Window to Wildlife

 We were pretty gutted to find our planned boat trip to Coquet Island to see the nesting Roseate Terns was cancelled due to northerly winds and strong swell. However, as we had planned to explore some other sites in the southern part of the county, we headed in that direction anyway. The boat trip was scheduled to leave from Amble, so we drove here anyway, hoping that a stray Roseate Tern may have popped into the harbour, but sadly only Common Ternswere found.  We continued onto Lower Hauxley reserve, comprising of a lake with five viewing hides and a woodland walk. A target species here was Tree Sparrow and this was quickly seen on the feeders in the car park, and subsequently at various points around the reserve. Apparently there are over 300 birds around the reserve, so our desperate search for this species was a source of bemusement to the staff. There were good numbers of regular waders, geese and ducks around the reserve as well as terns - but sadly no roeseates! A Ruddy...

 On the last day of our holiday, we crossed the border into Scotland and visited the scenic promontory of St Abb’s Head. The weather was fantastic and the scenery and views spectacular, much more reminiscent of Cornwall than the flat, rolling sand dunes of Northumberland. Mire Loch  The cliffs were lined with birds - as well as the usual suspects from Northumberland of auks and Kittiwakes, there were good numbers of Gannets loafing on top of the rock pillars. We were able to get exceptionally close to some of the birds and a nesting Shag with young was a particularly pleasing find. It was also good to study the herring gull chicks, as we are used to seeing much bigger juvenile birds. They were extremely well camouflaged against the guano covered rocks. Herring Gull with offspring Gannets and Guillemots Razorbills Shag and family Also of note today was our first ever sighting of the Chimney Sweep moth, a rather lovely day-flying species which was very abundant at this location ...