Yesterday morning I headed up to Newbiggin in search of the Desert Wheatear which has thankfully stayed in the vicinity of Beacon Point for a while now, I'd been hoping I would get the chance to see this beauty before it moved off.
Parking up at Church Point I headed North along the beach, calm flat sea and boiling sunshine made me question why I had wrapped up. Dunlin, Sanderling, Redshank, Turnstone, Curlew and Ringed Plover fed along the exposed sand and rock pools. I passed two birders heading the opposite direction, one informed me the bird was still present, and the other gave a polite grunt. On arrival a the point the bird was not to be seen, plenty Pied Wagtail and Rock Pipit, but no Wheatear.
Covering the whole point from both below and above the bank I still hadn't had a glimpse. It wasn't until I headed back South when I seen the bird feeding near to the tractor collecting coal dust. Finding a place to scramble down, I headed up to where I had last seen the bird. Scanning the bank I couldn't pick it up, but I knew it was there, so I sat in the sand. Almost immediately the bird appeared and began running towards me.
I also took some clips of this dapper little bloke, I've edited them into this longer clip, best viewed in HD.
