A rare Saturday when I wasn't at work and Newton by the Sea was the destination, last time I was here was on a last minute twitch to a small car park north of the town for a Lesser Grey Shrike.
Today was a slightly more relaxed affair, a beach walk with the girlfriend, whilst incorporating some scope action!
From the roadside, near the entrance to beach, my attention was drawn to 3 sea ducks feeding just off the shoreline, these were my first 2014 Goldeneye, all males.
3 female Eiders were gathered on an outcrop of rocks with a couple scattered males out on the water near the bouys.
I walked onto the beach and setup on the shoreline, from here I got a much better view of the Goldeneye, Eider and a fly by Cormorant and Oystercatcher.
There was numerous rocky outcrops along the shoreline exposed by the retreating tide, these housed a few varieties of bird
Curlew
Redshank
Black Headed Gull
Common Gull
More female Eider and a lone Oystercatcher feeding.
Along the shoreline 8 Bar Tailed Godwit frantically fed, running along the beach as they did so.
Further along a little treat in the form of a male Turnstone was spotted jumping bscratting around between the rocks.
As we made our way back towards the car park, by cutting through the small village of what look like holiday sheds, I spotted a female Brambling and a fleeting glimpse of a female Blackbird. Due to the call of Mother Nature (for both of us) we had to bypass the pond and hides, although I could heard the raucous honking of Geese. Despite the excessive volume I couldn't identify.
After a spot of lunch at The Ship Inn, we headed home.
An enjoyable day in good company
