Northumberland, May 2026

 Ever since I was a small child, visiting Northumberland in the 1960s, I have been drawn back to this lovely county, with its rolling hills, beautiful coastline and beaches. There are few better places in the UK for a bird watcher to be in in May and I have taken to spending a little time here every year. In 2026 I spent three nights in Warkworth, near Alnwick and situated on the River Coquet, half an hour's walk from the beach. This gave me the first evening, two full days and a final morning for an intensive session of bird watching. Although I passed through some torrential rain on the journey north and there was one wet early morning, the weather was generally very good, with plenty of sunshine.

Perhaps the main attractions for the bird watcher are the onshore and offshore seabird colonies. On the first full day I was on a boat trip to Coquet Island, home to England's only breeding colony of rare Roseate Terns as well as hundreds of Puffins and other tern species. The island is looked after by the RSPB and landing is not allowed, but we did get decent views of the terns. Photography in a moving boat is always challenging, but I managed a few ok photos of the terns.

Roseate Terns and Puffins, Coquet Island, 20 May

A visit to the Farne Islands, about 20 miles further up the coast, is of course essential. Landings are now just allowed on Inner Farne (owned by The National Trust) and I was there on the following full day. Last year I went in late April, before the breeding Arctic Terns had arrived. They had returned this year but had not really started nesting, so their attacks on peoples' heads had not started! Eider ducks had formed a little creche on one of the pools on the island. The males, which play no part in rearing the young, were ever-present along the coast and on estuaries.

Arctic Tern, Inner Farne, 21 May

Eider Ducks, Inner Farne, 21 May

Most people go to the Farne Islands to see the Puffins, and there were plenty to see although they were in the early stages of breeding and weren't flying in with beaks full of Sand Eels for their young. Huge numbers of Guillemots, including the 'bridled' variant, as well as Razorbills (my favourite), were on   

the cliffs, as were Kittiwakes and a few Fulmars. We only had an hour on the island, which isn't enough for photographers who, like me, can't make their minds up which birds to photograph! I had planned to spend time photographing Arctic Terns in flight, but struggled to get anything satisfactory - I should have concentrated on the seabirds that you can get almost within touching distance of at the top of the cliffs.

Razorbill, Inner Farne, 21 May

Back on dry land there was plenty to do. I paid a visit to the lovely Hauxley nature reserve, which is only a few miles from Warkworth. Whilst there is lots to see there, including at least nine species of warbler (Cetti's Warblers have arrived here and I also heard a Lesser Whitethroat, quite a rare species this far north), my target bird was a Hauxley speciality: Bullfinch! This species, which is in danger of becoming extinct in Hertfordshire, can be seen from a hide overlooking a bird feeding station and I had good views of both male and female birds feeding here. There is also a good colony of Tree Sparrows at Hauxley. Later in the season terns, including Roseate Tern, can be seen bathing and feeding here, but just a few Common Terns were seen on my visit.

Male Bullfinch, Hauxley NR, 20 May

I also made my first visit to the breeding tern colony at "Long Nanny", near Beadnell on the coast. Arctic and Little Terns breed here, and both were present in big numbers. Arctic Terns were starting to nest in front of the rangers' hut. Whilst I was there, I was lucky to see a very rare visitor, a returning American Black Tern (a sub-species of our Black Tern), which had previously nested here with an Arctic Tern. I managed to grab a flight photograph of this bird (below) - not great, but a record of the only American Black Tern in the UK! On the way back to Beadnell I watched the Little Terns feeding along the shore line. One individual was resting on the beach. Its partner approached, landed and offered it a couple of little fish. Most unusually, I managed to catch the 'decisive moment' when the fish were exchanged. Although far from perfect, this is still my favourite image from the holiday.

American Black Tern, Long Nanny, 21 May

Little Tern Fish Exchange, near Beadnell, 21 May

I did lots of walking near the hotel. Walking down the Coquet Estuary to the sea gave me the chance to see passage waders (Whimbrel, Bar-tailed Godwit, Dunlin, lots of Turnstones and Ringed Plovers), warblers (including Grasshopper Warbler) and terns (particularly Sandwich Terns). Not everything was successful: I made two visits to a lake where Garganey and Temminck's Stints had been reported, but saw neither. However, on those visits I saw Scaup and Mandarin Duck, my first Dingy Skipper butterflies of the year and some very co-operative Brown Hares. In all, I recorded 103 bird species (95 seen). Roll on next year, and a return visit!