Thursday 1st July Lower Northumberland

 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 Shelduck was a useful new tick for us all and I briefly spotted a Bar-tailed Godwit, which then disappeared never to be seen again, so the others did not get onto it. In the woodland area, we spent ages trying to pin down a Coal Tit flitting at the top of a conifer and were eventually successful. 

Working our way down the coast, our next stop was East Chevington, primarily reedbed habitat, although we started with lunch in the sand dunes, where the bold fuchsia blooms of wild geraniums with rich yellow hawksbit complemented each other well and looked quite spectacular. We had several Sedge Warblers amongst the reeds and plenty of Reed Buntings. A briefly seen bird did not quite look right for Reed or Sedge and we wondered about Grasshopper Warbler but it disappeared too quickly for a positive ID. Tim then spotted a male Marsh Harrier soaring above the trees on the far side of the lake, another new holiday tick.

Next we revisited Druridge Pools, which had been marred by rain on our arrival day. Jack Snipe, Wood Sandpiper and Little Gull had all been reported the previous day, but we failed to find any of these! However, a Ruff with the remains of summer plumage and still showing some of its neck ruff was an interesting find. Finally it was on to Cresswell Pool, searching agin for Little Gull, but once again we failed miserably.

A brief lookout to sea revealed nothing on the beach, but a group of Gannets passed fairly close offshore.

Our target bird total for the trip was 100 species, and with today’s now birds we surpassed this total, albeit we were disappointed to miss some of the hoped for species. That’s birding for you!