Ringed Plover

After a great day wandering around that National Trust's Cragside House and Estate, we came back to our holiday place on the coast, only to fund that the weather had briefly improved.  It was a largely overcast and wet day, but for about 45 minutes there was some late afternoon sunshine, so Incredibish and I took ourselves down to the shore for some bird photography.  It must be wonderful to live somewhere that is an easy walk from a great bird watching location.

The main is a ringed plover.  This small, dumpy, short-legged wading bird is now in its winter plumage and the orange on the beak has shrunk back to just a little spot on the lower beak.  I spent some time creeping out along a rock shelf in the hope of getting close enough only to find that the sun then went behind a bank of cloud, taking away the light.  The main is taken a little further away than I'd hoped to achieve.  

While I was creeping along the shelf, I also took occasional shots of a curlew, see the extra.  I love the way the water drop has just fallen from its beak.

We've come to the end of our short trip and will be driving the 360 miles home again tomorrow.  I really like the little bit of Northumberland that I've seen, and I'm sure I will be back.  There were just so many photo opportunities.