Coast and Castles - July 2025 - Tyne and Wear

I know this is hard to fathom but I was excited to arrive in Tyne and Wear. It is not somewhere I have ever really visited even though I have driven through it I don't know how many times on the way to Scotland. EBird - the fount of all knowledge may it live forever - suggests that I last visited in October 2020 whilst twitching a Taiga Flycatcher. I remember that day well. I had been birding at Spurn - by bicycle as it happens, and staying in a caravan at Easington - when it came up, I think late in the afternoon. I couldn't get there that evening so I returned to my caravan to plot. This resulted in me getting up in the middle of the night and arriving at Trow Quarry for first light. My only other recorded visit, remarkably to exactly the same quarry, was eleven years previously when Bradders had kidnapped me in Devon. When the drugs wore off I was in South Shields looking at an Eastern Crowned Warbler. This is a very roundabout way of saying that my Tyne and Wear list is totally pathetic, extreme rarities notwithstanding, and I was excited to be able to finally start birding there semi-properly.

The amber rain had other ideas. We had just about dried off from our utter soaking between Tottenham Court Road and King's Cross when we arrived in Newcastle. On getting out of the station it was clear this cosy state of affairs was not to last long. Indeed some sniggering occured as we stopped outside a watering hole on the quayside, my 'waterproof' trousers the object of this mirtth. I don't think I noticed, Mrs L told me about it later, but these hardy lads from the north-east were quite right. Not that they ever cycled anywhere I suspect, but the trousers were completely pointless, serving only to channel water down my legs and directly into my shoes. These are helpfully waterproof too, and so by the time we reached Blyth a few hours later I had water sloshing around my ankles and they weighed about 3kg each. I had apparently also missed some snide remarks from a young chap who had got on the train at Darlington, already half cut, for a night on the Toon. As we had pulled into Newcastle Mrs L had overheard some comparisons with Bradley Wiggins being made between this guy and his giggling waif of a companion, dolled up in approximately 3cm of gold fabric. I was too busy putting on my lovely waterproof trousers to notice, but had I done so these jibes would have simply rolled over me like water off a duck's back. Given what was about to come, would that I too had had the water-repelling abilities of wildfowl.

On the quayside at Newcastle. It is pissing down and I am already soaked. Note the look of glee on one of the faces.

It was not a happy ride. We headed east along the river via North Shields and Tynemouth to Whitley Bay, and then onwards through Seaton Sluice and up to Blyth. Fifteen minutes in I could not have been any wetter and in a funny way this did somehow improve the situation. Rather than worrying about how wet I was I took the fact that peak soaked had already occured as a positive. Things could only get better from here on in, I could only get dryer. Of course this appalling level of moisture persisted all the way to Blyth, the heavy rain did not let up once, but nonethless I felt cheerier than I expected to. Disappointed perhaps that this was supposedly a 'holiday', and here I was soaked to the skin with a hurty bottom, with my lungs about to burst out of my chest, my legs on fire, and no doubt all sorts of chafing occuring in undesireable places, but ultimately I was pleased to be here. I think.

Obviously the birding was not all it might have been. I enjoyed the Kittiwakes on the bridge and the side of the big building in Newcastle, cheered the Blackcap I heard near Redbourn Dene, and actually stopped to count the Common Terns at the Royal Quays Marina which is where I got my binoculars out for the first time. But ultimately it was a very damp squib, the focus being on getting to Blyth as quickly as we could. The final tally was 13 new species, taking me to a paltry 29 species for Tyne and Wear. The cards were stacked against me, a rematch is needed.

We squelched into the Commissioner's Quay Inn in Blyth at around half seven. Drowned rats looked on in sympathy. The amount of water that came out of my socks and shoes was quite something. Happily the room had a working radiator and, even more usefully, a large oscillating fan. The combination of these two things allowed us to fully dry out all of our stuff overnight, including our waterlogged shoes. Amazing. I had no spare footwear, and in any event was so exhausted I had no desire to walk further into town, so instead I went barefoot down to the bar/restuarant and treated myself to a deep-fried roast potato and a pint. As we ate some of the most miserable food I can remember in a long time we congratulated ourselves on having started a cycling holiday on the worst day of weather seen thus far in 2025. Things could only get better.

Coast and Castles - July 2025 - Logistics and Itinerary

Well this is a bit different isn't it? I went on a cycling holiday last week, surprising myself and many people who know me. Mrs L and I cycled from Newcastle to Fife taking the well known Coast and Castles route up the east coast. She has done this route several times before with a child in tow, and had been nagging me to do it with her. It took many years for me to finally give in, and so now she had to shepherd the biggest child of them all 220 miles over the course of six days. I was nervous, the furthest I've cycled in recent times was to Alexandra Lake, less than a mile. Indeed I am so slack that this was also the extent of my training leading up to this - the day before. Apparently that was on me and I found sympathy to be in short supply. 

Well? 

Well I made it (clearly) and it was fantastic. It was made even better by being able to bird the entire way and make serious dents in my Northumberland and Scottish Borders lists. When you're going as slow as I was you see and hear everything! Great fun! Anyway, I thought I would use my usual trip report format as it's a trip I would recommend to anyone wanting a wholesome and rewarding few days away with a nearest and dearest, even if you're (hypothetically) really unfit and rubbish at cycling. Doing so feels rather fraudulent as essentially what happened is that Mrs L organised the whole thing and I just showed up.... I should apologise at this juncture for there being rather more photos of me than normal on here. A temporary blip.

 Logistics

• A six day cycle tour with Mrs L, taking the train from London to Newcastle and then cycling up the east coast and around to Edinburgh and onwards into Fife.
• Train: We took the LNER Azuma service from Kings Cross to Newcastle. It is imperative that you book your bicycle on the train you are travelling on. It's free, but there are only four slots per train so you (or someone....) need to plan in advance. The bike rack seems to be in carriage K, try and get a seat there too. We then went home entirely by train.
• Bike: You need a bike with robust tyres, slick road tyres will not cut it. Lots of the route is paved, but there are also lots of bits that are unpaved and quite rough. One part of the UK's premier cycle route is in fact just a field. I have an old Ridgeback hybrid which seemed fine, and Mrs L has a dutch tourer. Both had racks. In an ideal world I would have had an electric bike to deal with the hills, of which there are many.... We saw many people cheating like this but having done it on a regular bike I can see the appeal.
• Bike Stuff: Mrs L packed bike lights, locks, a tool kit, spare inner tubes, water bottles, a first aid kit, sunscreen and drysacks. Both bikes had panniers with waterproof covers, and we both had quick-release handlebar bags for stuff we wanted to be able to carry with us when not cycling.
• Clothing: Entirely seasonal I suspect, but I cycled in shorts and a t-shirt each day, with a high viz vest over the top and a cycle helmet. Waterproof trousers seemed only to funnel water into my shoes so next time I will not bother. Next time (I am informed there is definitely a next time) I think I would prefer padded shorts. And a more padded saddle.
• Accomodation: When Mrs L has done this before with various children she has camped. Very sensibly I refused to come unless we stayed in places with beds. We stayed in B&Bs and small hotels, with my sister for one night, and in one case a one room self-everything bothy.
• Food - Cooked breakfasts, packed lunches, fish and chips, beer, regular wonderful British fare. We threw the towel in in Edinburgh and went out to a proper restaurant with a five course tasting menu and a matching wine flight.
• Weather - This can make or break a trip like this and I reckon we got pretty lucky. We left on the day that most of the the UK declared an amber "danger to life" rain warning and got soaked to the skin before we had left London. An excellent start. We had just about dried off by the time we arrived in Newcastle and then immediately got irretrievably wet again during our cycle to Blyth. Aside from this difficult start the rest of the trip was largely very pleasant, with warm weather and a fair amount of sunshine. There were some very unfair headwinds as we headed inland from Dunbar.
• Other - You need quadriceps and buttocks of steel. When the trip started I had neither. Plan ahead is my benefit of hindsight advice....Also small panthers are optional but highly recommended.
• Birding: I cycled with my bins around my neck the whole time and stopped frequently, making small eBird lists at virtually every point. Mrs L was amazingly tolerant now that I think about it, as the map below clearly shows.

This is the route composed in eBird lists....

Itinerary

• Day 1 - Lunchtime train from KGX to Newcastle arrived at about 5pm, then cycled about 20 miles to Blyth.
• Day 2 - Blyth to Seahouses. Met a high percentage of this blog's readership in a café in Cresswell mid morning. Lunch at Amble.
• Day 3 - Seahouses to Eyemouth via Bamburgh. Lunch at Berwick-upon-Tweed.
• Day 4 - Detour to St. Abb's Head, then on to Dunbar got lunch and inland to Haddington in the afternoon.

• Day 5 - Haddington to Edinburgh via Longniddry and Musselburgh lagoons. Lunch looking at sea ducks.

• Day 6 - Edinburgh to mid-Fife. Cycled over the old Forth road bridge and then past Dalgety Bay and Pettycur before heading inland at Kinghorn.

Brazil - The Atlantic Rainforest - June 2025 - Trip List

We saw 255 species with Bruno in the Atlantic Forest and added a futher 10 species by ourselves in Sao Paulo, mostly in Ibirapuera Park as we had time to kill during the morning before an afternoon flight home. Had we had more days there were other areas west of Sao Paulo and within striking distance that would have added more birds, but that's the way it goes. 16 day trips are for retired people only. One day. Nonetheless our tally seems to me to be pretty decent, and let's not forget that many of these birds are simply incredible and most showed really well. I love South America.

Of the 265, 140 were lifers, and I took my Brazil list from exactly 300 to 480. That's more than I've seen in my entire life in the UK, and that includes a fair few years of rarity chasing. The Neotropics truly are sensationally rich in birds and other wildlife. I'm planning to go back to Brazil in 2026, this time to the Amazon, and even having done only minimal research at this point I fully expect to come back with over 600.

As we expected Agami organised a great trip in the time we had available, and Bruno, Betin and Fabio were all excellent guides and all contributed to Mick and I having a really fun trip. No disasters, nothing went wrong, no ants, just quality birding every day. And as I mentioned earlier, a lot of laughter along the way.

Here's the full list. This is totally redundant as you can see the eBird trip list here. I just enjoy spreadsheets...

Brazil - The Atlantic Rainforest - June 2025 - Day 8 - Sao Paulo - Ibirapuera Park

The flight left at 3.30pm and we needed to be at the airport at 1pm latest. It could take one hour to get there, it could take three. We banked on two and made plans to leave at 11am. That meant we could afford to spend about three hours in the Parque Ibirapuera, Sao Paulo's equivalent of Central Park in New York. It is not that large, but the set up is the same with gazillions of joggers and cyclists out for their early morning exercise. We got into trouble straight away when one of the officials at the gate said we needed a permit for our cameras. Luckily the place to get the permits was right in the middle of the park, and so of course we made straight for it. Very slowly and indirectly, so slowly in fact that we never got there. 

Crested Caracara

We walked in a large clockwise circle, concentrating mainly on the two lakes - the southern one is much better. Waterfowl consisted of White-faced Whistling-Duck, Black Swan, White-cheeked Pintail, American Moorhen and Pied-billed Grebe. On the margins were lots of Striated Heron, Black-crowned Night Heron, Snowy Egret, Great White Egret and a single Green Ibis. We also found an Amazon Kingfisher down one of the narrower channels.

White-faced Whistling-Duck

Green Ibis

Black-crowned Night Heron

Snowy Egret

Striated Heron

Neotropic Cormorant

Southern Lapwing

The southern area was good for Woodpeckers, with Lineated and Blond-crested at one point in the same tree, and a Green-barred Woodpecker fed on a banana near the lake. We also added a new Woodcreeper - Narrow-billed Woodcreeper, and a new Parrot, Turquoise-fronted Amazon. As a final birding session it was pretty decent, surpassing expectations. No doubt there was a lot more there than we saw, but this deep into a trip it didn't feel like there was much to add. In the event Sao Paulo had added ten species to the overall tally, so not a great deal but it had meant more birding in Peruibe plus a unique chance to catch up with some relatives.

Green-barred Woodpecker

Blond-crested Woodpecker

Lineated Woodpecker

Rufous-bellied Thrush

Rufous Hornero

Narrow-billed Woodcreeper

Turquoise-fronted Amazon

Great Kiskadee

We returned to the hotel for 11am, sorted ourselves out, packed, and took a taxi to GRU which in fact only took just over an hour. This meant a fair amount of time in the airport but we chilled in the Admirals Club before getting on board. I slept virtually the whole way which was excellent, and which meant that I was in fine fettle for the party in Hampshire that evening. I was beaten to the position of 'furthest travelled to get there' by someone who had come from Singapore, but I felt it had been a very decent effort and it was great to catch up with some old friends from my time in Montpellier in 1997. 

One small part of Sao Paulo

Brazil - The Atlantic Rainforest - June 2025 - Day 7 - Peruibe

Today the plan was to bird around Guarau and Peruibe until lunch, and then depart for Sao Paulo. We had originally been scheduled to fly today at 3.30pm, which would have meant leaving the Peruibe area at around 9am on Thursday, i.e. with only a short time available for birding, but a month or so before we travelled I had extended the trip by a day in order to give us more time on the coast, but also to visit a family member in Sao Paulo. Those of you who have been reading these pages for a while may recollect the American connection. This is one of those, from New York via Ohio to Brazil. Having come so far it would have been odd not to, so the plan was to bird the entire morning, and for Bruno to then drop us not at Guarulhos but instead more or less in the middle of the city. We could then meet up with John and his family that evening, get some birding in in Sao Paulo the following morning, and then fly on Friday afternoon. I had a Saturday evening engagement in Hampshire, but with the benefit of the flat bed on the plane reckoned that I would be just fine provided the plane left on time.

We started the day back at the beach, at the Parque Municipal da Restinga do Guarau. Mainly this was so that Bruno could have another go at the Mockingbird, but equally it is the main hotspot in the area and Fabio had loads of species earmarked at specific points very nearby. It was a fabulous morning, and being on that beach at sunrise was perhaps one of the highlights of the trip.

To cut to the chase, we could not find the Mocker. But here was plenty of interest despite the star being missing. Highlights were a Bat Falcon traversing the beach shortly after dawn, and Fabio refinding a roosting Scissor-tailed Nightjar in the magroves. We also saw a White-crested Elaenia, and another new Tanager - Black-headed Tanager, several Bicoloured Conebills, Swallow-tailed Hummingbird, Glittering-throated Emerald, Amazon Kingfisher and Hangnest Tody-Tyrant. Fabio had also staked out both Mangrove Rail and Grey-cowled Wood-Rail.

Scissor-tailed Nightjar

Mangrove Rail

Further back from the beach we wandered around some of the lanes of Guarau and found Buff-bellied Puffbird, Robust Woodpecker, Blond-crested Woodpecker, Squirrel Cuckoo and Flame-crested Tanager amongst other species. 

Flame-crested Tanager

Buff-bellied Puffbird

Squirrel Cuckoo

We spent our final hour before lunch back at Fabio's feeders in the hope that some of the rarer Hummingbirds might visit. We ran out of time before they did, and whilst there were tons of birds the photography set up was not what Mick and I were after - too messy, too many perches. We should be consultants, get paid to advise on the best set-ups. It was nice to be able to sit in the shade and drink coffee and eat cake whilst birding though.

Bananaquit

Blue Dacnis and Bananaquit

We had one last go at the Magroves back at Peruibe, failing once again to connect with any Scarlet Ibis, but finding Green Kingfisher and a Southern Beardless-Tyrannulet which were both new for the trip. After that it was a quick lunch in town and then a two hour drive up a spectacular road to Sao Paulo. This goes through the middle of the Serro do Mar Park, strange in a way, but there is literally no other development other than this one crazy road of viaducts and tunnels. Quite a sight. Traffic in Sao Paulo was much reduced due to a public holiday so there were no holdups at all, and we bade farewell to Bruno and hello to John at a hotel in the Jardim Europa district. Bruno had been great company and a very competent guide, I would not hestitate to travel with him again. Highly recommended.

We confidently identified Plain Parakeet and Sayaca Tanager from our hotel room window

After agreeing a plan for later that evening with John, Mick and I went birding at the Parque do Povo, surprising ourselves by finding 20 species in only a small area, including Shiny Cowbird and Red-crested Cardinal which were both new for the list, as well as Swallow-tailed Hummingbird, Smooth-billed Ani and Guira Cuckoo - these in a city of 20 million inhabitants. That evening we enjoyed the company of John, Cely, Charles and Cristiane. Lovely to finally make the connection after all these years - I had known his father when I was a kid and there was lots to catch up on, stories about my parents and so on, who John had known when they were a lot younger. It is great having family everywhere.

Parque do Povo

Brazil - The Atlantic Rainforest - June 2025 - Day 6 - Legada das Aguas and down to the coast

Day 6 began much as day 5 had done with a casual wander around the buildings and forest margins before breakfast. Today we were moving down to the coast to bird some new habitat, lowland forest and scrub. Given the area was the same, it came as no surprises that the birds were more or less the same. I don't mind seeing more Saffron Toucanets. The Barred Forest-Falcon showed briefly again, with another calling close by, and the early morning Parrot commute included ten Cobalt-rumped Parrotlet, Scaly-headed Parrot and Plain Parakeets at the feeders. Walking down the hill we came across a male Pin-tailed Manakin, three Grey-headed Tody-Flycatcher and a pair of Bay-ringed Tyrannulet. Also our best views of Ferruginous Antbird to date.

Saffron Toucanet

Up on the balcony as we waited for the coffee to brew we enjoyed a last look at the feeders. The Saffron Toucanets were straight back in, as well as all the usual Tanagers and Euphonias. We  spent as long as we could taking photos but we had to pack up - today was a travelling day and we needed to be at Peruibe for lunch. After returning to the accomodation to pack we jammed a Crescent-chested Puffbird by the car.

Violaceous Euphonia - male

Violaceous Euphonia - female

Plain Parakeet

Green-headed Tanager

Olive-green Tanager

Red-necked Tanager

Crescent-chested Puffbird

We spent until late morning on the Copaiba Trail, a different track on the way to the alternative way out of Legado das Aguas. A Variegated Antpitta was tantalisingly close to the path, singing from some way up a slope. It turned out to be in a tree and was completely invisible despite not moving and singing continuously for about half an hour. Our last chance - along with the Mouse-coloured Tapaculo we tried for three times, probably the most annoying bird we encountered! Other birds seen on this trail included Saw-billed Hermit, Star-throated Antwren, another Pin-tailed Manakin, Chestnut-crowned Becard and Grey-hooded Attila.

Mid-morning we drove east. It was a further half an hour before we exited the reserve, this really brings home the size of the protected area. From there it was perhaps just under two hours down to Peruibe. We stopped just once when we saw a lot of Swifts in the air. These turned out to be White-collared Swift, a species we had missed up until now. A bonus Black Hawk-Eagle flew over.

We met Fabio at a restaurant in Peruibe at about 12.30pm. As well as being a bird guide Fabio is also the owner of the Mochileiros Pousada where we would be staying. After another great lunch we headed to the mangroves at Rio Preto on the south edge of town. This being brand new habitat for the trip the new birds came thick and fast - Spotted Sandpiper, Magnificent Frigatebird, Yellow-crowned Night Heron, Little Blue Heron, Cocoi Heron, Common Waxbill and Wing-banded Hornero. 

After driving around the mountain to Guarau we dropped our stuff off at the pousada and headed to the beach. We noted that Fabio's back garden was full of feeders, and in five minutes saw about a dozen species coming in, albeit nothing new. 

Grey-fronted Dove

Rio Peto, Peruibe

The beach was an near-empty vast arc of sand with vegetation all the way around, a small village in the centre, and various small islands offshore. Over one of these several hundred Frigatebirds circled, and our first Kelp Gull were on some rocks. A Vermillion Flycatcher perched near the car. In a way this was a twitch for Bruno, as an out-of-range White-banded Mockingbird had been in the area for several weeks. Sadly for Bruno we dipped it.

The target for the afternoon was the range restricted Red-tailed Parrot, present only in this narrow coastal strip. To reach a good spot we had to drive back through Periube and along the coast. Scanning from the car picked up more Kelp Gull, Sandwich Tern, Royal Tern, Semipalmated Plover and some nesting Burrowing Owl on the short grass between the road and the sand. 

Bare-faced Ibis

Burrowing Owl

We arrived at Itanhaem at around 4pm, just in time for the evening roosting of the Parrots. Walking down a short track we added Azure Jay and several Yellow-fronted Woodpecker. Grey-headed Tody-Flycatcher and Common Tody-Flycatcher were near the car, as was a roosting a Tropical Screech-Owl. Fabio put on a "mobbing" tape and all of sudden birds were everywhere - Social Flycatcher, Chestnut-bellied Seed-Finch, Bananaquit, Violaceous Euphonia, Chestnut-bellied Euphonia, Red-rumped Cacique, Tropical Parula and all sorts of Tanagers. Back on the road we heard the first Amazons, that loud guttural squak seemingly common to all the family. Whilst most were flying over we did manage to see a pair feeding in a tree. A short distance away we picked a spot on the flyway to watch the Red-tailed Parrots come over. Rusty-margined Guan was a surprise here, as was a Ferruginous Pygmy-Owl. We stayed here until dusk and then drove back to Peruibe, the final tally of Parrots 92. Our final guided day was nearly upon us, these trips go quickly as you are so busy.

Azure Jay

Tropical Screech-Owl

Channel-billed Toucan

Red-tailed Amazon

Red-tailed Amazon