Bird Watching in Northumberland

Check out a good summary of local birdwatching at Fatbirder - Northumberland.

You can take a boat trip to the Farne Islands, a nature reserve with grey seals and a vast range of sea birds, or to Bass Rock, on which nest 10% of the World's population of North Atlantic gannets. The Scottish Seabird Centre North Berwick has CCTV links to the gannetry and is worth a visit to see the action. Another large seabird colony is to be found at St Abb's Head, near Eyemouth.

An interesting selection of upland birds can be found in the hills and valleys of the Northumberland National Park (visitor centres at Rothbury and Ingram) and on Lammermuir.  Reserves good for a variety of birds are at Hauxley on Druridge Bay, near Amble and Low Newton (south of Seahouses).  Closer to Coach House are the grounds of The Hirsel, Coldstream, for woodland species - and don’t overlook the Coach House’s resident tree sparrows!

All birdwatching information provided by Jim Guthrie, June 2007

Check out a good summary of local birdwatching at Fatbirder-Northumberland.

The following is not an exhaustive summary; there are many other good areas just waiting to be visited. At most of the places mentioned it is possible for the disabled birder to see most of the birds from a car or wheelchair.

Birds at the Coach House

For guests interested in doing a little birding, the Coach House is well placed to explore a variety of habitats in North Northumberland and the Scottish Border country. The whole coast from Druridge Bay, Northumberland to the Firth of Forth near Edinburgh is within reach. Interest starts at the Coach House itself where tree sparrows, in wide decline nationally, are still resident (as of May 2007). More usual species like robin, wren, tits, blackbird and swallow are easily heard and seen and warblers including willow and blackcap sing in season. A barn owl sometimes glides by and buzzards have now moved into the area – keep an eye on roadside telegraph poles.

The Northumberland Coast

The Northumberland Coast is one of the best birding areas in Britain. There are large seabird breeding colonies (kittiwakes, puffins, guillemots, etc) on the Farne Islands (boat trips from Seahouses to sea the birds and seals) and just over the Scottish border at St Abb’s Head, near Eyemouth. Lindisfarne and Budle Bay (near Bamburgh) are excellent for waders and wildfowl, especially in winter when thousands of brent geese and ducks such as wigeon make the area their winter home. At this time, Lindisfarne harbour often has divers and sea duck present. At migration times, small birds use what shelter they can find in gardens, bushes and stone walls on the island on their ways to and from their breeding grounds. Bamburgh is another good spot – the channel between it and the Farne Islands is busy during the breeding season with seabirds from the colonies on the Farnes and in winter it provides relatively sheltered water for divers, grebes and sea duck, which can be watched from car parks on the road to the golf course.

At Druridge Bay, south of Amble, the Northumberland Wildlife Trust manages a few reserves: Hauxley has a wheelchair-accessible visitor centre overlooking the main lagoon on the reserve which attracts a good variety of duck, geese and waders. This spot is a favourite ‘wash-and-brush-up’ stop for many of the terns that breed along the coast, including the occasional rare roseate tern from the colony on Coquet Island. Druridge Pools are reached from Druridge Links but are not as yet wheelchair-accessible, whilst Cresswell Pools, which regularly host rarities, can be watched from the Widdrington to Cresswell road. There is also a wheelchair-accessible hide there – get visiting information from the Hauxley visitor centre. All this area is good for migrating birds of many kinds – the pools attract waders and wildfowl whilst small songbirds use the cover provided by bushes and the occasional plantation; keep a lookout on the sea at any time of the year for scoters, eider and other sea duck. In late summer and autumn skuas are often around. In winter, the lake in Druridge Bay Country Park is home to a good variety of duck and is a good local spot for smew.

National Trust at Low Newton

The National Trust reserve at Low Newton has an interesting range of breeding birds and its bushes provide good shelter for falls of migrating songbirds in the right weather conditions in spring and autumn. There is a wheelchair-accessible hide with close views over the reserve’s pool and there are a couple of ‘disabled’ car parking spaces by the village square. Note that the hide is nearly half-a-mile from the parking places and the track may be a little uneven in places for a wheelchair.

Northumberland National Park, Cheviot Hills and Kielder

South of the Coach House lies the Northumberland National Park, centred on the Cheviot Hills. This is good walking country and in spring and summer has an interesting variety of upland birds including dipper, whinchat, curlew and raptors. The park authority runs visitor centres in Rothbury and Ingram. For those of us who are less mobile, or just like ‘lazy’ birding, the Breamish, Harthope and Upper Coquet valleys are accessible by road for at least part of their lengths and provide several places where interesting birds can be watched quietly from or near a car. Beyond the national park but further from the Coach House is Kielder Forest with its lake, forests and visitor attractions. There is a raptor watchpoint at Bakethin, giving chances to see peregrine, goshawk and osprey as well as commoner birds - probably best in spring. More convenient are Thrunton Woods (just west of A697, 12 or 13 miles south of Wooler). A walk here could provide sightings of siskin and crossbill among other woodland species.

Tweeddale

To the north of Tweeddale, a drive over Lammermuir on the way to the Lothian Coast is likely country for red grouse and short-eared owl. Try the B6355 from Duns to Gifford along the Whiteadder valley, or better still, the minor road from Duns through Longformacus, which meets the B6355 at its high point on Lammermuir.

Coldstream

The grounds of the Hirsel are about 5 miles north of Coach House along A697 at the far end of Coldstream. They provide easy walks around a lake and through Dundock Wood, with an interesting variety of waterfowl and woodland birds, including nuthatch and woodpeckers. Red squirrels can often be seen in the gardens at Paxton House, near Berwick-on-Tweed.

Tweeddale

A number of interesting species can be found by exploring quiet roads and byways, especially those that pass near water – be it river, small loch or marsh. Ospreys have spread out from their Highlands stronghold and a few pairs now breed in the valley. Some are being monitored as part of the Tweed Valley Osprey Project and the action at a couple of local nest sites can be watched on CCTV at the visitor centre in Glentress Forest Park or at Kalzie Gardens, both near Peebles.

To the north of Tweeddale, a drive over Lammermuir on the way to the Lothian Coast is likely country for red grouse and short-eared owl. Try the B6355 from Duns to Gifford along the Whiteadder valley, or better still, the minor road from Duns through Longformacus which meets the B6355 at is highest point over Lammermuir. In winter, the higher land will seem largely birdless - most breeding species migrate at least to lower ground or the coast, if not to warmer climes abroad.

Scottish Lothian Coast

There is a huge gannetry on Bass Rock, off North Berwick. Here 10% of the World’s population of Northern gannets breed. The Scottish Seabird Centre at North Berwick is worth a visit to see its informative displays and CCTV links to the gannetry and other birds (including guillemots and peregrine) nesting on the nearby island of Fidra – the activities can be watched in comfort from the visitor centre (café on site). There is also a visitor centre at St Abb’s Head (near Eyemouth); this site is a migration watchpoint in spring and autumn for all sorts of birds, as well as an important breeding site for seabirds – kittiwakes, guillemots, razorbills, etc.

The Lothian Coast from Musselburgh to Aberlady and Gullane is good for divers, grebes, and sea duck, depending on the time of year, and for waders, depending on the state of the tide. The mouth of the River Esk at Musselburgh is a noted spot for waders and duck much of the year. For easier access, try the car parks along the A198 at Logniddry Bents/Ferny Ness on Gosford Bay, which provide excellent car-based birdwatching (although it is probably best to avoid high summer and sunny weekends here) or at Aberlady. In winter, the coastal mud flats and salt marsh at Aberlady provide a home for large flocks of pink-footed geese, wigeon and waders. A similar range of birds is possible at the John Muir Country Park at Tyninghame, near Dunbar.