The Durham coast used to be famed for industrial dereliction and coal waste dumping, but thanks to a wonderfully successful clean-up campaign it's now a great place for coastal walking, where you can get eye-to-eye with a kestrel as it glides on the updraft from the beach.
The cliffs south of Seaham are becoming popular with birders - it's a great place to watch the fulmars that nest on the cliffs as they glide by ....
... and yesterday the scrub on the cliff top was alive with singing whitethroats
...
... along with this smartly turned-out cock chaffinch..
The calcareous grassland along the Durham Coastal path is now part of the Durham Heritage Coast and just now the cowslips are coming into full bloom ...
.... along with the early purple orchids - a narrow strip of floral diversity, perched on top of the crumbling cliff edge
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a grand post. I've yet to see a kestrel this year.
ReplyDeleteLove the low down shots of Cowslip and Orchid Phil. Really shows them to their best.
ReplyDeleteGreat eye level shot of the Kestrel too.
I've only seen a couple of places on our Durham coast Phil. What I've seen makes me realise that our coastline is as beautiful as any in the U.K. I'd love to do the coastal walk from Seaham to Crimdon ...... or Crimdon to Seaham! :D
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