Birds and flowers in Thornwick Bay, East Yorkshire - 5th June 2026

I arrived in Thornwick Bay during the early afternoon and was able to move into my accommodation straight away - this was the pleasant view through the front window of my mobile home

After unpacking, I went for a wander round the site

A Barn Swallow was sitting on the top of an outside light on a storage building

Male Chaffinch singing from the top of the hedge round Thornwick nature reserve

Tall Ox-eye daisies inside the nature reserve

Male Gadwall on the water at Thornwick Pools

Speckled Wood butterfly on a leaf inside the reserve

Wild Orchids and Ragged Robin flowers near the water at Thornwick fishing lake

Lovely yellow Water Iris at the edge of the lake

Goldfinch sitting on a fence

Another Goldfinch at the top of a hedge

Female Linnet on a thin stem

Wild Orchids among Buttercups in the gorge leading to the sea at Thornwick Bay

Rocks in Thornwick Bay

Deep crevasse in the cliffs in Thornwick Bay

Pretty white flowers on the cliff in Thornwick Bay

Meadow Pipit sitting high up on a cable

Lovely yellow flowers at the holiday park

Pair of canoodling Wood Pigeons on a fence

Vipers Bugloss at the edge of an expanse of grass at Thornwick Bay

 

Birds and bluebells seen during a walk along the cliffs at Berwick-upon-Tweed on 8th May 2026

I arrived in Berwick-upon-Tweed at lunchtime, before my holiday mobile home was ready, so I left my luggage with security and wandered along the path on the cliffs

Two Linnets were sitting on the fence at the edge of the holiday park

Crow helpfully pointing out which direction I should take

Male Chaffinch with food for his babies

Berwick lighthouse in the distance at the end of a long promenade

Patch of pretty Bluebells on the road down towards the lighthouse

Someone must like birds!

Pied Wagtail on a wall

House Sparrow amongst foliage

Herring Gull with nesting material on a roof

Two young Stonechats on each side of a shrub with brambles

The young Stonechats then sat together on the side of the shrub

until one flew away!

I think this may be mum Stonechat

and dad Stonechat!

 What a lovely start to my week long stay in Berwick-upon-Tweed

Birds and lots of water during my second visit to Leighton Moss nature reserve on 6th November 2025

Northern Shoveler seen from the Causeway hide

and a female and two male Gadwalls - also at the Causeway hide

This is the path leading to the Causeway hide - there had been a lot of rain during the few days I had been staying in the area and, although it was not raining during the day, I could only just manage to go along this path by gingerly walking along the side by the hedge.  I could not go any further towards the Lower hide as I was told there was a lot of 6" deep water further along the path and I was only equipped with waterproof shoes and not wellies!

As I could go no further along that path, I turned round and went to Lilian's hide

A flock of nine Whooper swans had just landed in the lagoon in front of the hide

There was a juvenile Whooper among the group, which had slightly disturbed the Coots

The Whoopers only stayed for a short time and were soon off somewhere else

I accidentally photographed a Marsh Harrier when I was taking pictures of the Whooper exit!

Oh dear - the path to the Grisedale and Tim Jackson hides was covered in really deep water!

and only suitable for people with waterproof boots/wellies or, alternatively, for these three Mallards, which were on their way there!

I back-tracked once again and climbed up the Skytower from where I saw a male Eurasian Teal

and a female - both with feathers blowing around in the wind

I had run out of places that I could reach without getting wet feet, so ended up in the bird feeder area near the Visitor Centre

Coat Tit and female Chaffinch on the feeder

Two Coal Tits

Female Bullfinch on the ground near the feeders

Greenfinch with seed in its beak

A Robin was checking out that its picture was included on the bird identification chart - it was!

I was joined by a very close Robin on the picnic table when I was eating my lunch

I had another look at the bird feeders, where I saw my first Marsh Tit

Back at Lilian's hide, there were three Snipe among the ducks at the edge of a little island

I was staying in the area especially to visit Leighton Moss and was annoyed with myself at not being better equipped for walking through deep water.  I just did not expect there to be so many places on the site that were prone to flooding.  Regardless of that, I did see some interesting birds - especially the Whooper swans and the Bullfinch - and just wish I was able to visit again in drier conditions.