the rocket field pools, holy island - The Northumberland and ...

Northumberland & Tyneside
Bird Club
Registered Charity No. 517641
SITE GUIDE TO THE ROCKET FIELD POOLS, HOLY ISLAND
by
Ian Kerr
The Rocket Field looking towards Lindisfarne Castle (photo Ian Kerr)
0S LANDRANGER : - 1:50000 SHEET 75
ATLAS TETRADS : - NU14 F/G
One of the frustrating things about birding on the Lindisfarne National Nature
Reserve is the sheer size of the place. It’s a bit like having a wonderful iced cake and only
being able to nibble a tiny bit at the side of it.
Whether watching from Holy Island itself, perhaps from the Heugh, or from the
Causeway, Beal Point, Fenham Mill, Fenham-le-Moor, Elwick shore or Ross Links, it is
possible to see only a small proportion of its vast area of mudflats and channels.
Huge areas out in the centre are beyond the range of even the most powerful and
most expensive scopes and I often wonder just how many real goodies go unseen out there.
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To try to penetrate too far from the edges is a pretty risky business. There are
areas of quicksand, deep mud-holes and treacherous creeks and, of course, the tide itself,
so it is hardly surprising that very few folk, experienced locals included, ever attempt it.
True, you can safely follow the poles of the Pilgrims’ Way at low tide and that gets
you among a whole host of waders and geese, a truly exhilarating experience, and one I am
surprised more birders don’t try. Or you can sail up the creeks and burns at low tide
provided you have the use of a boat, something I occasionally manage.
But for the vast majority of birders peering into the distance from the edges is all
that is really available and many good birds must be missed. Perhaps this explains the fact
that, despite its size, Lindisfarne has a poorer rare wader list than some very much
smaller areas, such as Cresswell Pond or Druridge Pools.
For example, can anyone really believe that Temminck’s Stint has only twice
occurred at Lindisfarne? Or that Little Ringed Plover has never visited the locality? Both
seem to be prime cases of species which probably occurs fairly regularly, as at other
coastal localities in the county, but escape detection because of the vast expanse of the
reserve.
However, there is one local spot that does provide some superb close wader
watching. That is the Rocket Field Pools just to the north of the road from Holy Island
village to Lindisfarne Castle. It is named because signal rockets to summon the crew of the
island lifeboat were fired from the field in an age before telephones, never mind mobiles
and pagers!
A rather half-hearted and ultimately unsuccessful attempt to drain the field was
made many years ago. The pools, none more than a foot deep, which used to be seasonal
have recently become almost permanent, perhaps because of wetter summers. This more
permanent state has led to the pools attracting an increasing range of species, all in clear
view from the road or from the Crooked Lonnen. Even the stone walls are just the right
elbow height to steady binoculars.
The main drain to the sea which carries excess water from Holy Island Lough runs
to the west of the pools and then under the Castle road to the Ouse. During very high
tides seawater can back up along its course. There are also deep ditches to the north and
east of the pools which normally hold some water even in the driest summers.
In early spring, the pools are usually still full after the winter and hatching insects
along their edges are a magnet for small migrants. During March newly-arrived Pied
Wagtails are attracted, usually with a few White Wagtails in lovely grey breeding plumage.
Meadow Pipits, also strictly a summer visitor to the island, are arriving or migrating north
westward overhead at this time and many drop to feed among the wagtails. Other typical
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early migrants, including Wheatear and occasionally Black Redstarts, as in late March-early
April 2010, use the field and its walls.
Waders during this period include many Dunlin in breeding plumage, Redshank and
the occasional Greenshank and Spotted Redshank. Large numbers of Golden Plover, all
positively identifiable in spring as Northern birds from their extensive black markings,
often fly in from other fields and the flats to bathe in the shallow water.
Further into spring other migrants arrive in the form of big and impressive
Greenland Wheatears and occasional Yellow Wagtails. In late April 2010 a group of large
Wheatears and several Yellow Wagtails on the drier Crooked Lonnen side of the field, also
held a stunning male Black-headed Wagtail, the second Northumberland record for this
race. Unfortunately, it was found when the tide was rising preventing many birders from
getting to the island. By next morning it and the other wagtails had departed.
Onward passage reduces wader numbers during May although the pools can still
attract goodies. Temminck’s Stint has already been mentioned as a super-rarity for
Lindisfarne but one was present in mid-May 2008. Small numbers of non-breeding waders
summer at Lindisfarne and often fly in at high tide to roost at the Rocket Field alongside
its only nesting waders, Lapwings and the occasional Oystercatchers.
By late July return wader migration is underway and the pools, usually much reduced
and in some summers baked dry, attract large numbers of Redshanks, Curlews, Dunlin and a
few passing Whimbrel. Large numbers of gulls use the field and local flocks have included
the occasional Little Gulls, Common and Sandwich terns and, increasingly, Mediterranean
Gull.
August and September are also good with all the waders so far mentioned plus
Spotted Redshank, occasional Wood, Green and Curlew sandpipers, Ruff and Black-tailed
Godwit. Northumberland’s second Baird’s Sandpiper was present in September 1998. Little
Stints can also occur and a Pectoral Sandpiper was present during the influx of early
November 2010.
By October and November most migrant waders have gone but the field continues to
have its attractions. For example, in October 2005 a very obliging Grey Phalarope was
present. During late autumn numbers of regular winter visitors build up nicely.
The Rocket Field must be one of the best places in the county for close views (and
photographs) of Brent Geese with up to 300 often present in the winter months,
particularly at high tide. When the Brents are out on the flats it is often difficult to get
good and close views. At the Rocket Field close views are the norm. Most which occur are
that Lindisfarne speciality, the pale-bellied Svalbard race but dark-bellied Siberian birds
are also fairly regular.
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Teal are the most abundant species with feeding birds often only 20 or 30 yards
from the road. In most recent winters more than 600 have been regular. These big
gatherings can also pull in passing Whooper Swans, Shelduck, Wigeon, Pintail, Shoveler and
other ducks.
Pale-bellied Brent Geese on the pools (photo Stuart Moffitt)
By mid-winter the Rocket Field is often Northumberland’s only regular site for
Black-tailed Godwit even though numbers are very small, usually only two or three birds,
but nevertheless valuable those wanting to get a flying start to their year lists.
Occasionally wintering Greenshank, Spotted Redshank and Ruff have also been found,
perhaps birds commuting from the more normal winter site of Budle Bay. Large numbers of
common waders, Lapwings, Redshank, Curlew and Golden Plover are also usually present,
particularly at high tide. These gatherings attract the attention of Lindisfarne’s regular
wintering Peregrines and sudden panics with birds rising in alarm are an almost daily
occurrence.
A good number of rare waders are still to be recorded at the Rocket Field. I check
it out every day I’m on the island (usually four or five days per month). I wonder what its
list would be if it was as well-watched as other localities like Cresswell Pond? At the time
of writing, plans are afoot to provide a hide at the field if funding is forthcoming. Watch
this space!
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