One Holiday Rolls into Another

As Eric Morecambe famously once said I'm plying all the right notes but not necessarily in the right order. And so it is with my posts, I seriously mean to keep this Blog up to date, but a thing called life keep getting in the way.....anyhow a few shots from Northumberland back in June (I still haven't got round to processing all of them) mixed in with a few from September.


Separated from Staple Island by a narrow stretch of treacherous water are the Pinnacles home to thousands of Guillemot, by the time I took this image in late June many had departed with the lines on the crest visibly thinned out.


Arctic Tern favor Inner Farne


A typical Inner Farne welcome as Arctic Tern hover and attack visitors as they defend their offspring's.


Puffins run the gauntlet as they land their catch, as Gulls lay in wait for an easy meal, taken on Inner Farne


Puffins wiz past visitors at a rate of knots as they depart on another fishing fora.


The lunch box Puffins photographed on Staple Island



Back on dry land a Stonechat photographed at Cresswell


And a Siskin recovering from flying into the window......it flew off after a couple of hours. Speaking of which.................

................THING THAT GO BUMP IN THE NIGHT!!!!!

During our September break at five in the morning while in bed, lying in a state of semi-consciousness we were both aroused into life by a loud bang on the window.

Fearing we were about to be attacked by burglars from Newcastle, I sent Margaret to investigate. She returned in a panic, "You'd better get up"

God! I thought it is burglars from Newcastle! I pulled the sheets over my head pretending not to hear.
"Come on, get up! we've got an injured rabbit, its jumped into the window"

Ha, not burglars then, Phew! I sprang into action at once.

With the aid of the outside light I could just make out a brownish object squirming on the ground, but on closer inspection it wasn't a rabbit at all, it was a Tawny Owl curled in to a ball with one wing outstretched, occasionally it flapped in a desperate attempt to right itself, and my first thoughts was that it was a goner.
I went out and carefully picked it up as I didn't want to injure it any more than it all ready was, and also I didn't want it to dig it's talons into me. As I folded it's wing into place it swiveled it's head around and looked at me. What an absolutely gorgeous bungle I was holding. As I held it for a short while it calmed down, then I put it down on a near by bench, to my surprise it stood bolt upright. We stood and watched it for the next five minutes, occasionally it turned it's head and looked us in the eye, I must say I was quite besotted, and then without warning it took flight and vanished into the night air.

TOWN CENTER BIRDING......HAWICK



The river Teviot runs through the very busy town center of the Scottish Border town of Hawick, and while Juggernauts rumble over the bridge the bird life below is quite amazing, Goosander......



.....Herons



and Dipper can be observed, a scene one would associate more with a tranquil place like Lathkilldale.

Back to the coast at Amble
I paid a brief visit to the harbour while Margaret had a mooch round the shops. It's a great place for Cormorants, but I found the local gull quite entertaining as they fought over discarded fish.



Black-backed Gulls

Fortitude