Lindisfarne: days 3, 4&5

After watching the Pink-footed Geese going into their roost at Budle Bay on Tuesday night (more information here) I was very excited to see them leave on Wednesday morning. I left the cottage at first light, and walked up to the watchpoint. It was still very dark, and the bay was silent and still. I waited until the sun appeared from below the horizon - the first birds to stir were the gulls, which left the bay in loose groups. They flew off in all directions to wherever they would spend the day.

As the sun rose and more light was cast upon the bay I could begin counting the waterfowl on the mudflats. There were hundreds of Teal packed around the stream running through the bay, and at least 50 Curlew on the flats. These were accompanied by other waterfowl such as Wigeon, Shelduck, Redshank and Oystercatchers. But soon the geese started to lift from their roost - they began leaving in small flocks but soon were flying off in groups of hundreds. I estimated the size of each flock as it left - overall reaching a total of c.3'920 birds. The last two flocks to leave each contained at least 1'000 birds - these 'mega-flocks' making an absolute racket as they passed over! Unfortunately, it ended with another four gunshots ringing out across the bay.

Later in the morning I headed down the coast with mum. We were heading towards Stag Rocks, a site just north of Bamburgh. We walked through the dunes in the cold wind, stopping once to count a group of waders near the mouth of Budle Bay. This included 22 Bar-tailed Godwit, a Turnstone and 2 Curlew. We then continued south until we eventually reached the rocks, where we were greeted by a group of 5 Common Scoter very close in. A scan of the sea then revealed another 100+ very far out, as well as 7+ Eider. On the rocks there were plenty of waders, the obvious highlight being 40+ Purple Sandpiper, but a single Grey Plover was very nice too. However the biting cold soon forced us back to our cottage - and with rain and snow coming in we stayed indoors for the afternoon.

However, I did leave the warmth of the cottage at 5pm to watch the Pink-footed Geese coming back into their roost. I had plenty of time to count the birds on the flats before the geese themselves came in - these included 3 Shoveler, 17+ Bar-tailed Godwit, 90 Lapwing and 40+ Wigeon. When the geese arrived, they came all in one flock of 2'000+ from the north. Fortunately there were no gunshots this time, and after they had settled down to roost I returned back to the cottage.

The next morning I decided to head to Fenham Flats again - dad dropped me off in Elwick and I walked through the farmland to the hide. While I was walking through the second field, a large number of geese lifted off from a farm about a kilometre north. I stood and watched them fly over - however, a small group landed in the third field. They were Pink-footed Geese, probably some of the birds that have been roosting at Budle Bay. As I watched them, more geese started landing in the field. Large groups were appearing out of the sky - it was amazing.

Before I knew it, there were at least 500 Pink-footed Geese in the field in front of me. Amongst them were around 50 Barnacle Geese - though, despite searching, I couldn't pick out a Bean/White-fronted Goose. However there was a partially leucisctic Pink-footed which had a mainly white bely, which was quite interesting.

I watched the geese on the field for about 20 minutes before they all lifted off and flew back towards where they had came. I headed to the hide that overlook the flats - there were lots of birds feeding or resting on the mud. The only species that I could reliably count were the Shelduck - in total there were 251. However there were also lots of Knot, Dunlin, Redshank, Oystercatcher and other species.

However, there wasn't that much action from the hide so I left quite quickly. On the fields behind a large number of waders had built up - particularly Curlews. A huge group were feeding on the fields alongside Lapwing and Golden Plover. Unfortunately Curlews are declining rapidly at present, most likely due to reduced breeding success.

In the afternoon I went on a trip to Ford and Etal with the family. We walked through Ford Moss NR to get to Routin Linn, a beautiful waterfall. The nature reserve was very quiet with very few birds - the highlight was a Kestrel hunting over the heather. However it was a lovely walk in amazing landscape.

On the way home me and mum went to watch the geese. One flock came into the bay, however they left to roost somewhere else as the tide was high.

The next morning, me and mum went to Holy Island. We decided to walk along the north shore as I thought the rocks there would be good for birding. We walked north from the car park through the dunes - as we neared the sea, a bird lifted out of the vegetation. It was a falcon - with the brief views I had before it disappeared I believed it was a Merlin, my first of the year!

When we reached the shore itself we were the only people there. We were on a sandy beach, and started heading towards the rocks to the east. There were lots of Redshanks about, as well as Oystercatchers on the rocks. I did a scan of the sea and realised there were lots of birds there - so I set up the scope. A flock of 13 Goldeneye were very close in, amongst them being two Long-tailed Duck! They were very close, giving great views - my fifth ever and fifth this week!

While I was scanning the sea I noticed a bird flying quickly low over the water - dark above light below. On closer inspection it appeared to be a Peregrine. I couldn't believe it! I took a couple of record shots to make sure it definitely was. Another year tick and the first I had found fully independently.

On the rocks I also picked out 22 Turnstone. On the seaweed on the beach was a Rock Pipit (of nominate race petrosus), which was a first for mum. As we walked along the coast we came to a lovely little bay where we had our lunch - running around on the shore was a group of Sanderlings. As we ate a Fulmar came to land on the cliffs near us, where I believe they nest. A Brent Goose (subspecies hrota) flew past to the east and, much to my surprise, a Red-throated Diver passed very far out heading northwest. We then continued on to a rocky outcrop slightly further east where we added two Red-breasted Merganser to our count before heading back to the car park along the Straight Lonnen.

As we headed back to our cottage we stopped at Beal Point. There were lots of birds about here - a Little Egret came out of the salt marsh, while a group of 15 Pale-bellied Brent Geese were feeding on the mudflats alongside 5 Shelduck.

However the definite highlight of this stop was the flock of 30+ Twite - a first for me. They were very flighty! Despite not staying in one place for more than 30 seconds at a time, we still managed good views of them.

After this stop we drove to Seahouses to pick up dad, who had been on a walk. While we were there I was given some time to walk around the harbour, where a group of Eiders gave amazing views. This also meant for a good photo opportunity...