Just got back from a visit to Newburgh and the Ythan estuary, Newburgh, Aberdeenshire. I've been looking at the nearby hotel for several weeks as well as noticing many photographs online from the estuary so, off we went on Sunday, back today. It's only a 1.5 hour drive for us so no real hassle at all and I must say, we will be going back.
The Newburgh Inn is a short walk from the beach so was perfect for us and the prices are pretty good, good food, nice staff, we'll probably stay there again too. But, the beach, the river, the nature reserve! Loved it all. Part of the reserve is currently roped off for Tern breeding but a loop walk was 3.8 miles including the most beautiful, deserted beach with Grey Seals popping up to investigate us all the way along to the haul out where there are a few hundred of them every day.
Forvie Nature Reserve, runs by NatureScot is just on the outskirts of Newburgh and we enjoyed our 3.8 mile walk there, looking forward to a few more.
I'm going to add photos as I get them edited so, in the order I took them
We arrived mid day on the Sunday and walked into town just to see what there was shops-wise - One general store, then off to the estuary and the beach.
It's a half mile walk to the beach, a little less to the estuary via the golf course and they're currently adding a decked walkway which will make it more accessible, we chose to go over the dunes first, a bit more of a hike but it was a beautiful day and there's loads to see, LOTS of butterflies around at the moment.
Down onto the sandy beach eventually for a wander and explore. A beautiful, soft sand beach, the river flowing by to the sea and wonderful sand dunes on the opposite bank, where the birds nest and the reserve is.
Area explored, we went back for dinner, a wee drink maybe and bed.
First thing in the morning, I'm up, off and out.
Black-headed gull foraging
A group of mixed aged Common Gulls
A small sample of the Eiders on the estuary
There are, of course, a LOT of gulls of many varieties, the sea is a few hundred yards away so it's good to see and hear them in their natural environment, not a McDonalds car park
Black-headed Gull passing by
A few Oystercatchers on the far bank
A family? of Sandwich Terns
I think I read that four species of Tern breed here.
A camouflage of Sanderling
One of the other reasons the estuary is well know, is the colony of Grey seals that use it to haul out and doze on.
A rare lone Grey seal
I've said rare because there are SO many on the river and its banks, it is rare to see only one
Remember I mentioned camouflage?
Dunlin & Ringed Plover
I stood a few yards from a group like this on Wednesday morning and didn't notice them!
And there's the sea ....... in the background
So, I finally made it from the estuary itself out to the mouth area where the seals hang out but, I'm going to save them for later.
I've added this last shot of a group of mixed gulls with what I think is a young Black-backed dozing amongst them. Anyone like to agree / disagree? I'm not that good at gulls.
There are a few more shots to edit yet!!!!! I'll add them and finish this off asap.
Hello again all, I've been working away at the multitude of photos taken on this visit and I've reached the end of the morning walk of the 29th.
We then headed up to Peterhead, which wasn't really worth it but, we stopped at the Bullers of Buchan on the way back, which was, I'll try to post those tomorrow.
For now, here's the rest of Monday 29th.
I mentioned the Grey Seal colony here but I've not really posted much of them yet, suffice it to say, there are a lot of them.
A gaggle of greys
That's about a tenth of them and the estuary and sea shore all around is full of them too, they're lying across just a short stretch of the river mouth.
Inquisitive Grey Seal
They're also very inquisitive and I got some beautiful shots of them staring at me and my camera
Just beyond the seals, the beach stretches off for about a mile and can be reached by walking through Forvie nature reserve.
Preening supervisor
A photographer from nearby, I think, posted a few shots of Whimbrel on the estuary the next day so I wasn't sure if I got a Whimbrel or Curlew in the next shot. Anyone know?
Lots of gulls around.
Herring gull passing (I think)
Low flyer
Sandwich Tern
I don't know if I mentioned before, the reserve is a Tern breeding ground for four species of tern so was closed off to some extent and there were lots of Terns around.
Young Sandwich Terns
View from the estuary mouth back towards town
Red Admiral on the path
I'd like to say we were very lucky with the weather, it was breezy but clear skies and sunshine the entire visit. OK, we'd checked and were lucky to get a room at short notice at the Newburgh Inn, which we will go back to again.
I'll work on the next day soon. Sorry if it's visit overload.
Lovely selection of pics, never too many of a place little known to most of us!
2013 photos & vids here
eff37 on Flickr
As Wendy says, it's always good to get the lowdown on prospective future visits! A fabulous array of species, I always like a Tern... and sometimes I have a funny one! Thanks for sharing pics and info :o)
Me too
So the 29th afternoon was spent driving to Peterhead, wandering around and leaving, then stopping at the Bullers of Buchan, because I'd heard of it / them before. There's a great big car park and a short walk down to a few cottages, probably original and they stand at the top of a cliff gulley. The fisher-folk would have climbed down to gather in fish and hoist them back up to those up top!
There were a few people on the Northern headland so, we headed South and SO glad we did.
A major first for both of us but, the first thing I noticed was an apparent crime in progress. This bird, a *Herring Gull appeared to be attempting to drown another bird, I missed the best photo opportunities but caught this one shot as they drifted round the headland. This definitely did not look like a male making advances to a female! Didn't see the result either.
Onward.
There were quite a few Kittiwakes nesting and roosting on the opposite cliff face.
Made me wonder about the crime being enacted, an intruder maybe?
As we got to another cliff edge I looked down at the sea below and saw several rafts of birds bobbing on the surface. Binoculars out.
Puffins!!!! Our first ever and lovely to see them, albeit quite distant. I started scanning the cliffs around us.
Nope, Rock Doves. But, as I scanned, a bird flew through my view, with a beak-ful of sand eels! Missed the shot, dammit. It disappeared into a hole so I kept my camera ready.
Out it popped and stood having a good look around, long enough for me to grab some shots
A young Belgian couple on holiday turned up and they'd no idea what we were seeing so I loaned them the binocs for a while, made their day
After a decent while watching them on the water below, we headed back towards the car park.
Most definitely made this a worthwhile stop. We didn't go up the other side as a group of people were just heading up there with dogs etc. so, off we went. Next stop, Old Slain's castle, also very worth a visit but maybe not for this forum?
Always fab to see a new bird... and when it's a puffin...well... icing on the cake :o) I remember when me and Mrs PB saw our first a few years back on the Farne Islands, absolutely thrilled to bits... and they still bring a smile to my face
Great info and photos thank you for sharing, it looks like you had a fabulous time and saw a great deal of wildlife and a first with the Puffins must have made your day.
Thanks guys, we did have a great couple of days and intend to have many more
Night collection of photos.
Re i.d's, the curlew v whimbrel photo are curlews.
The gull drowning another bird looks like a herring gull from that photo.
The camouflaged 'dunlin' are sanderlings. Dunlin do appear in a photo two below that one.
Thank you stealthybutnotthatstealthy I had looked up the Curlew / Whimbrel comparisons and thought they were but, couldn't really tell them apart. Thanks for the Dunlin/Sanderling ID On the Herring gull, wondering if there was a young Kittiwake under it
PS, Just discovered the Edit option