Newcastle

A trip to Newcastle had to include a bit of birding. It was nice to catch up with a few old faces (you know who you are). We don't have Moorhen and Coot on Mull so it was nice to catch up with them. Plenty of Tree Sparrow, Goldfinch, Stonechat, a couple of Common Whitethroat...

...and a nice Whinchat.

A flock of about 70 Lapwing had 25 Dunlin and a single Black-tailed Godwit sharing the space.

There were five Snipe close by while an Avocet fed in the shallows.

Little Egret is a regular sight in Northumberland now but it's been a while since I'd seen one.

These Swallows have already featured in Ipin's blog so it was nice to see that they were still there but definitely ready to go.

Just outside the hide we could see 7 Ruff but there was only one close bird and that was hard to see!

A Caspian Gull a bit further up the coast was a must see bird.

Eider ducks were plentiful in the harbour...

...as were the Starlings.

Plenty of other common birds were seen so it wasn't a bad haul for  a couple of hours in the field. Got to have an Oystercatcher in because it'd be rude not to.

The reason for the visit to Newcastle was my daughters wedding so the father of the bride has to be there!

The fog

There was quite a bit of fog around when I went to pick up the guests so we headed out of the fog and back into the sunshine. No problem in finding a WT Eagle as one sailed around in a clear blue sky.

There was plenty of common stuff to see but we couldn't find an Otter or a Golden Eagle but as we headed back into the fog an eagle drifted into view, flew around and then disappeared.

A little bonus just before the guests got dropped off was the lone Whooper Swan.

The next day the weather was better and there were plenty of sightings to be had. An Otter was seen briefly but too distant for photos. Stonechat...

...Common Whitethroat...

...and Great Black-backed Gull were all seen well.

Other posers for the camera were Common Sandpiper...

...and Northern Wheatear.

A Yellowhammer was seen in a new location and also an Adder seen on the day. Good views of WT Eagle were had and quite a few Common Buzzard seen in various locations.

May

Plenty of stuff to see now that most of the migrants are in but we still started the day with some of the regulars - Crossbill, Chaffinch, Stonechat etc. A single Golden Plover was displaying over the loch so there must be more birds there somewhere. A Common Whitethroat was singing at the top of a tree while we looked for Otter.

 There are still plenty of GN Diver around the loch but this one has a punky hair-do!

Cracking views of the WT Eagles but I was a bit slow with the camera.

Yet another Northern Wheatear...

...a Blackcap heard singing, 5 Lesser Redpoll and plenty of Rock Pipit.

There are quite a few White Wagtail (Pied Wagtail is a subspecies of this bird) hanging around the beaches at the moment.

At our last stop of the day we had a single Twite, a couple of Mountain Hare and 10 Whimbrel.

Too hot.

Another hot day meant getting the sightings early before it goes quiet in the afternoon. We picked up a couple of Otter asleep on the rocks...

...and then found the Golden Eagles were snoozing on the cliffs. A WT Eagle put in an appearance and that got both Goldies in the air and over the top of us.

A Cuckoo was found sitting on a fence post before we paid a visit to the WT Eagles. A Common Whitethroat has been putting on a good show but I've only just had the chance to point the camera at it!

The Greylag Geese have young...

...but so do the Canada Geese.

Another three Otters were seen, lots of Razorbills, a couple of GN Diver, Wood Warbler, two more Golden Eagle and plenty of Hooded Crow.

We were surprised to find the Adder in the twenty degree heat but there were no complaints about either! Whinchat, Sand Martin, Wheatear and Mountain Hare seemed to complete the day nicely but we found another Otter eating a fish which was our last sighting.

Funky.

There are quite a few photo in this one so I'll not have too many words. We started the day in fine style with a male Hen Harrier overhead.

A few GN Divers, a nice Whinchat, a Razorbill and four Otters came next.

While watching the Otters a Willow Warbler was singing in a bush next us.

A posing Skylark at the side of the road.

Two Golden Eagles were seen while we watched the WT Eagle near it's nest. Another two Golden Eagles were seen at their nest site.

A walk in the woods gave us superb views of Wood Warbler...

...and some funky looking Red Deer.

A WT Eagle flying across the loch was a good find while a Whitethroat posed in a bush.

Whinchat, Adder, Cuckoo, Turnstone, Dunlin and Sanderling were all seen well.

A Hen Harrier tried it's best to get it's photo taken but I wasn't up to the job!

A Mountain Hare was having a stretch.

Four Lesser Redpoll were feeding on the grassy part of the shore...

...while five Twite flew over with a couple of them landing on the wires.

Keen as mustard.

Two different days with people as keen as mustard. The first of these days was spent with some American students to whom everything was new but there were some time constraints which kept the species count  lower than normal. We managed to get all the most sought after species, a good selection of waders, Mountain Hare but they were quite taken with the two tone Hooded Crow.

Whinchat, Hen Harrier and Adder made it onto the list before we picked up a bird they recognised, the Common Loon or GN Diver to us. In the afternoon we saw Otter, Golden Eagle and WT Eagle.

The following day a different set of people, keen as mustard, wanted to how many species we could get in a day. We set an initial target of 50 species...here are the highlights. Both Twite and Linnet were seen at our first stop along with Mountain Hare, a leucistic Snipe and a flock of Whimbrel.

Top bird of the day had to go to the summer plumaged Curlew Sandpiper.

WT Eagle made it onto the list not too long after that, Whitethroat, Sedge Warbler, Greenfinch, Goldfinch, Whooper Swan and a single Yellowhammer took the list to 50 species of bird before lunch! Displaying RB Merg...

...a better view of Common Whitethroat...

...3 Golden Eagle, Whinchat, Hen Harrier, Adder, Blackcap, Wood Warbler and Spotted Flycatcher were all seen before we picked up 3 Otters on the shore.

The more species you see the harder it gets but we kept at it and the final species for the day was a Gannet that took the total number of bird species for the day was.........70! Not a bad effort.