Birding Northumberland

Stonechat

Black Tailed Godwit

Snipe

Common Tern

Oystercatcher

Spoonbill

Little Gull

Linnet

Garganey

Gadwall

You just have to go birding in Northumberland, the above pictures were taken during a weeks birding on the Northumberland Coast in which I visited the following reserves:

Farne Islands, Coquet Island, Hauxley Nature Reserve, East Chevington, Cresswell Pond, Druridge Pools, Monk House Pond, Newton Links and Long Nanny NT Reserve (seasonal).

Rosette Tern

A trip around RSPB Coquet Island for the rare Rosette Tern produced the pictures above. A very misty dull day still gave me a glimse of this rare tern and another tick to my list.

Farne Islands Part 5 - The Shag

The Shag - To see this bird at close range really shows you the shiny green plumage you never see when the bird is either flying past or fishing from a far on the sea in winter. Much smaller than the Cormarant the shag shows elegance and grace as they sit on their nests high on top of the stacks.

Farne Islands Part 4 - The Eider

Whilst waiting for the boat to take me across to the Farne Islands I filled in my time taking pictures of these Eider Ducks in Seahouses Harbour. I was pleased to see the different plumages the Eiders where showing, and it was great to see some families of this beautiful sea duck.

Farne Islands Part 5 - The Shag - coming soon!

Kingfisher

Kingfisher - Found a pair of nesting kingfishers at a disclosed site. The male would take its turn with incubating the eggs when the female went off for a feed which I found interesting. The light conditions were very poor, hence the quality of the images.

Farne Islands Part 3 - The Sandwich Tern

The Sandwich Tern - Quite a large nesting colony of Sandwich Terns on Inner Farne, not as aggresive as the Arctic Tern colony, but very noisy and busy bringing back sand eels for their young. The largest tern out of the 5 species that frequent our shores through the summer.

Farne Islands Part 4 - The Eider coming soon!