The North Coast: Arctic Skua, Long-tailed Duck and lots more!

When Brian picked me up at 7.30 the weather was very unpromising: heavy overcast and showers. We decided to head for Cley and look for Buntings along the beach - in the event the best we could manage was a fly-over Lapland Bunting. However, the walk along the shingle was quite productive, giving us close views of a dark Arctic Skua, as well as a somewhat more distant Long-tailed Duck. Gannets, Scoter and other duck were passing continually, as were Red-throated Divers.

Not many small birds at all, TBH: just a few Linnets and Meadow Pipits, but we racked up nearly seven miles of therapeutic slog through the shingle! A visit to the Whirligig at Stiffkey and a two-mile circuit at Salthouse were not without interest, but there was nothing to set the pulses racing...