Whinchats & Meadow Pipits

It was a good day for birds but not such a good day to picture them.

I heard my first Cukoo of the day only a mile from home at Hopefoot, in the woodland skirting the Otter Burn. This was followed by a Buzzard post-perching at Hopehead, and Oystercaters, Lapwing and Curlew in the pastures near Craig, on route to Coquetdale.

I have a favourite stopping place beside a small wet heather moor just beyond North Yardhope; here, in spring and summer, I always look for Whinchats and am seldom disappointed. There was an active pair there today, both perching conspicuously on prominant twigs of heather or on the wire stock fence on the moor's southern boundary. All the while, Cuckoos were calling from woodlands to the north and south.

I tried digiscoping some pictures of the Whinchats from the open car window using a bean bag to support the fieldscope and camera. The birds were probably one hundred and fifty yards away at this point and it was no surprise that the pictures were unsuccessful. Afterwards, I tried to get closer, covering the tripod, fieldscope and camera with some camouflage scrim in an effort to break up its outline, and my own, as I moved slowly through the heather towards the birds. I managed one average picture before they took off.


A female Whinchat (Saxicola rubetra)
At mid-day, a Meadow Pipit settled in the grass very close to me. It was carrying food to its young in a nearby nest. During the afternoon, I watched it and its mate return regularly to the nest with food.


Meadow Pipit (Anthus pratensis)
The return journey to Redesdale followed the Holystone Burn and the River Coquet, with a quick stop to view a toddler Lapwing in the fields near Holystone Grange, and then the Grasslees Burn to Billsmoor Foot and Elsdon.

Redesdale

My friend Beryl Charlton, in her book The Story of Redesdale, says: "The jewel in Redesdale's crown is it's history, for this is the valley which is richer in story and ballad than any other in England. Prehistoric people built their settlements here, the Romans established themselves at High Rochester and buried their dead in a cemetery near by. The most bitter battle in the medieval Anglo-Scottish wars was fought in Otterburn and the Border Reivers carried on their deadlie feuds from strongholds in the valley. The 17th century Covernanters held seccret meetings in the hills, whisky smugglers and drovers used the old Roman road of Dere Street and the body of the murderer William Winter was hung on the gibbet above Elsdon. The violence and stubborn courage, bloodshed and romance, triumphs and tragedies continue to excite the imagination of historians, novelists and poets".

The valley is also a place of great natural beauty, especially for those who seek it out. Kingfishers and herons patrol the river Rede and red squirrels are found in its woodland. And in spring and summer, the haunting call of breeding curlews is all around. Sadly, too many pass through without noticing in their haste to reach Scotland, just over the hill pass at Carter Bar at the valley head.


The River Rede


Brown Hare (Lepus capensis)


Meadow Pipit (Anthus pratensis)


Rupert's Wood