Anyone seen Big Bill?, 27th May 2019

Holy Island was again our destination early on Monday morning and again it was belting down with rain, even more heavily than the morning before. Apparently the causeway would become unsafe to cross around 10 o'clock, although I later learned that not so perilous owing to the very small high tides at present, proving that for a landlubber such as myself there is so much to learn about the coast and birding its whereabouts. But we were parked up by the causeway by 7, frequently having to use the windscreen wipers so that Mrs Caley could gaze out into the gloom one way while I looked out of the open drivers window to the south, sheltered from the northerly rain by the car. Because of the awful weather we had vetoed the notion of walking out on to the north shore in another search for the Broad-billed Sandpiper, it hadn't been seen the day before anyway, and had elected to search through the waders by the causeway instead. Our usual experience of wading birds is to see the occasional birds that find Farmoor Reservoir on their travels and we get excited if we find a single Ringed Plover or Sanderling there. Here on Holy Island and indeed all along the Northumberland coast there are thousands upon thousands! It was good for us to watch common wading birds in their familiar habitat rather than on the concrete embankment of Farmoor.

Sanderling

While the rain fell we observed the ubiquitous Ringed Plovers and Dunlin. There were far fewer Sanderling than the day before, the end of May is peak migration time for those most energetic of waders and yesterdays birds may have already continued northwards to their breeding grounds. We had different birds on view today, several Curlew fed in the main channel and a flock of around a score of Bar-tailed Godwits were on the marsh away from the road, to think I had travelled specially to Slimbridge just a month or so ago to year tick a couple of those!

Curlew

As the water levels surrounding the causeway rose higher and previous areas of mud and sand became submerged, a few Sandwich Terns arrived to fish in the main channel. They were our first of the year and became #218 on the Old Caley year list.

Sandwich Tern

Little Terns arrived to fish too, one bird choosing to hunt in a recently flooded part of the salt marsh right next to our car. Still my favourite of our Tern species, I always enjoy watching their antics and listening to their raucous calls. I think that Little Terns have a pugnacious quality especially when their larger cousins are around. The bird flying close above the car gave us excellent close views but I rued the weather once more since I imagined the shots that I could have gained had the weather been more clement.

Little Tern

After a couple of hours, and with no break in the rain, we fled to the Barn at Beal for an excellent coffee and breakfast sandwich. I used the time to check on the weather prospects for the rest of the day, the recent bird news, and leafed through the "Birds of the North-East" guidebook for other places to visit. When we had been in Northumberland last year we had spent a few hours at Low Newton by the Sea where there is a seasonally flooded scrape and a pond as well as a beach of course, although it's a popular spot for the general public to visit. There had been a pair of Temminck's Stints frequenting the scrape recently and, although we already had the Upton Warren bird on the year list, it would be good to see another one, or two.

It was almost deserted when we parked up and walked down the hill towards the scrapes no doubt because of the poor weather conditions. The Ship Inn here is renowned for its good beer but it was still closed at this hour and besides I was more interested in finding the birds. I scanned the scrapes paying particular attention to the waders. I quickly found Ringed Plovers and Dunlin feeding on the grassy edges but couldn't find any smaller species of any description. I harboured a small hope that the Broad-billed Sandpiper may have relocated here but then quickly reminded myself that I do not possess that type of luck! I looked through the birds again and again and then on the fourth go spotted a much smaller bird. It was a Stint, not a Temminck's but a Little Stint. Not as rare as a Temminck's either but more useful to me since it was my first for the year and took the year list up to #219!

Little Stint (& Ringed Plover)

There were lots of other birds to see at Low Newton too. Hirundines fed over the water chasing insect prey kept low by the rain, and also collected softened mud for building their nests on the adjacent buildings. I had a bit of fun trying to capture them in flight but conditions were far from ideal.

House Martin

Sand Martin

Half a dozen Shelducks grazed on the far bank of the scrape until some unseen stimulus made them take to the air and come hurtling overhead. The only other wildfowl were a pair of Gadwall and a few Mallards. A Lapwing patrolled the nearest margins and a trio of Oystercatchers squabbled at the far side of the field.

Shelduck

Lapwing

A Sedge Warbler sang heartily from the scrub that backed the beach, I remember one showing extremely well here last year, and a Reed Bunting sang its own much weaker, but still beautiful, refrain from a little further along the track. 

Sedge Warbler

Reed Bunting

Low Newton has a healthy population of House Sparrows and we frequently saw them hovering over the rough grass areas seemingly "hawking" for flies, something I've never seen my local ones at home do. More in keeping with the ones in my garden they did enjoy dust bathing as well.

House Sparrow (male above, female below)

At last the rain had stopped but it had left behind a gloomy and muggy afternoon. We left the scrapes having found no sign of the previously reported Temminck's Stints, pausing as we walked past the cottages firstly to admire a female Blackbird preening on the ridge of a roof and then to watch a couple of Swallows hawking insects above the trees. I could imagine those trees being a magnet to migrating warblers come the autumn.

Blackbird

Swallow (headless variety)

After a couple of hours in the refuge of the holiday cottage we returned to Holy Island and this time in the now much improved conditions, even the sun was threatening to put in an appearance, ventured out onto the north shore flats. The wind had increased considerably and instead of heat haze being an issue we now had to contend with a miniature sand storm instead. Birding in this part of the country is not for the faint-hearted! We could make out Gannets passing close inshore and a few Ringed Plover and Sanderling scuttled along the waters edge but there was no sign of anything rarer. I remembered a conversation I had with a Geordie birder while waiting to see the Baikal Teal at Hornsea on Saturday. He was telling me what he knew about the Holy Island area and a bit about the birders that had it as their local patch (lucky them). Apparently a man called Ross had once found a Ross's Gull nearby so I suggested that maybe in order to find the Broad-billed Sandpiper that I should seek out a large chap going by the name of Bill....I'll get my coat.....again!

Walking back to the Snook car park a fine male Linnet sang from the top of a grassy stem in the Dunes and Meadow Pipits eyed us warily as we passed, many had beaks full of food for waiting nestlings.

Linnet

A brief stop back at the causeway again yielded nothing of note, the tide had gone far out now and the exposed sand stretched for miles. There was a Little Egret fishing in the main channel so I rattled off a few shots before calling it a day.

Little Egret