Two more Ticks

Our base in Northumberland was at the Queen Elizabeth Country Park, on the outskirts of Amble and Ashington.

The lake is a great place, especially in winter, but, whilst there last week, we had a great time looking at the breeding birds, and the summering Black-headed Gulls. Most birds appeared to be 1st summer birds, with a few adults. Many of the 1st summer birds have a full brown hood, but still retain the juvenile feathers.

Black-headed Gull

Another great bird for me was the Whooper Swan (177). This bird appears to be a resident bird, who I first saw here in January 2024 (see here). He/she was present around the site, and was quite tame, allowing some great views from the car park.

Whooper Swan

Other birds seen here were: Greylag and Canada Geese (with goslings), Mallards, Pied Wagtails (juveniles), Mute Swans (13 in total, with at least 6 metal ringed), Herring and Lesser Black-backed Gulls and, perhaps the most surprising, for me at least, Tree Sparrows (adults and juveniles).

Tree Sparrow

Our last stop was in Whitley Bay. We started off at St Mary's Island, where we saw the Grey Seals, along with  a few Terns (possibly Sandwich), which were flying past, and finally, a single Fulmar (178). We then had a few hours on the beach at Tynemouth, where we were lucky enough to watch a pod of Bottlenose Dolphins (including at least 1 juvenile), swimming, feeding and jumping out of the water!!!! The final highlight was a singing Whitethroat, that posed beautifully.

Whitethroat