A day of two halves...

...to use a football analogy.

This morning was another sharp, crystal clear day for a wander down the coastal section of my patch.

We started at the Howick burn mouth where things were pretty much the same as usual. A Kingfisher called and flew upstream, unseen, while  the first of 2 Shelducks flew north. A perusal of the gulls revealed nothing but the locals, but offshore there was a steady passage of Herring Gulls all going north along the breakers at a rate of about 100+ per hour.

The view north from the Rumbling Kern, a geological feature on the shoreline.

Herring Gulls moving north.

 Back up at the farm, 130+ Golden Plover, 2 Grey Partridges, a few Skylarks were in the coast fields, while a Rock Pipit was a bit unusual forsaking its usual pelagic habitations in favour of a roadside muck heap.

Golden Plover in sheep pasture.

A muck heap loving Rock Pipit.

Next stop was to the far northern end of the patch where we drank tea and ate biscuits without a great deal of ornithological disturbance. I did get embarrassingly carried away with a glimpse of a Collared Dove dropping into a garden and out of sight.

The sunshine was lovely in the harbour so a few minutes were spent checking out what was lurking in there.

Craster Harbour

Turnstone

Purple Sandpiper

Another Purple Sandpiper

Redshank with a third Purple Sandpiper.

So, with a few Purps in the bag it was time to call it a day as I had be get home to be ready for another 'first' for me...

St James's Park, Newcastle.

 This first is not surprising really. We had a chance to of two season tickets to see Newcastle play Stoke ( thanks to Lady Howick) at home. Anyone who knows me, will now be shocked, as there is not a less sporty person on the planet, but its always good to try a new experience. I really enjoyed the afternoon out and from here we tried out a new restaurant in the city centre before getting the train back away from 'civilisation'...

Oh, the score was one each....I hope on the match of the day highlights they show the Grey Wagtail running around outside the dug outs. It put on a better performance than the Toon thats for sure!

92. Collared Dove