Holy Island and the Northumberland Coast (Day Trip)

Early Spring

In early spring the waders and wildfowl can still be in evidence, feeding up before their migration north to their breeding grounds. The Light-bellied Brent Geese from distant Svalbard start their way back in March but some may linger into April. Pink-footed Geese are also gathering for their journey back to Iceland – normally leaving a little after the Brents.

Shelduck are a year-round treat and their striking pied and chestnut plumage stands out on the mudflats where they spend their days sifting for small molluscs.
Waders such as Bar-tailed Godwits, Grey Plover, Dunlin and Ringed Plover can also be found feeding in the abundant and rich mudflats. Many of these birds are starting to turn from their drab winter plumages into striking breeding garb. The high Arctic breeders such as Turnstones are particularly beautiful in their harlequin attire.

Merlin and Peregrine are frequent visitors to this bounty of food and a sudden explosion of birds into the air often indicates a hunting raptor.

This area is also home to a large number of Grey Seals which can often be heard ‘singing’ out on the mudflats or rocks.

Late Spring & Summer

Lindisfarne is a bird magnet during migration. When the weather is right all sorts of warblers, chats and other small birds can drop in. The ‘lonnens’ (hedged walkways) are always worth a visit and just about anything can, and has, turned up in these tangled shrubs and trees. The air is filled with the sound of singing Skylarks and other small passerines.

Terns and auks breed on the nearby Farne Islands and can be seen feeding out to sea. Sandwich Tern is the most obvious of the terns but Common, Arctic, Little and even the very rare Roseate (which breeds further south on the RSPB’s Coquet Island) can be seen. Eider duck also breed nearby and the striking males can be seen fishing for bivalves just off the shore and with luck their distinctive ‘cooing’ call can be heard.

Various waders are still in evidence and some, such as the Ringed Plover, breed on the foreshore.

The extensive sand dunes are stabilised by Marram Grass and these dunes and associated dune slacks support many plants, including 11 species of orchids. These plants in turn provide food for various moths and butterflies including the Dark Green Fritillary and Ringlet.

Autumn & Winter

During the autumn, many small birds can also be found, particularly along the hawthorn hedges of the Lonnens. We might hear the seals ‘singing’ out on the flats – a magical experience. At this time of year, many birds are migrating and the Northumberland coast is an important migration route for arctic breeders moving further south. Then, as we move into winter, we should begin to find grebes and divers in greater numbers off-shore, along with wintering flocks of geese, ducks and waders.