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" Northumberland - 3 - with Dee & John "
Date & start time: Saturday 28th April - Saturday 5th May 2018. ( Map ref: NU 241 246 ) Location of Start : Melvin Cottage Cottage, Low Newton, Northumberland, UK. Stayed at : Melvin Cottage, Low Newton by the Sea Northumberland, UK. Places visited : Football Hole, Newton Point and the Bird Hides. Walk details : A local walk for the dogs and ourselves, an hour or so around the headland. With : Ann and our dogs, Harry and Dylan, but with Dee & John this time. Weather : Sunshine, high cloud with the blue skies, but a stronger breeze this time. |
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Dee and John have travelled up from Durham for the day to join us at Low Newton. We enjoyed our recent walk to the headland and they have never walked to Newton Point, so we repeated our weekend walk. The weather is similar, the wind is stronger and from the north east this time, the temperature is cooler, so the photos are subtly different. Breakfast in the garden . . . in the shelter of the cottage.
Just over the brow is St Mary's Church, another highlight of the village. It may be pre-fabricated and made of classic corrugated iron but inside it is a delight. It is beautifully decorated in quite a modern style for an older wooden church. It is just after Easter so a floral arrangement represents the empty tomb of Jesus. St Mary's Church . . . undated.
Continuing with the walk, we head out to the point along the coastguard road . . . . . . meeting an almost matching pair of Golden Retrievers along the way. Group photo at Football Hole Bay. A fellow walker offered to take a photo of us all . . . but pressed the shutter while I was still explaining how to work the camera ! Down on the beach that we visited yesterday . . . but with a change in the wind it was a much wilder place. Sunshine (dark glasses) but a cold breeze (insulated jacket) . . . Ann has warm layers too but manages without the gloves. I hang back to try and catch some photos of the waves as they crash onto the beach. A Black Headed Gull and three Common Gulls if my bird identification is correct. We'll leave them to scavenge on the beach and catch up with the others. The sea is much rougher today . . . Consequently the waves are crashing with more force against the cliff. Bigger waves than I captured on the camera yesterday. Newton Point and the harder volcanic Whin Sill type rocks that jut out into the sea in these parts. Rounding the headland . . . no point in stopping due to the colder conditions.
The RSPB is calling for better protection for Northumberland’s emblematic bird, the eider duck, 1,300 years since St Cuthbert introduced the first laws to help the seabird . . . see RSPB article A raft of gulls float at the outer area of calmer water, some occasionally being tossed around by an early breaking wave as it approaches the beach. A large Shelduck on the right plus a smaller, equally decorative Turnstone to the left. How many birds can you see in this photo . . . two . . . ten . . . sixteen ? The high tide has concentrated the birds (and the available food) at the top of the beach. Hold your cursor over the picture to get a clue. Click here and open larger picture to see my guess. Back at the village green . . . John takes a photograph across the bay, now with the tide in. - - - o o o - - - John, Dee and Ann were all interested in visiting the bird hides that I found yesterday . . . . . . so we set off on the track around the back of the houses, passing this rustic bench with its marine decorations along the way. On the open field pool the Swifts and House Martins were out chasing the insect life flying close to the water. It was impossible to follow their fast individual flight so you've got a wider general photo instead.
The wetland area provides extra habitat for a different group of birds. Others saw reed buntings from the bird hide records . . . but I just saw reeds ! Into the second of the bird hides . . . they've more pictures and information than the other one next door. More pictures from today's visit but there are less birds out there today. A couple of passing Pheasants, male and female. Likewise male and female Mallards A wider view out through the wide but shallow observation window. For the disappointed ex-warden who wrote in the log book about the poor state of the hides, he will be delighted to know that there is notice of a local planning application from the National Trust to upgrade the facility soon. - - - o o o - - - Time to be heading back via the beach. On the tide line . . . a wading Oystercatcher A mixed selection of gulls minding their own business on the tide line. Something has startled them and they take to the air. I don't think it was Ann . . . she's just avoiding the surf and keeping her feet dry on the way back home. - - - o o o - - - If you want a recommendation for a lovely meal out in High Newton . . . try the place we chose that evening. (Photo from their web site)
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Technical note: Pictures taken with either Ann's Panasonic Lumix Tz60 Compact, or my Panasonic Gx8 mid-range System Camera. Resized in Photoshop, and built up on a Dreamweaver web builder. This site best viewed with . . . a pre-arranged table reservation in a busy pub. Go to Top . . . © RmH . . . Email me here Previous walk - 29th April - 2. Newton Beach A previous time in the area - 15th June 2016 - Beadnell & Low Newton Next walk - 1st May 2018 - 4. Cragside
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