Long Nanny at Beadnell Beach, Northumberland.
Long Nanny was somewhere I'd not heard of until I mentioned I was heading to Northumberland to one of my lovely collectors and they told me it was well worth a visit. Thank you Steve!
Once I saw it some cogs in my brain came loose - I seem to remember having watched it being featured on a wildlife programme in the past. 
Beadnell Beach (seen above) is south of Seahouses in Northumberland - about a 10 minute drive, and that's where you'll find "Long Nanny."
There's a large car park at one end of the beach where there's a harbour and old Lime Kilns, and you can walk down the beautiful sandy beach, over a bridge and into the dunes.
Long Nanny is the stretch of the beach and dunes dedicated to nesting Terns under the watchful, protective care of National Trust rangers and volunteers.
As you walk along the beach you're sure to see and hear the Terns during the summer as they collect food for their chicks.
There's different types of Terns. The one below is an "Arctic Tern." They have a blood red beak and are bigger than the Little Terns.
From the Ranger's hut you can see close-up the Terns feeding and nesting and when they're hatched the fluffy youngsters can be heard shouting for food.
And testing out their wings
The adults would hover and call to their chicks, often coming tantalisingly close to their neighbour's little fluffs before moving onto the next open mouth then finally finding their own offspring.
I thought that all of the Terns were incredibly elegant and make the most wonderful shapes with their wings and tail ribbons in the air.
Fiercely protective over their chicks they're loud and not afraid to tell each other off, but when close to their chicks have the softest, kindest eyes. Just beautiful to watch.
During my visit I was treated to a regular visitor from America - a beautiful female Black Tern called "Nigella."
Nigella has been visiting and pairing up with a male Arctic Tern for a few years and this year there had just been an egg hatched. So everyone will be watching with great excitement and curiosity to see how things go for the family.
I was treated also to another oddity - a juvenile Arctic Tern - strange to see as they don't normally come back to the breeding ground until they're older.
This one was making a nuisance of himself but he was at least trying. Bless him. One day he'll make an amazing parent having already gained some knowledge the others won't have!
The other Tern I saw was the "Little Tern." As their name suggests they're smaller but just as beautifully formed. They're really quite rare and need to be carefully looked after.
There'd been higher-than-usual tides on that stretch so the rangers had placed large boxes tyo raise their nests up.
Also, there were some beautiful Ringed Plovers. I LOVE these little birds, they're so plucky, and their chicks are ridiculously tiny, fluffy and cute.
As well as some beautiful Oystercatchers
Back up on the Dunes, I was treated to a family of Stonechats. I've not sculpted them before so they're absolutely now on my list of makes!
Their shape reminds me so much of Robins, especially the look of the fledgling.
There was a fluffy little Skylark...
A super-speedy Meadow Pipit
There were loads of beautiful wild flowers which were attracting all sorts of tiny marvels too;
A Yellow Shell Moth,
A Cinnabar Moth,
Back in the car, a quick drive back to Seahouses Beach proved fruitful too with this beautiful Heron.
A female Eider Duck just enjoying the glorious sunshine;
More Oystercatchers!
Sweet little Sand Martins!
Another Ringed Plover! My lucky day!
And another! But this one I had to double check because it looks so different. The one below is a juvenile which is why it looks so different.
Now this caught me by surprise. A Painted Lady butterfly ON the sand. I'd seen a lot of butterflies flitting about on the coast but this one was on the sand.
I always just assumed sand wouldn't be a good mix with their delicate wings. Turns out they do it to extract minerals they wouldn't otherwise get! Who knew!? I looked it up and it's referred to as "puddling" which makes it even more wonderful.
If you'd like to see more of what I saw on my trip to the Farne Islands in June, here's my blog post
Farne Islands Visit Journal Post
