Newbiggin by the Sea and Birds
by Alan Tilmouth (alan@atilmouth.freeserve.co.uk)

Take a look at a map of the Northumberland coastline and you will see that with the exception of our offshore islands (Coquet & The Farnes) Newbiggin by the Sea juts out just about the furthest into the North Sea. This fact alone is responsible for making the town and an area 1-2km North, South and West one of the best places in Northumberland to catch up with migrating birds in both Spring & Autumn.

In the world of birdwatching Newbiggin has become a name known up and down the land during the last 13 years although the history of man watching birds goes back as far as the mid Nineteenth century when Hancock (the same one the museum is named after in Newcastle) is thought to have visited.

Newbiggin's real potential for both rare and common migrants as well as passing seabirds really began to come to the fore when a small number of 'birders'began to watch the area regularly from 1989 to the present day. Since then around 240 different species have been recorded in an area from Alcan Power Station in the North to Spital Point in the South and the A189 Spine Road in the West.

During this time a number of very rare birds both nationally and locally have been found including a Black Faced Bunting that was only the second record for the UK in 2000. Other notable rare species have included Olive Backed Pipit, Short Toed Lark, two Hume's Warblers, several Dusky & Radde's Warblers, Rustic, Ortolan and Little Bunting.

Most of these birds have been found in a relatively small area adjacent to the Ash Lagoon banks although some have made their way into local gardens or fields.

Probably the most visible sign of birders in Newbiggin is at Newbiggin or Church Point, where in the right weather conditions passing seabirds come remarkably close to the land, here birders will gather at the North End of the point and sit for hours watching the passing seabirds.

Newbiggin is the best place in Northumberland to watch this seabird migration and the volume of birds on certain dates can be phenomenal for example 10,000 birds of a single species may pass the point in the right weather conditions. The other lesser known byproduct of the time spent watching the sea is that there has been a growing number of sightings of cetaceans (Whales & Dolphins) seen from the point. There certainly seems to be a regular family pod of Harbour Porpoise that linger offshore at Newbiggin and occasionally larger animals such as Minke Whale have been seen. Grey and Common Seals are also fairly common sightings.

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