Purple Sandpipers #94

What an unexpectedly lovely day we've had. Looking at the weather forecast I thought we were in for a dull and slightly damp day, but it's been really bright but incredibly windy. We started with a drive by Budle Bay, but forgot that the tide would be out, and all the birds were too far away really. So, we went up to Stag Rocks by Bamburgh castle and sat in the car for a few minutes watching the birds in amongst the rocks and then went down onto the beach. There were plenty of birds around happily feeding away, including plenty of purple sandpipers, my first sighting for two years, so it had to be my blip today. We took a long walk along the beach with the wind mainly behind us, gusting at over 50 mph apparently. This was whipping up the sand and making it quite difficult, so we headed into the village and had lunch at The Copper Kettle which was delicious. 
Then after walking back along the road to the car, we popped over to Beadnell hoping for a nice sunset, but it was not to be. We looked at all the clouds in the sky and decided that it wasn't worth waiting around much longer and went back to Stag Rocks. There we met a couple with a scope who showed me a Bonaparte's Gull - not something I've ever seen before, so that was nice to see. Took a few pictures of the castle and beach in the dying light and then went home. There are a few more shots in extra from our day.
Apart from the wind, it was warm, bright and dry, so we feel very lucky and happy with our first day's weather. Long may it continue. 

Edit: Whilst at Stag rocks I spotted a ringed purple sandpiper and sent off for details. I had a response quite quickly and apparently it is from Spitsbergen in Norway, was ringed in August 2021 and this is the second winter it has been spotted at Stag Rocks - it must like it here :)