A short-cut to birds

 Today is the first day of our week-long trip to Northumberland. It's an area we've been through and round many times but never really explored. It always looked good and so we took the chance of an early Summer/ late spring break.

A very early start had us making good progress along the A1. We decided that we didn't need to take the direct route to our first stop, Corbridge, but that we could divert via Barnard Castle and take a more scenic route. I only had a very vague idea of the route so I just agreed and we came off the motorway and onto more rural roads lined with dry-stone walls and fields inhabited with sheep and lambs.  Barnard Castle wasn't very exciting in itself and we didn't even stop but headed towards the moorlands. (Un)fortunately Judith misread Google maps and we missed the road we should have taken. Rather than turn round we found another route and ploughed on. The scenery was getting better and better, classic upland and moorland habit with heather and gorse and even more sheep roaming wild. I had already spotted good numbers of lapwings wheeling about in the sky and curlews marching the fields. We then came round a corner and on a fencepost right by the road was the distinctive shape of a short-eared owl. I pulled off as quickly as I could, wondering whether I had been seeing things. I hadn't and the owl flapped off the post and started hunting the rough ground by the side of the road.

It did the classic owl "hover and dive" a few times though I never saw it come up with any prey. 

Finally it drifted past and then away from us but carried on hunting. An amazing start to the day but it only got better.

As well as the owl, there were numerous red grouse bubbling away. You could tell it was a big hunting area by all the burnt areas, and as ever the red grouse were stupidly tame!

A bit further on though I saw a slight different shape perched up by a barn. I stopped very quickly, jumped out of the car and immediately my thoughts were confirmed - it was only a male black grouse! 

Black grouse are much rarer than their red cousins and we have spent many hours searching for them in Scotland. To find one here, right by a main road and a barn was incredibly lucky. It only stayed a moment them flew off into the heather and started displaying some way off. Despite being tempted to stay we had to get on and with big grins on our faces carried on across the moor. It was very rich in curlew and lapwing and smaller birds, probably meadow pipits. We had almost come off the moor when we got our last spot. I very nearly ran down a merlin which flashed across the bonnet of the car, distinctive with its blue back and swept-back wings!  All of this was seen from the car on a route we weren't even supposed to be on, making up for all those times we had staked out perfect habitat and seen nothing.

Our accommodation, when we got there, was on the edge of Budle Bay neat Holy Isle. A quick walk down to the bay before day got eider on the sea, turnstones on the beach and wheatears, linnets and whitethroats in the fields. 

All looking very good for the rest of the week.