As the countryside paths were so wet under foot we decided to have a walk along Berwick Pier, the Little Beach & along the walls. The weather was fine, with very little wind, the sea state was very rough. As we set off along the pier we had good views of Redshanks, Turnstones & Oystercatchers frantically feeding on the tide line, a Goosander flew in to the estuary, several Eiders & Cormorants were feeding in the heavy seas, on reaching the end of the pier, a Shag could be seen showing its crest as it ‘Surfed the waves’ beside a Grey Seal. We did not stay long as the surf was beginning to crash over the pier.
Along the Little Beach, Sanderlings scurried along the tide line in their typical ‘clockwork motion’, 3 Purple Sandpipers were beside numerous Turnstones, Rock Pipits & Pied Wagtails on the seaweed. Strangely, no Ringed Plovers were present, what was surprising was the large numbers of Rock Pipits along the whole length of the Little Beach. We continued our walk along the Berwick Walls, several Black-headed Gulls in full breeding plumage were seen, the spring song of the Great Tit was heard from nearby bushes as well as a flock of Goldfinches. On the River Tweed were several ‘Rafts’ of Goldeneye, mostly males outnumbering the females by about 5 to 1! Several males were beginning to display by nodding their heads & flapping their wings. As we approached the road bridge, swimming with the Goldeneye were 3 Long-tailed Ducks, 2 females & a magnificent male. On the river bank on the Tweedmouth side beside the resident Mute Swans was a Canada Goose.
It was a pleasant leisurely walk, & we were pleasantly surprised with our bird list which is as follows:
Dunlin, Blue Tit, Turnstone, Shag, Sanderling, Cormorant, Rock Pipits,
Long-tailed Duck, Purple Sandpipers, Goldeneye, Redshank, Mallard Oystercatcher, Gooseander, Black-headed Gull, Kestrel, House Sparrow, Mute Swan, Great Tit. Feral Pigeon, Robin, Wood Pigeon, Blackbird, Canada Goose, Starling, Herring Gull, Goldfinch. Great-.black Backed Gull, Carrion Crow, Rook, Jackdaw, Grey Heron, & Pied Wagtail
Submitted by ‘Lowick Linnet’ & ‘Eyemouth Eagle’
I have never before seen so many Rock Pippits together in such a relatively small area-possibly as many as two dozen.Does anyone know if these would be resident birds or visitors from the continent?
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