Sunday dawned, and it could not have been more different from Saturday. The sky was clear and the sun shone brightly. We set off for Druridge bay, 15 miles south of Alnmouth, stopping first to watch the sea and beach. Here we saw Sanderling on the beach and parties of Kittiwake flying south. We then went inland to a series of large lakes where we were able to see several species of waterfowl including Goldeneye and Wigeon, continuing to add to the list of different species seen over the weekend.
After lunch, we heard that three pallid Swifts were currently circling the church in Warkworth and so we made our way there and got excellent views, this time clearly being able to see the plumage differences that mark them out from Common Swift.
To finish our afternoon, we went for a walk from Warkworth Church along the River Coquet in hope of seeing a Kingfisher. No luck I am afraid, but we did see more evidence of arriving winter visitors in a flock of Redwing.
An excellent weekend during which I saw 78 species. The Pallid Swifts were the obvious highlight, but it was a good all-around weekend with some great birds. My thanks to Nicole for her photos and to Mark for his leadership and to the lovely group of people who made this such an enjoyable break.
Pete's Favourite Things 