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Lindisfarne or Holy Island is a place that really
does live up to its billing in the brochures. It's
an atmospheric landscape of mudflats, sand dunes and salt marshes which is reached
by a narrow causeway which is flooded at high tide, cutting it off from the mainland. | | Lindisfarne
- remote island with autumn wildlife spectacles |
 Lindisfarne
Priory is also the site of one of the most important early centres of Christianity
in Anglo-Saxon England.
In the 7th Century, Aidan and his monks sought
solace and retreat here, establishing their church and a monastery on the island
in 635AD. Another of Holy Island's most distinctive features is Lindisfarne
Castle, perched atop a rocky crag. The castle was originally a Tudor fort
which was converted into a private house by Edwin Lutyens in 1903. But
this is much more than a picture postcard destination - it's probably the best
spot to go bird-watching in the North East of England. More than 300 species
of bird can be found on the island together with a fantastic range of plant and
some brilliant marine life on and around its beach and coastal environment. The
island has a rich diversity of wildlife. In winter visitors can see about 50,000
birds which visit the island and its coastline. Brilliant
isolation  Lindisfarne
is a special place and still maintains the sense of isolation that brought the
monks to this island 1,300 years ago.
It's a top spot for wildlife - full
of birds and marine life around the seashore. If you hang around the causeway
you'll be rewarded with some of the best views of wading birds anywhere in England
including Pale-bellied Brent Geese. The birds are a subspecies of the Brent
Goose - you can see their underbellies and flanks are a lighter colour, and they're
altogether a rarer.
You can also see Pale-bellied Brent Geese in Northern
Ireland but these are birds that have come from the Canadian Arctic. The
Lindisfarne geese arrive via the Norwegian Arctic, attracted by the eel grass
that grows around the island's shoreline. The island's rich feast of eel
grass, also to be found in the shoreline pools, attracts many birds along the
island's shores. Wading wonders  Lindisfarne
is a bird watchers' paradise with just about the full complement of British waders
in the autumn including Godwits, Redshank, Oystercatcher, Grey Plover, Lapwing,
Curlew, and Dunlin.
It's so popular with wading birds because of the variety
of food - Lindisfarne's mudflats contain lots of invertebrates within it - it's
a bit like a seaside hotel with full board.. The Brents love the eel grass
- our top tip for seeing them is follow them munching the grass. When there's
an incoming tide, you can watch as the birds get pushed towards you. In
the past the birds were a food source for humans - there is a long tradition of
wildfowling to feed the islanders but over hunting became a problem. These
birds remain under pressure - with displaced Barnacles from Islay out-competing
them on the island for food.. Also look out for large numbers of Greylag
Geese and Pink-footed Geese on Fenham Flats in the autumn. Weather
watch  Across
the island there's also a chance of seeing Short-eared Owl and Merlin especially
when they are hunting amongst the waders.
The island can be pretty wild
with gales and storms passing through on occasion, but this is a surprisingly
good time to watch the bird life.
During a storm the birds can sometimes
be seen moving into the wind, heading north right into the eye of the storm. Hang
around with your binoculars and you can get excellent views especially when the
birds are heading into the wind and they're travelling much more slowly, making
them easier to see. Rock pooling  The
shoreline near Lindisfarne Castle is a great place for rockpooling.
Look
out for marine life such as Scorpion Fish, Velvet Swimming Crabs, Pipe Fish and
Sea Hares. Simply turn over a few rocks and look underneath, but don't forget
to out them back where you found them. Photo
credits Image of Oystercatcher copyright
and courtesy of RSPB Images and Andy Hay. | 
