Red-Throated Diver in Amble Marina

There has been a long-staying Red-throated Diver in summer plumage at Amble in Northumberland recently and as it looked to be staying for a while more I decided to go for it today.  I made the three and a half drive from Manchester to the free car park at Amble Braid and after a walking only a couple of hundred yards there it was, happily sleeping in the marina.

I've seen plenty of these birds before both on the sea and sometimes inland but usually in their winter plumage when they don't have the red throat and are mainly grey and white.  So to see one so close in summer plumage was a real real treat.

Apart from the very obvious red throat, I particular like the striping on the back of the head and neck as well as the red eye.

This bird did spend a lot of time asleep or partially asleep and drifting with the flow of water in the marina.  When it did awake it set off fishing amongst the boats and I lost it for a while.  So I left it for a while and had a walk around Amble Harbour, a place I really like. There were the usual Eider ducks and various Gulls in the harbour area and one or two Terns diving for fish, but nothing to keep me there too long.

I returned to find the Diver asleep again but back out in the open. As I was staying in Ashington tonight, which is only 20 minutes from Amble, I could spend as long as it took to get some more photos.  The bird eventually did awake and as the tide was rising and filling the marina, it came pretty close at times.

Things are coming up Roseate!

On our way home from Seahouses and the Farne Islands, we decided to take the coastal route to Amble, where we could go on the short boat trip to Coquet Island in search of Roseate Terns.  We first stopped at the ruins of Dunstanburgh Castle for a bit of cultural history before quickly passing through the picturesque village of Almouth and then on to Amble.

Dunstanburgh Castle ruins

Lunch was taken in a lay-by alongside the River Coquet where this Curlew was feeding briefly before it saw me.  There were also Lapwing, Oystercatchers, Shelduck, Mallards and a variety of Gulls about, and just one solitary Sandwich Tern.

Curlew

Coquet Island lies about a mile offshore from Amble and is well known for its breeding population of Roseate Terns - it's probably the best (i.e.most reliable) place to see them in the UK. The Puffin Cruises boat trip only lasts an hour or so of which most of the time is spent getting there and back. However, the best shots I got from the trip were of birds flying over the water on the journey including this low-flying Puffin.

Puffin

The trip route varies according to the tides and weather and on this occasion the sea was too choppy to sail around the island and the tide was too low to get very close to the shore. So I had to make do with some record shots of the adult Roseate Terns, although quite by fluke I managed a good shot of a newly fledged juvenile.

Adult Roseate Tern

Juvenile Roseate Tern

Rows of nesting boxes and walls with holes in them line the low cliff face to provide breeding areas for the birds and it's not possible to land on the island in order protect them. There are Sandwich, Common and Arctic Terns all nesting within close proximity as well as Puffins.

Adult Sandwich Tern taking off

Juvenile Common Tern

Adult Common Tern