds me of England, a tameness that offsets its more rougher edges. The Northumbrian Coast is a beautiful stretch of countryside, designated an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, like the Suffolk and North Norfolk Coasts, and is a place I was lucky enough to spend a week in in mid July. The summer season is all about the sea bird cities that populate the many cliffs and offshore islands that sprout up in this area of the country. With mid July being the end of the season, numbers weren't as impressive as they would be in June, but they were still worth a look to catch some late nesters.

The view from my cottage, overlooking the Tweed and the walls of Berwick

I stayed in a cottage south of the river Tweed, facing directly into Berwick, on the outskirts of a town called Spittal. The views were absolutely amazing from there, facing the walls of the town looking down onto the tidal river. The tide came in and out as its done since time immemorial and the birds waxed and waned to the conditions the river created. Berwick is a great little city with many amenities, places of historic interest and nice restaurants so is worth a look in its own right.

SWANS on the Tweed

The main bird feature of Berwick and the Tweed is the large flock of MUTE SWANS which is stationed there. Several hundred birds spend their time here, a big gathering of birds, congregating together to beat the loneliness that besets the none breeders. They don't nest here, swans are common nesters on the river further down, but gather together because they don't have anything else to do. They like to feed on the tidal edge, on the water weeds that grow there and the birds form a long line across the water's edge. The birds would hang out in large herds, enjoying the best feeding places, but will often split up, the birds forming a polite line, a mile long to move onto someplace new.

Under this tower on Spittal beach I did disturb a QUAIL

In my stay here the strangest sighting from the area, and it was pretty strange, was that of a QUAIL, on Spittal beach. As I was walking through the marram grass in the beach dunes, this tiny little bird flew out, stubby wings flapping on overdrive, a bird similar in shape, but half the size, of a partridge. A quail. What it was doing here I don't know, but I'm guessing it was a migrant, as it was too busy an area to nest. Quails are so hard to see, being so small and lovers of thick cover, that this constitutes my first sighting of this tiny little bird. And because it was so strange in its timing, one of the best.

There is a herd of several hundred SWANS on the Tweed by Berwick

Being an estuarine river, the Tweed retreated at low tide to reveal lots of mud, which attracted plenty of WADERS. CURLEWS were plentiful, with a flock peaking at thirty five, as well as a WHIMBREL joining them on the16/7. There were plenty of REDSHANK, OYSTERCATCHERS as you would expect, but nothing out of the ordinary.

The old bridge where the freshwater river meets the salty sea

At this time of year DUCKS are going into eclipse, where the male birds shed their plumage feathers, to regrow them over the late summer. As a result the males appear brown and dowdy, like the females, and are flightless, so gather on large bodies of water for safety. RED BREASTED MERGANSERS dominated with as many as seventy on the river, sometimes in one super flock, other times often in small numbers. A few EIDERS were about both male and female a dull brown, Northumbria, with its rocky coastline is a stronghold of this species.

The walls of Berwick

Even though birds tend to dominate the wildlife, I am a birdwacther after all, the MAMMALS seen on the Tweed must get a worthy mention. From the cottage, on 17/7 I saw that one of the tourist boats was spending a long time standing still out on the sea, just passed the mouth of the river. Now this got me suspicious, why was that boat just hanging out there, and got the 'scope out to take a quick look. And lo and behold a pod of DOLPHINS were swimming around the boat, their long lithe bodies lifting out of the water to reveal their dorsal fin. For ten minutes the dolphins swam around the boat, the people aboard were so lucky. It was just magical. On 16/7 I had an OTTER briefly and far away, however I could make out  its distinctive shape seen swimming in the river. And of course there were GREY SEALS. The Farne Islands has the largest colony in the world, and they're just everywhere along the coast here. They're always such curious animals, watching you watching them, head sticking up from the water, observing you with this animal intelligence you can see deepset in their eyes.

The glorious mud of the Tweed estuary

Even on the outskirts of a busy town nature thrives. The Tweed is such a large habitat, one that moves through an ever changing landscape, and then itself changes completely, becoming brackish before disappearing completely as it enters the sea. And to be able to just look over this river, to just experience the heart beat of life on it, was to feel truly blessed. And it was a superb way to spend a week, and I thoroughly recommend this area of the country to anyone with an interest in nature.

Wolves Wood - 9/7/2022

PURPLE HAIRSTREAKS live high in the canopy, but this little fellow decided to pop down and grace me with his presence

With the year rolling into July, things slow down in our woodlands birdwise. The trees create an impenetrable barrier, while the birds themselves are so much quieter, going round to the business of raising families, with just a few half hearted territorial songs disturbing the quiet woodland air. And the extreme heat doesn't really add to the mix, birds hate intense heat. However despite one type of animal on the wing being subdued, now is the time to see the other, BUTTERFLIES, and especially those specialists of woodland habitat.

A ride through the forest

Wolves Wood is a nice chunk of ancient woodland situated on the Hadleigh road to and from Ipswich. Its a beautiful area of coppice, with rides, open sunny glades and ponds, which attracts a vast wealth of wildlife. Despite it being towards the end of the flowering season, the damp glades were full of MEADOWSWEET, MARSH THSTLES, MARSH BIRDS FOOT TREFOIL and SPEARWORT, providing a riot of colour. HONEYSUCKLE wound its way over and across the various trees, enlivening the open glades with its beautiful scent.

SILVER WASHED FRITILLARY

With such an abundance of nectar growing, Wolves Wood has a good population of BUTTERFLIES, with large numbers of the commoner ones, such as RINGLET, GATEKEEPER, and plenty of WHITES. But its to the scarcer day fliers that my attention was drawn, and there were some good numbers on the wing. SILVER WASHED FRITTILERY were common, a large orange butterfly, with black markings, an inhabitor of this kind of habitat, ancient woodland. The odd butterfly would drop down from the canopy to feed on a bramble fluttering from flower to flower. Stopping under an oak tree, I glanced high into the canopy, and seeing small dark butterflies, I was sure I was watching PURPLE HAIRSTREAKS. Lo and behold, one flew down to my height to pause on a leaf, wings closed, but eventually to open them to reveal its dark purple colourings. The last ancient woodland specialist today was a WHITE ADMIRAL, which I was only to get a brief glimpse of flying past me, maybe a metre above my height. Such joys on a hot sunny day.

A common LARGE WHITE, but just as beautiful

Just as beautiful as birds, butterflies are another indicator of the state of the countryside. In such well managed woodlands as Wolves Wood, there are huge numbers of them fluttering around, but away from areas like this, their numbers are small, just the odd one here or there. Gone are the days of clouds of butterflies, or even the large numbers I used to see on the buddleias when I was a kid. But all is not lost, as with sympathetic management, their numbers can bounce back fairly easily. All we need to do is to deindustrialise our countryside and let nature just breathe.

Cley Marshes - 30/6/2022

A nearly fledged AVOCET chick

Having visited the BEE EATERS at Trimingham near Cromer in the morning I had time to visit Cley Marshes nearby. Being Cley and the start of Autumn, migrating waders were the order of the day, birds that are much easier to find on the lazy return migration than in the rush of Spring.

MUTE SWAN

Its a strange quirk  in nature that the Autumn season begins in mid June, a time of high summer, but this is the time when WADERS start to return from their breeding grounds. There are different reasons for different species arriving back so early, for the RUFFS, the male has no part in raising chicks, or maybe for the SPOTTED REDSHANKS, they are mainly failed breeders. At this time of year the birds look resplendent in their breeding plumage, as for a few months over the summer these birds bedeck themselves in ostentatious plumages, in stark contrast to the greys and browns of winter. The birds were mainly located on the freshwaters scrapes, Simmonds Scrape and Pat's Pool in the centre of the reserve, and the brackish Arnold's Marsh. located just behind the shingle bank, from East Wall.

View of Pat's Pool, the main scrape at the centre of Cley

Perhaps the most flamboyant of waders is the RUFF, of which there were three on Pat's Pool. At this time of year the birds are males, and the birds are bedecked like the ruffs of Elizabethan nobles (which I am sure is how they got their name). Each male is unique and today one was outfitted with a natty black and white neck plumage. There was a SPOTTED REDSHANK as well, also on Pat's Pool, which at this time of year looks so unlike a common redshank, its nearest relative, its unbelievable. The bird was plumaged in jet black with white spots which give it its name. A GOLDEN PLOVER on Simmond's Scrape was black chested with a gold back, with three more on Arnold's Marsh. Brick red BLACK TAILED GODWITS were on the Serpentine near Arnold's Marsh with a GREENHANK. Slightly more dowdy, being a darkish brown and white was a GREEN SANDPIPER on Pat's Pool, and two CURLEW were on Arnold's Marsh. This was quite a good haul for the fluttering start of Autumn, but gradually the number of migrating waders will build up until it reaches its peak in late August and early September.

REDSHANK on the Arnold's Marsh sign

REDSHANK are pleasantly common at Cley, the rough grazed fields which make up a large chunk of the reserve provides plenty of home for them to nest in. Many chicks of various ages could be seen feeding round the edges of the various pools, and there would have been many more hidden in the grass. The adults, of course were very noticeable, and although they are only brown in plumage, they have the most haunting of calls, which really provides atmosphere to these marshes. A few very late LAPWING young were about and a small number of nearly fledged AVOCET young were on the various pools. There were also OYSTERCATCHERS and RINGED PLOVERS on the various pools and shingle stacks on the reserve.

SPOONBILL on Pat's Pool, with attendant LAPWING

Being North Norfolk SPOONBILLS were plentiful, with one resident on Pat's Pool, while at least five flew over. They can be easily separated from the similar sized LITTLE EGRET in flight, by the fact the spoonbill flies with its neck out-stretched, while the egret tucks its neck in like a heron. Apparently the spoonbills have successfully nested in land just off the reserve, I think in an area of trees near the start of East Wall. With so much destruction going on with our wildlife, its just so heartening to hear of a bird that has actually recolonised our country and increased.

AVOCET, Pat's Pool

GULLS and TERNS don't really nest at Cley, but they do in other places across the North Norfolk coast, but there was still a decent selection on show here today. Five LITTLE GULLS were on Arnold's Marsh, with a flock of 70 non-breeding SANDWICH TERNS also there. A flotilla of five LITTLE TERNS flew in from the sea and flew east along just behind the shingle stack, its always a delight to see this delicate bird.

BLACK HEADED GULL

DUCKS were relatively absent from Cley with various broods of SHELDUCK of different ages the only breeding record. Some TEAL had returned to spend the Autumn and eventually the winter here and a WIGEON was on the North Scrape, but that was it really.

SWALLOWS were nesting in the hides

The summer months are a time of intense energy for our smaller birds, for whom its still the nesting season. The Birds are busy raising families in the bountiful landscape that make up the Marshes. In the various hides that look over the scrapes SWALLOWS were nesting within, flying in and out of the open slats, returning to nests high above your head right as you watched the birds outside. BEARDED TITS could be heard in the extensive reedbeds, their metallic "pinging" call could be heard in snatches as the birds would fly between reed stems providing brief glances. REED WARBLERS were very plentiful, seen allover the reserve, this plain brown bird could be seen going to and fro from their nest embedded deep within the reeds.

MALLLARD ducklings

As usual it was an excellent couple of hours spent birding the splendiferous birdwatching mecca of Cley Marshes. Its so good just to check into these places to see what's happening in this neck of the woods. North Norfolk is such a great location just to visit really, at any time of year there is always something of interest to see. For mid June what I saw was better than expected, although the birds recorded were typical of early Autumn waders, you don't often get to see them all at once in the same place. 

BEE EATERS at Trimingham - 30/6/2022

If you make a list of the most beautiful of European birds, surely the BEE EATER must rank highly. Combining in all the colours of the rainbow within their plumage, these are exquisite birds to look at. They are common enough birds in the warmer parts of the continent but are fairly rare in the UK, appearing in the summer months usually on migration in late May. They are even rarer nesting birds with maybe half a dozen records in the last few decades. So it was a surprise when seven birds turned up at a disused quarry near Cromer at the start of June.

One of the most stunning of birds to see in Europe, like a flying rainbow

BEE EATERS are colonial nesters, which means they can only nest if others of their species are around them, and they like loose soil which means they usually nest in quarries. The last nesting attempt was in Nottinghamshire in 2017, and I wasn't able to go, being too far away and having too many commitments. So with news of the birds turning up in a close location, I had to have a look. Rather than keep the nesting site secret, the RSPB decided to open up the site to visitors, with a car park and viewing area, allowing people to have a look at these gorgeous birds.

The overgrown, disused quarry where the bee eaters had taken up residence. There was nothing particularly special about the quarry, there are hundreds like this throughout the country.

The quarry was an old sand one, overgrown with scrub, with some loose areas of cliffs which the bee eaters were nesting in. It was set within a nice area of rolling countryside, with hedgerows and copses dominating the land. A small colony of SAND MARTINS were present, with LINNETS, WHITETHROATS and singing SKYLARKS also around.

The BEE EATERS, centre two birds on the top telephone wire, were never close so unfortunately I didn't really get any good pics

Seven bee eaters were present but only five were in view at one time. The birds were not close, they were mainly perched on telephone wires in the distance, and you needed a telescope to see their resplendent colours. The birds would often launch into the air to catch a large insect on the wing, which they would gobble down when they landed again. At one point one of the pairs was seen copulating so its hopeful these birds might stay to nest. Time will tell if the birds are successful in their nesting attempts, but with global warming making the temperature of our country more accommodating, the nesting attempts will only get more frequent.