Beadnell to Newton 13 Feb

I've no idea really why I spent three hours in yesterday's blizzard walking from Beadnell to Newton and back - but I did.  The tide was well out so there was little visible on the shore and the driving snow didn't help.  Beadnell Bay had a few Bar-tailed Godwit as well as Oystercatchers and a solitary Ringed Plover.

The Long Nanny area failed to produce any coastal passerines, but there was a small group of Dunlin, a couple of Redshank and a solitary Red-breasted Merganser on the burn.  Then further towards Newton a flock of about 35 Golden Plover got up from the field and flew overhead across the dunes.  A solitary Kestrel was also patrolling the dunes.  As we stopped for sandwiches in the lee of a dune at Newton a Carrion Crow was around with an unusual white throat patch.

On the seafront at Beadnell there was a good patch of Winter Heliotrope (Petasites fragrans) in flower.  This is an uncommon species in Northumberland.  N.B. Not my photo!