Sunday 15 January 2017

A shore lark

Met a recovering Stewart at Warkworth with the intention of sitting in the car drinking tea sheltering from the forecasted rain watching gulls coming in to roost and bathe above the weir on the Coquet.
It wasn't a bad morning though and after discussing this and that we headed for the land of birds and birders, East Chevington Reserve.
There have been a small group of seven Shorelark frequenting the mouth of the Chevington Burn, we thought we'd take a look. They didn't take much finding, as soon as we broke cover from the dunes there they were, scoped and watched with binoculars as they were getting disturbed by dogs and beach users, typical Sunday morning. They kept returning to the seed strewn tide line to feed.
I had my camera but the light was poor and the birds distant, I took a snap or two anyway.










A flock of 42 Twite flew in and started to feed in the same area as we were enjoying the Shorelarks, other birds close by; pied Wagtail, Sanderling and Turnstone..


We headed back northwards up the coast and after a stop at Amble finished our morning off at Boulmer. Scanning the bay, at a very Low Tide, for the Glaucous Gull that had been seen through the week we were about to pack up when Stewart picked the bird up on the shoreline way way to the south end of Boulmer Bay.

We stalked it and enjoyed great views and a few photographs, a nicely marked and well conditioned first winter bird.




Good numbers of wading birds in the bay, as usual, Bar Tailed Godwit and Grey Plover were nice. Flocks of Golden Plover and Lapwing were being flushed from the fields behind the village but no bird of prey was seen.

1 comment:

  1. That's a smart Gull John. Nice pics of the Shorelarks. I've seen them a couple of times but not taken any pics.

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