Having enjoyed a very enjoyable few days on the Northumberland coast, back in October 2020, Gareth B, Dan W and I vowed to return for another autumn stint.
This year, it was time to return, in the hope of some easterlies, perhaps a decent fall and maybe even a few goodies - we don't ask for much!
We set off on the afternoon of Friday 06/10 and after a fairly steady, trouble-free drive, we arrived at our nice little Airbnb cottage at Beal, just a couple of miles from Holy Island. It was tipping it down with rain and was expected to continue well into the following day. However the wind was swinging NE overnight and with high pressure over Scandinavia, we were optimistic we could be in for a decent drop of birds!
Day 1 - Saturday 07/10
As predicted, our first full day of the trip was challenging, with persistent rain ALL day! As we opened the door of our cottage, in the early morning darkness, Redwing calls could be heard. We made our way across the causeway onto Holy Island and were also soon encountering more groups of Redwing overhead - good signs! Sporting a full set of waterproofs and the camera wisely left in the car, we began walking a loop out of Chare Ends car park, back along the road and round the back north, eventually to the Willows at the top of the Straight Lonnen. Good numbers of Redwings and Song Thrush were grounded and overhead, with every bush seemingly holding thrushes. A Jack Snipe zipped past us through the dunes, which was a nice surprise and further evidence of birds arriving. A warbler gave us the real run around for sometime, skulking away in an isolated bush - eventually revealing itself to be a Blackcap.
Pausing at the Straight Lonnen Willows provided an impressive sight, as wave after wave of mainly Redwings and the odd Fieldfare fell out of the sky above our heads. It was such a spectacle!
We made our way back towards the village, adding Ring Ouzel and Brambling to the trip list. It was time for some respite from the rain and so we headed for a cafe, via the hand dryers in the public toilets!
The finding of an Arctic Warbler near the village, provided us with encouragement that good birds were out there. The bird appeared to have moved into the village and it seemed likely it would've ended up in the Sycamores along the main road, just a minute or so from the cafe. We went to take a look, hoping I could connect with my first lifer of the trip! After sometime, Dan impressively picked it up, occasionally seen moving around in the windswept canopy. After sometime, Gareth and I briefly saw it too, but the views we got were rubbish and certainly not 'tickable' views. After no further sign for sometime, we left for the Snook, slightly frustrated!
The Snook was also full of Redwing and Song Thrush, while a wander out to Half Moon Slack, did produce a Pied Flycatcher, keeping a low profile in a fairly small isolated willow and a Jack Snipe sprung up from by Dan's feet. A Chiffchaff calling vaguely like an Iberian got our attention, however in reality it was just a Chiff.
We made our way back towards the village and took a wander to the school and then around to the priory and Vicar's Garden. Dan and I scaled the small cliff, down to the shoreline, utilising the rough, muddy rope provided! Gareth made the sensible decision of walking along the road!
The first couple of trip Red-Breasted Mergansers flew past, while the shoreline held a few waders, such as Ringed Plover, Turnstone and Oystercatcher. Our first Yellow-Browed Warbler piped up in the Vicar's Garden and provided some really nice views. A handful of Brambling also went over.
We were wet through and the light was quite dim, so we called it a day to retire to our nice warm cottage and get everything on some radiators! Before we did an unexpected House Martin, gave us a brief bit of excitement as it zoomed low around the village in the fading light.
Day 2 - Sunday 08/10
With our clothes and optics suitably dried (ish!) overnight, our second day promised much, with the hope that there were plenty of birds to be found.
If we had designs of the rain relenting, we were very much mistaken, however not on the same scale as the previous day!
We arrived early at Chare Ends car park once again - the tide again favouring a us and allowing a full dawn-dusk birding day. Opening the car door, was music to our ears, with sounds of many Redwing, more Fieldfares and Bramblings!
A walk into the village clearly illustrated an arrival of far more variety than the previous day. The sycamores along the road held good numbers of Goldcrests, while the 'shreeping' calls of Bramblings a constant. We carried on to the Straight Lonnen as a steady stream of thrushes arriving, mainly Redwings, however more Fieldfares and the odd Ring Ouzel thrown in for good measure. A Woodcock also wizzed past near to the priory.
We made our way up to the Straight Lonnen willows, sheltering from a sudden, extremely heavy rain shower. Several Chiffchaff and Goldcrests were residing here, as well as a couple of Stonechats and several Reed Buntings. A Yellow-Browed Warbler had been seen here earlier and eventually revealed it's presence with a few calls, though remained out of sight. All the while, birds continued to arrive, with the sky full of the sounds of arriving Redwings, Song Thrushes, Fieldfares and Bramblings.
We returned to the village for brunch at one of the cafes. Having fuelled up, we decided to have another crack at pinning down this Arctic Warbler - after all with the conditions how they were, it was highly unlikely it had departed0 It was surely there somewhere! Unfortunately, there was no sign, however we did remind ourselves of the call once more on my phone, just in case.
We carried on to the car park at Chare Ends to stop off at the car for something. While I stood about, a sharp, zipping call started emanating from a shrub closeby, by the road. We looked at each other and having literally been listening to the call on my phone no more than 10 minutes previously, we knew exactly what it was - Arctic Warbler!! We purposefully headed over in the direction of the bush and after a short while there was movement and out it popped for a few split seconds. But this was enough to take in that long thin supercilium, wing bar and dark olivey-green tone. It soon moved to the car park hedge at the east end, where we tracked for while, before losing it in the depths of the foliage. At this point a couple of vocal Great Spotted Woodpeckers appeared from the direction of the Straight Lonnen, moving towards the village. A notable for the isle!
Eventually, the Arctic Warbler reappeared, further down and we enjoyed further good views in the company of a few other birders, who had picked up the news we'd put out of it's reappearance. It was super pleasing to pin it down and while it wasn't a find for us, it did provide a nice bit of stardust to the fall, as well as being a lifer too for Gareth and I!
We headed back round the village looking for more migrants. Dan had a distant Merlin, a couple of Twite, a Woodcock, Common Sand and again, the Yellow-Browed in the Vicar's garden. Gareth and I had a fruitless attempt at a reported Common Rosefinch, at the start of the Straight Lonnen. We were consoled with the Spotted Redshank that was again, closeby on the flooded field. With the tide out, there were a stack load of Ringed Plovers by the harbour, as well as a Red-Throated Diver.
We then headed back to the car, deciding on finishing the day around the Snook. We paused on route to enjoy the vast flock of Golden Plover, while a scan also revealed among other things, an adult Med Gull out on a sand bar, a few Razorbill, Eiders and lots of waders including several Sanderling.
Conditions at the Snook were somewhat calmer than the previous day, although numbers of birds here were far smaller now. We all ended up going our separate ways, as I took a slow purposeful look at the plantation, Gareth around the other garden and Dan off into the dunes towards Half Moon Slack.
The plantation held a Blackcap, a Chiffchaff, quite a few Goldcrests and after a while, a pretty elusive Yellow-Browed Warbler, found by someone else previously. Another thing on my mind was the possibility of Short-eared Owls. Really good numbers had been turning up along the east coast that day, with several reports along the Northumberland coast too. What I didn't expect, was how quickly that thought would turn into reality!
I decided to head up to the top of the dunes for a scan - an ideal vantage point across the dunes and also the beach. No more than 10 minutes later. I was alerted to the sounds of gulls calling loudly from the vast expanse of beach to my right. A group were flying around on the beach, seemingly chasing something. That something was a Short-eared Owl, presumably having just completed the gruelling journey across the North Sea!
The gulls eventually left the owl alone as it continued towards me and the dunes. Luckily, the owl chose to enter the dunes at the exact point I was positioned, affording brilliant views while I sat crouched down, looking into it glaring yellow eyes as it cruised past me! A brilliant encounter.
I quickly got the guys onto it and sat there very satisfied with what I had seen. A moment or two later, it or another SEO appeared out of nowhere and again came unbelievably close, as almost to inspect what or who I was! lt let out a grunt as it stared down at me, literally no more than 15 feet over my head - in fact it was too close to focus the camera on it. Mental!
After a brief sighting of a Rouzel and a flock of Pintail in-off, I joined up again with Dan and Gareth. Gareth had, had presumably the other reported Yellow-Brow in this area, in the garden.
A very satisfactory end, to a bloody good day's birding producing great views of my first Arctic Warbler, lots of thrushes and Bramblings, a few more Ring Ouzels
Day 3 - Monday 09/10
With the winds now firmly west/south west and the sun finally out, the flow of birds across the North Sea would surely cease. However, there was certainly still every chance of finding birds on the back of of the previous day's conditions.
The tides continued to allow a full day on the isle and so we repeated the previous two days routine of parking up at Chare Ends. Before heading into the village, we came across a couple of Tree Sparrows in the vicinity of the car park - a pleasant surprise. The walk in was brightened up by some lovely views of Brambling in the sycamores along the main drag.
We wandered down to the harbour, following up one of two reports of Little Bunting in this area. Gareth picked out another Yellow-browed Warbler, that slightly unexpectedly popped up in one of the gardens. Other than another Great Spotted Woodpecker sighting, it was an unsuccessful vigil at the harbour. However we did hear news of a Radde's Warbler towards the start of the Straight Lonnen, so we made our way over.
As we approached the start of the Straight Lonnen, we were kindly ushered through a 5-bar wooden gate by the landowner and into the field. This allowed us to view the sunny side of the hedge, where the Radde's had been and also where the Arctic Warbler had relocated to also.
We joined a group of birders who were watching the Arctic Warbler. It was showing really nicely, flicking it's way around the outside edge of the hawthorn hedge, calling fairly frequently too. Cracking to enjoy it again!
The Radde's had not been seen since first being found, however given that there was plenty of suitable habitat around, it was probably skulking closeby!
Five grey geese flew over our heads calling before we departed the field. We were chatting away with a few of the local birders and didn't think too much of them, assuming they were Pinkfoots - certainly sounded like Pinkfeet. So it was a little annoying to soon see a report on the news services of 5 apparent Taiga Beans heading over. In hindsight, wished I'd grilled them a little more! We decided on a big walk up the Crooked Lonnen, round to the Straight Lonnen and back to the village next - but not before a coffee stop in the village!
It was very pleasant, but not overly exciting on the bird front. A Goosander was about along the north shore, Razorbill, Red-Throated Diver and Shag were offshore, while Little Grebe and Coot were new for the trip, at the Lough. A couple of Rook went over, apparently not overly common on the isle.
Beyond the Lough a Short-eared Owl appeared, flying past us and up over the dunes and out of sight. Several of the isolated bushes on the edge of the dunes still held quite a few Goldcrest, Song Thrushes and Redwings.
Towards the end of our loop, the Radde's Warbler had pleasingly been refound along the Straight Lonnen. We collectively crouched down and were able to enjoy some nice views as it flicked around in the lower reaches of the hedge, revealing that apricot bum, thick, pale buff supercilium and mottled ear coverts. Do love a Radde's! A Treecreeper also shared the same bit of hedge, but views were rubbish and couldn't make out whether it was a 'northern' or not.
We felt it was time to head off the isle and try somewhere different and so decided to look at some Barnacle Geese over at Fenham Flats, perhaps with the chance of bumping into the recent Red-Breasted Goose.
On our way, we stopped to look at some waders out on the mud. This brought our attention to our first two trip Wheatears, foraging along the rocky, seaweedy shoreline.
We parked up by a farm and headed through a couple of cattle fields, to enjoy the spectacle of Barnacle Geese at Fenham Flats - escorted by a handful of inquisitive cows! The walk up produced our first Yellowhammers of the trip, as well as a surprise flyover Whimbrel, calling as it headed off fairly high inland.
The Barnacle Geese were impressive, with 100s gracing the fields with the back-up drop of Holy Island. A small group of Pinkfoots also joined the scrum.
An entertaining way to end the day before heading back to the cottage.
Day 4 - Tuesday 10/10
With conditions now pretty benign for incoming migrants, we decided to have a slightly more leisurely start to the day, before hitting up Stag Rocks, Bamburgh for a look at the sea - always a picturesque spot to enjoy, whatever birds are about!
Always a pleasure to see Purple Sandpipers, with a reasonably-sized flock kicking about. A Kingfisher along the rocky shoreline was the most out of the ordinary thing seen, together with Rock Pipit, a few groups of Common Scoter, a handful of Red-Throated Divers, Razorbills, Guillemot and Shag.
We next headed back along the coast to Budle Bay for a scan, at the point that the tide was pushing birds in.
Always a good variety of birds on offer here - best being a smart 1w Caspian Gull, that spent an age sat out at distance on a sand bar, before coming in much closer.
Other birds included the first 3 Black-Tailed Godwit of the trip, a Ruff and a good number of other waders, including Knot, Grey Plover, Barwit, loads of Redshank, Dunlin and Curlew. Plenty of wildfowl too, particularly Teal & Shoveler.
Monks House Pool, back the other side of Bamburgh, had in recent weeks held an American Golden Plover and so we decided to give the Goldies over there a grilling, before heading to Seahouses Harbour. There were indeed tonnes of Golden Plover in the field behind the pool, but we failed to find any yanks, in very tricky, blustery conditions!
The lure of scampi, chips and then ice cream as a late lunch in Seahouses, was too much to resist. Which we devoured down by the harbour, sat with a few of it's common, avian residents!
With the tide favourable for the remainder of the day, we made our way back north to enjoy some waders along the Holy Island causeway.
A Peregrine caused havoc among the waders and wildfowl and delivered an amazing encounter as it relentlessly pursued and eventually took a Dunlin.
Driving onto the island, we spotted a group of sleepy swans, near the turning to the Snook. It was soon clear these were a newly arrived group of Whoopers - 17 ish!
We wandered around the Snook, but it was generally very quiet. Although I did get quite the surprise, as a Jack Snipe sprung up from my feet, just as I was attempting to take a quick pee, in a quiet secluded spot by the edge of the beach. Did make me laugh!
The day was completed out on the Straight Lonnen, looking for raptors and owls, however a Sparrowhawk and a couple of Kestrels were the best we could muster!
Day 5 - Wednesday 11/10
Our last day, however before we left, it was only right we paid the island one more visit.
It was pretty windy, but the village was bathed in sunshine. We endured another unsuccessful attempt at Little Bunting by the harbour and there was no sign of a reported Dusky Warbler nearby, finding only 2-3 Chiffs.
The Radde's Warbler, did however give us probably our best views yet, as we crouched down along the Straight Lonnen. It was really nice to hear it calling for the first time and amazingly, we actually had both it and the Arctic Warbler calling from the same bush at one point. The Arctic stayed out of sight in what were pretty windy conditions - it can be heard here. Presumably the same Treecreeper from the other day, gave better views, clinching it as a standard macrodactyla, rather than a 'northern'.
The last of our birding, before heading home, was over at Fenham Flats, for one more fix of geese, as well as a look at the flats themselves. There were plenty of Barnacles, however again no sign of the Red-Breasted Goose.
The tide was coming in quite quickly but before it did, there were an impressive number of birds in the 'bay'. The majority were Wigeon, but also quite a few Shelduck and common wader species. A fly-by female Goldeneye was the first of the trip.
That drew to a close another magical few days in and around Holy Island - always a pleasure, never a chore!
Great read, John. Some cracking birds there!
ReplyDelete