On Sunday I collected Nick, Mel, John and Heather for another day out with NEWT – this time heading to Lindisfarne…
Blackbirds and Robins flitted out of the hedgerows as we walked along the Straight Lonnen, Swallows swooped overhead, Meadow Pipits were song-flighting and ten Roe Deer were quietly grazing and resting in one field while another four were away to the east of us. Grey Herons flew by, no doubt looking for a suitable spot to stand motionless in, Mallards and Shelducks flew past, a Curlew was wandering along the edge of the mud with lots of Grey Seals out on the mudflats at low water and a Brown Hare loped across the road in front of us.
One bird was very conspicuously advertising it’s presence though. Around the island the complex song of Skylarks was almost ever-present. It’s a species that’s undergone a dramatic population decline (75% between 1972 and 1996, with the decline continuing since then) so it’s always a joy to hear them and then watch as they perform a vanishing trick as they land.