It seems a long time since Julie took us on one of her coastal expeditions and today, she decided that we were going to explore the coast between Embleton and Beadnell.
We parked the car along the lane by Dunstanburgh Golf Course and, dodging the early morning golf balls, we headed off in the direction of the Northumberland coastal path. There is a little burn called the Kitty Carter which empties out into the sea here and we had to cross it before we could get onto the lovely soft sand.
The tide was a very long way out this morning and the sky was so grey and hazy we couldn’t actually see where the sky and sea met. It wasn’t going to be a particularly sunny day - but you don’t need the sun to have a lovely walk.
We cantered off in the direction of a little hamlet called Low Newton by the Sea. It was great to be running across the cool soft sand again but, as we approached the hamlet, we could see our way was blocked by craggy rock fingers reaching out into the sea. So, we climbed up the slipway and went once again in search of the coastal path.
We followed the path, along the cliffs and, down to another delightful cove which was almost spherical in shape and flanked by wild hairy sand dunes and rocky outcrops – no wonder they call it Football Hole!!
Julie was constantly scanning the horizon for birds. There was a small group of them bobbing up and down on the water further out to sea. Now and then they dived below the surface and they seemed to stay down for ages. From a distance it was really hard to identify them. They could well have been eider duck, but there was also a very slim, but exciting, chance that they were surf scoters. We had been lucky enough to see these rare birds, which have travelled all the way from North America, several days ago at Druridge Bay. They have got amazingly colourful bills – just like puffins but today, they were just too far away to see them.
Further away from the water, the rocky pavements were a hive of avian activity - although you had to look very closely. There were curlews strutting between the boulders, red shank probing in the mud, and grains of scurrying sanderling. We even saw a solitary ringed plover, blending in perfectly with the seaweed covered rocks behind it.
It seems that the Northumberland coast is a very desirable location for all kinds of birds – whatever the season!
We climbed out of football hole and trotted through the sand dunes in search of Beadnell Bay. Very soon, we saw it stretched out in front of us – miles and miles and miles of deliciously cool sand.
The sun was trying to make an appearance as we cantered along the beach. Beadnell itself seemed to be a very long way away but we didn’t mind. We scampered across the sand towards it until we were interrupted by another burn winding its way into the sea. This burn was far too wide and deep to cross. So, we were forced to follow it inland.
There were lots of gulls sitting on the water bobbing up and down close to where the burn emptied into the sea. As we walked further inland, the sandy beach gave way to large expanses of salt marsh. This area is called Long Nanny, and it is well known for the huge numbers of special birds that come here to breed.
Every summer over 1500 pairs of Arctic Terns make a 30,000 km return trip from Antarctica to raise their families here. They are joined by Little Terns which travel from West Africa and also by Ringed Plovers. . All of the birds come here to nest on the shingle shore and although their nests and chicks are camouflaged against attacks from predators, they are very vulnerable to unwitting disturbance from dogs and their humans. To protect the birds, the National Trust, who manage Long Nanny, rope off specific areas of the beach. They also employ wardens who live onsite and provide 24-hour cover so as to give the fledglings the best chance of survival.
Of the three species, the Ringed Plover is the most endangered - there has been a 60% drop in their numbers over recent years. The noisiest of the three is undoubtably the Little Tern, the male of which performs an elaborate courtship display to attract a mate and, remarkably, the Arctic Terns make the longest migration of any bird. Each and every year they return to Long Nanny to reunite with their life-long partner and raise their family - they probably been coming back for decades.
The birds are in residence from May to mid-August, so we dogs need to be on our leads and our best behaviour during that time. Of course, today, in November, the birds aren’t here. I do hope that Julie brings us back next summer as I would love to see all of the birds, but I wouldn’t want to get too close. Arctic terns don’t like intruders and have been known to dive-bomb, peck and defaecate on any unsuspecting individual.
Now the summer visitors have gone, the over-wintering geese and waterfowl are arriving and there were already a garrulous gaggle of them collecting in the burn.
There is a long narrow wooden footbridge that crosses to the other side of the burn and Bruno, and I chased across it. We still had a fair walk before we could get to Beadnell. The beach was a lot busier here, so we didn’t stay long – there were plenty of dogs with their humans – some of which were clearly doing their own thing and chasing through the water. Luckily there were not too many birds about today, but it is never okay to chase them – they are usually hungry and tired and all they want is to refuel and have a rest.
We certainly felt that we needed one!
After a brief stop at the café, we returned to Embleton via the coastal path which took us through a caravan park and then out on to Newton Links SSSI which is an extensive area of sand dunes. Although the dunes look rather homogeneous, they contain a wide diversity of plants with amazingly evocative names such as goats beard, cats’ ear and hounds’ tongue to name but a few.
As we retraced our steps over the bridge, we saw a brilliant white egret lurking underneath it - probably hiding from all those noisy geese!
Julie decided to stay inland and follow the coastal path, but we were warned to look out for black cattle – and sure enough we came across then huddled by a fence whilst their calves relaxed beside them, I was glad to get past them – They are a lot bigger than me. But they have important job to do - they chew away the coarser plants so that the smaller more delicate ones get the chance to flourish.
Eventually we found our way back to Low Newton where we walked back down on to the sand. There were lots and lots of dogs playing with their humans. By that time, our energy was already spent, and we walked with very tired paws back towards the car – It was great to get in and rest ……for now.
Roll on the next adventure!
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