BIRDWATCHING ON HOLY ISLAND by IAN KERR (enlarged and updated edition) Holy Island and the Lindisfarne National Nature Reserve is by far the top birdwatching spot in North East England, 318 species having so far been recorded with new birds being added to the list annually. One of the most recent was a superb Roller in autumn 2006. Thrusting into the North Sea, the island is often the first landfall for many migrants. The general lack of cover, apart from village gardens and the lonnen hedgerows, makes birds easy to find, something appreciated by hundreds of birders, particularly during spring and autumn migration. Spring attracts many common summer visitors as well as rarities. These include Red-backed Shrike, Bluethroat while occasionally seen are Marsh Harrier, Osprey, Honey Buzzard, White Stork, Dotterel, Wryneck, Nightingale and Marsh, Icterine and Subalpine warblers. Mega rarities such as Red-flanked Bluetail and Pine Grosbeak have also occurred for very lucky visitors. Thousands of north-bound waders in full breeding plumage are present on the flats and off the Causeway road in May-early June. Seabird movements are prominent during spring and summer with the full range of skuas and shearwaters as well as many thousands of Gannets from the Bass Rock. Feeding parties of Puffins, Razorbills, Guillemots, Sandwich, Arctic and Common terns from the nearby Farne Islands (it now has 100,000 pairs of breeding seabirds) are prominent from Holy Island. Lindisfarne has its own breeding Little Terns. The island has impressive breeding numbers of decline farmland species such as Skylark, Meadow Pipit, Lapwing, Linnet and Reed Bunting and village gardens host very healthy population of another species of conservation concern, Song Thrush. By late July wader passage is underway with opportunities to see large numbers of Grey and Golden Plovers, Bar-tailed Godwits, Knot and others still in glorious breeding plumage. The tempo increase during August and September with thousands of waders pouring into the area from northern and Arctic breeding grounds. This period has produced many rarities including American Golden Plover, Lesser Yellowlegs, Baird's, Pectoral, Broad-billed and Buff-breasted sandpipers with, no doubt, still more to be found in the future by sharp-eyed visitors. During September the vanguard of Lindisfarne's most famous wintering species, the pale-bellied Svalbard race of Brent Goose, arrive with thousands of Wigeon and other wildfowl and particularly increasing numbers of Pink-footed Goose, Pintail and Shelduck. October attracts most birders to Holy Island - and with very good reason. Mass invasions of Redwing, Fieldfare, Blackbirds, Song Thrushes and other common migrants, inevitably bring with them the real sought-after rarities. Up to half a dozen Yellow-browed Warblers in the village is not unusually and Red-breasted Flycatcher and Barred Warbler are regular. Chimney Swift, Desert Wheatear, Pallas's, Icterine, Arctic, Greenish, Hume's Yellow-browed, Radde's, Dusky and Western Bonelli's warblers have all occurred as have Olive-backed and Richard's pipits, Citrine Wagtail, Woodchat and Red-eyed Vireo. While all this has been going on wildfowl and wader numbers continue to build up to provide a wintering population of around 50,000 wildfowl and waders with internationally important numbers of pale-bellied Brent Geese, Pinkfeet, Wigeon, Bar-tailed Godwit and Grey Plover and nationally important populations of both Slavonian and Red-necked grebes, often best seen from the Heugh. A new and enlarged edition of The Birds of Holy Island & Lindisfarne National Nature Reserve, published in 2003, is now available. The new edition, in an expanded format with extra information and all records updated to early 2007 has more anecdotes and double the number of colour pages. Northumbrian artist Stewart Sexton and local wildlife photographers Tim Dean, Richard Dunn and Mike Hodgson have provided superb illustrations. Among new topics covered in the book are:- The story and photographs of a Stoat which developed a taste for Fulmar oil after killing their chicks. How islanders recruited Goldcrests to clear their cottages of spiders and flies long before fly paper or sprays were invented. How old-time naturalists shot small birds, many still in the region's museums, without damaging them. Argument about changing weather conditions, perhaps involving global warming, affecting migration. The mystery of what has happened to our former regular spring passage of Bluethroats. Discussion about whether the large numbers of Yellow-browed Warblers occurring each autumn along the east coast are just vagrants or is something much more fundamental occurring. Are we seeing evolution in action? The front cover depicts that iconic local species, the Eider, selected because of its close associations with Cuthbert, the area's most famous saint. Cuthbert spent long periods in solitude on the Farne Islands and legend has it that he laid down rules for the protection of nesting Eiders, making him Britain's first conservationists many centuries before the term had been invented. The new 96-page edition has been produced with financial support from Northumbrian Water, Natural England and island businesses. Other sections cover the island's famed flora and the recent discovery of its unique orchid, the Lindisfarne Helleborine. THE BIRDS OF HOLY ISLAND by IAN KERR New Edition Published: May 2007 - ISBN 0-9544880-0-8 Available from Ian Kerr, 7 Crossgates, Holy Island, Northumberland, TD15 2ST Price £8.50p - including postage & packing

Updated: May 2007