White winged Gulls and Grebes...

Despite efforts, we didn't see any of those. I suppose this post could have been called Pallas's Sandgrouse  for that matter, but hang on.

The morning was spent hunting around Amble Harbour and the Coquet Estuary in mixed weather conditions looking for those said title species. As the wind has swung to the north for a bit, maybe there will be a northern gull next week? We'll see. Actually we did see some grebes, several Little and one Great crested, but thats not what I meant here at this time of year.

John added six common species to his patch list and for me the highlights were a fleeting view of a Kingfisher dashing across the harbour and out of sight, and a Little Egret flying from Warkworth Gut up towards Alnmouth.

After lunch, the wind increased to a blustery NW, so I popped along to Craster for a half hour seawatch to see if I could add to my patch tally. The seawatching was dire ( as usual at this time of year, but you never know) but some salvation was had by a Woodcock flying out of the scrub at the Arnold Reserve, over the road in front of my car, and off up the heughs. A nice unexpected addition.

With a flexi day off tomorrow and the weather improving, I might get out again to see if the squalls have stirred anything up.

75. Woodcock