Bird Watching Around Northumberland National Park

Red GrouseCurlewHeronChaffinchThe wide open spaces and special habitats of Northumberland National Park offer plenty of opportunities for the keen bird watcher. Bring your book and binoculars!

Beginners and experts alike will find the tours run by Bird Watch Northumbria or Northern Experience Wildlife Tours ideal for getting up close to the native bird species. Spring is a great time to visit as many of the summer visitors like the whinchat and redstart have arrived to breed, while resident birds are well established in their breeding activities including the spectacular peregrine falcon.

Bird Watching in the Cheviot Hills

Alwinton - upland bird watching in England gets no better than in Upper Coquetdale around Alwinton.

• From here, exploring the hills on foot brings the chance to see dippers, common sandpipers and grey wagtails in the grassy valley bottoms with the possibility of sighting ring ouzel and wheatears on the heather moorlands.

Simonside Ridge - look out for:

• Red grouse, peregrine, ravens. On lower slopes closer to in-bye fields around farmsteads look for waders in the spring including curlew, lapwing and snipe. Also look for skylarks and meadow pipits.

Harthope Valley - in the spring look out for:

Willow warblers, wood warblers, redstarts, green woodpeckers, chiffchaff, blackcaps and other small passerines, including tits, nuthatches, tree creepers, also cuckoos, kestrels, rarely black grouse at top end. Look for dippers and grey wagtails by the burn.

Hawsen Burn - in the spring look out for:

• Ring ouzels.

College Valley - look out for:

• Woodland birds, river birds (dipper, grey wagtail). black grouse and red grouse.

Bird Watching around Hadrian's Wall

Roman Wall loughs - best in winter for wildfowl.

• Look out for whooper swans, goldeneye, greylag geese, white fronted geese, wigeon, teal, lapwings and tufted ducks. Grindon Lough can be best from the Stanegate road. Greenlee Lough can be viewed from the National Park bird hide or footpaths.

Hareshaw Linn - look out for:

• Woodland birds which are best seen in spring and early summer. Willow and wood warblers, great spotted woodpeckers, tits, nuthatches, tree creepers and chiffchaff.

Bird Watching at Kielder

With the number of trees, Kielder is a place for the sharp eyed bird watcher.

The star attractions are the raptors (birds of prey to the rest of us). Forest Enterprise has created a raptor viewpoint at Bakethin, signposted from the main road and about a mile from Kielder Village. Learn more about the birds of Kielder

Bird Watching at Thrunton Wood

Thrunton Woods is another mainly conifer forest managed by the Forestry Commission.

• The wood is well covered by footpaths and therefore easily explored. Species to be found include crossbill, coal tit and goldcrest with cuckoos providing one of the commonest sounds of late spring.
• Taking one of the well signposted footpaths to the nearby moor and crags can also be rewarded with sightings of sparrowhawk, peregrine, and red grouse.

Bird Watching at Wallington

The woods and grounds at the National Trust Estate at Wallington (off the A696) provide another excellent habitat for birds and bird watching.

• This is possibly the best site in the county for woodpeckers, including both green woodpeckers which may be seen searching for insects on the lawns and great spotted woodpeckers in the woods.
• Wallington is also one of the best nuthatch sites in Northumberland and has several more unusual woodland species such as hawfinch. Wildfowl may also be seen on the various small ponds on the estate including one or two pairs of little grebes or dabchicks.