Trip reports

Hulne Park & Stag Rocks

Saturday, 19 January 2008

We set out for Alnwick on a bright and dry morning. We loitered around the entrance gates of Hulne Park in the hope of sighting the reclusive and uncommon Hawfinch. We ventured a few hundred yards into the estate and heard the bubbling call, and had good views, of Nuthatch and were also rewarded with a small flock of Long-tailed Tits. It was also good to see a couple of red squirrels. We surveyed a feeder station which supplied us with Chaffinch, Great and Blue Tit.
Unfortunately, we could not gain access to Hulne Park as a shoot was taking place so we went our separate ways in and around Alnwick. Our small group went down to the Lion Bridge and walked alongside the River Aln with Alnwick Castle in the background. We listed Grey Heron, Nuthatch, Treecreeper, Mallard, Teal, Moorhen, Tufted Duck, Mute Swan, Common & Black-headed Gull. On returning to the bus and lunch, members fed back notable sightings of Redpoll, Goldcrest, Mistle Thrush, Siskin and Goldfinch and one member reported hearing a Green Woodpecker yaffling.
Whilst enjoying lunch outside in the low winter sun, some members spied a Buzzard on a wall ....or was it a Goshawk ? We had a second attempt to get Hawfinch but it was not to be.
After lunch we headed for the coast and Bamburgh. We alighted at Stag Rocks for some shoreline/sea watching and straightaway got excellent views of Purple Sandpiper on the rocks and also a Stonechat darting about. The art of sea watching, as I was told by a seasoned birder, is to first scan the sea with your binoculars and then use your telescope to home in on the birds; with a lot of patience and despite the chill wind, we managed to list male and female Long-tailed Duck, Scoter and a solitary Velvet Scoter. We were also rewarded with a couple of porpoises surfacing near to shore.
Some of us retreated to the Copper Kettle in Bamburgh for a cuppa before returning to the bus. Comparing sightings with members coming back, other notable ticks were Grey and Ringed Plover, Sanderling and Goldeneye.
I hope this is a fair reflection on an enjoyable day out.

Harold Dobson

Bird List
black headed gull
blackbird
blue tit
buzzard
chaffinch
common gull
common scoter
cormorant
crow
curlew
dunlin
goldcrest
goldeneye
goldfinch
grey heron
grey plover
great tit
green woodpecker
guillemot
house sparrow
jackdaw
jay
kestrel
lapwing
linnet
long-tailed duck
long-tailed tit
mallard
mistle thrush
moorhen
mute swan
nuthatch
oystercatcher
pheasant
purple sandpiper
razerbill
redpoll
redshank
ringed plover
robin
rock pipit
rook
sanderling
shag
siskin
starling
stonechat
teal
tree creeper
tufted duck
turnstone
velver scoter
wood pigeon
wrenGroup total 54