January 1 2011

The morning after the night before…
Not too bad, up before first light and out for a walk along the beach, going north to Stag Rocks (one of the benefits of staying overnight in Bamburgh). Today the sea was rough, so none of the good stuff seen by Stewart yesterday was spied today.
The honours for first bird of the year go to Great Black-back Gull.
Leaving Bamburgh I head to Budle Bay where the tide was very high and I was back into a spot where I could get a signal for my phone, which then started getting texts at an alarming rate, all of them from late last night, saying something along the lines of “happy new year”, so after responding in kind, I gave the bay a scan, seeing yesterdays Greenshank as one of the closest birds. Most of the birds were way, way off in the distance.
Leaving here I head back South, doing the normal coast trip on the way. At Embleton, I stopped briefly for five Waxwing, before they were flushed by two old guys out for a walk (they flew south, the Waxwings, not the guys!) From here it was just a steady drive back home, not stopping anywhere for long, and not getting out of the car, I had the wrong sort of clothes on for birding in a cold northerly wind!
Good birding in 2011, Happy New Year to all