Budle Bay near Bamburgh

[Charlton]

do not wish to get into an arguement about fishing/bait collecting and birds. I have had enough of it over the years at many meetings with various bodies and the week long Budle Bay enquiry. The disturbance factor is used on to many occassions to stop legitimate activities. And it was the birdies who where very vociferous against anglers at the Budle Bay enquiry. If you wan to fish anywhere in the Lindisfarne Nature reserve there is nothing stopping you, just be careful and responsible. No more comments from me

[alan]

Thanks for all the replies lads,cool heeds etc.
My mate never said of any signs or wardens but I\'ll certainly mention it next week,I\'m a nature lover as well and I always take great care where I fish and respect the surroundings

[mark]

the whole budle debacle of years ago amused me no end with the birders cursing the anglers.... yet go to budle bay on a summers weekend and count how many anglers you see compared with chavs with dinghy\'s, screaming kids, buckets and spades and the acres of litter they leave behind

to be honest it never really crossed my mid to fish in the bay itself, I always like to see the sea \'proper\' when I fish, so ross was the natural choice for me

naked young women cavorting around me at the same time had no infulence on my descision either!

one thing worth adding though.... bait.

at low tide, the outer bit is liittered with empty razor shells and clams, so next time I go thats what I\'ll be taking as bait

[Charlie_Thompson]

Thanks for that info colossus, very seldom I give a hoot about the bird life as the marks I normally fish are only frequented by charva gulls and snaky cormorants and as far as I know not breeding grounds. (Apart for the Rathouse but that\'s a diferrent story)

I\'ll think twice now, before taking my tackle to Flamingo land.

Really never given it that much thought, will do now.

[sless]

i remember fishing shields pier a few years ago and there was a bird just mosying about
then all of a sudden there was about 100 people running up the pier with their scopes
it was a red necked phalarope
i even got a photo
it was a great site to see

[alan]

did you catch oot ?

[Charlie_Thompson]

I\'ve seen loads of red necked birds on shields pier. Spotted a red legged willy wobbler there one night as well, what a tremendous sight. Had to take a sample, and a photo.

[Charlie_Thompson]

Did I just miss a joke

[sless]

actualy i did
threre was a lot of plaice being caught
well they must have been shoaling if i caught some
hehe

[colossus]

I\'ll be giving Ross a try myself. Didn\'t mean to be a wet blanket. I suspect that it would be great for summer off that spit. It\'s just that for wintering and migrating birds that type of habitat is very important and rare on the north-east coast.

Just found this on wikipaedia. Hope it explains why I was a bit worried about it. It\'s refering to Holy Island but Budle is just an extension of that reserve.

Large parts of the island, and all of the adjacent inter-tidal area, are protected as Lindisfarne National Nature Reserve to help safeguard the internationally important wintering bird populations. Species for which the reserve is important include Pale-bellied Brent Goose, Wigeon, Teal, Pintail, Merlin, Dunlin, Bar-tailed Godwit and many others. The situation on the east coast also makes it a good place for observing migrating arriving from the east, including large numbers of Redwing and Fieldfare, and also scarcer Siberian birds including regular annual Yellow-browed Warblers. Rare species such as Radde\'s Warbler, Dusky Warbler and Red-flanked Bluetail have all occurred on Holy Island. Altogether, a total of almost 300 species have been recorded on the Island and adjacent reserve. With the large number and variety of birds present, the area is very popular with birders, particularly in autumn and winter. Grey seals are frequent visitors to the rocky bays at high tide.

[RGF]

Have fished the bay for flatties catching a couple with no bother at all,
the place is stuffed with waders in the winter and I didn\'t see many in the summer,probably most of them will building nests.rearing youngins
and generallydoing whatever wading birds do.by the way when they say no digging does it mean no pumping either,or just do not collect bait at all or you will be killed severly

[alan]

Thanks for the info Colossus,I\'ll certainly be having a look up there this year,no reason why everyone cant enjoy the area,common sense prevails

[MartyMusther]

I think the whole Budle bay carry on was shocking - and simply twitchers wanting the area for themselves - when you could dig there the birds would follow you round as you dug (only a few feet away) for the split worms - yea we were really frightening the birds !

[colossus]

I had never heard of this \"Budle Bay carry on\" as I hadn\'t started fishing when it happened so can\'t comment on the details of that and I am sure that the activities of just a few anglers gets us a bad name and that fanatical birders wouldn\'t have helped but as an angler and a birdwatcher I can say that most birders would see budle bay first and foremost as a place for birds and not for birders. This area is of international importance for at least 2 species to my knowledge. That means that it supports at least 1% of the entire world population of these species. As I have previously stated this is a wintering site and summer wouldn\'t present such a problem.

I am sure that I am on the losing side of this argument on a fishing site and agree with Alan.f that there is no reason why everyone cannot enjoy this area but it needs sensitivity on both sides.

[willo]

sless did you see all the gold crests on the pier this year there was loads of them tried for a piccy but they were too small to pick up on me phone