Harvest Festival

After watching the weather forecasts carefully for the last few days, we set the start time for Friday’s Prestige Tour at 1pm…and it stopped raining at 12:50!! Collecting Mary and Malcolm from West Acre House in Alnwick, we headed down the coast. Despite all of the rain there was some exposed mud around the pond edges, and it’s the right time of year for passage waders. Adult and juvenile Greenshanks, and a juvenile Dunlin beginning it’s moult into winter plumage, allowed a detailed discussion about moult and ageing – the first step in identifying a number of species is accurately ageing the bird you are looking at. In a list of birdwatching skills this should be right near the top. Not only does it expand your knowledge, it encourages close observation…even experienced birdwatchers are often guilty of giving birds a cursory glance if the identification isn’t in doubt. A Common Tern spent a long time fishing just in front of us, Cormorants (an under-rated species if ever there was) were back and forth and 2 Garganey flew past. A charm of Goldfinches never fails to delight anyone with an interest in birds and 30-40 were seen as we walked along a footpath. Then, my personal highlight of the day…a Harvest Mouse sneaking through the pathside grass. I tried to catch it for a closer look but only ended up plunging my hands into a patch of stinging nettles. More waders stimulated an explanation of the differences between Bar-tailed and Black-tailed Godwits. As the afternoon drew to a close, a juvenile Marsh Harrier caused panic among a flock of Teal and Gadwall, a Barn Owl was watched from the roadside and a Sparrowhawk was sitting on a recent kill in the verge. An excellent Northumberland birdwatching afternoon. And today…now for something completely different.