Stephen M.'s photos

The 'Wilson Pola' moored off Sunderland waiting for the tide prior to entering the Port. Interestingly, this ship was formerly known as the 'Arklow Rogue' which visited Sunderland in March 2023 though the only noticeable change is the different funnel artwork.

The Bluethroat is a scarce visitor to north east England with one or two records most years. In the last decade, the majority of sightings have been on Holy Island and the Farnes so when a bird was reported from the much more accessible location of Tynemouth, it was always going to be popular with local birdwatchers. The Bluethroat favoured the gardens around the Spanish Battery, showing well at times while looking for insects on the lawns. Present until the evening, it was not seen the following day having likely departed for the breeding grounds in Scandinavia overnight.

A summer-plumaged Wheatear posing nicely at the Shotton Pools.

A close-up of some Forget-me-not flowers at Cresswell Pele tower.

Dandelions are something you can pass by without noticing every day, but it is an amazing flower when seen up close.

It is not every day you have such good views of an owl! Hearing an unfamiliar call in a woodland, I went to investigate and eventually tracked it down to this Tawny Owl alarm calling at something on the ground. As Tawny Owls are known for being quite aggressive during the breeding season, I did not want to get much closer than this and so the source of the alarm will remain a mystery.

Sporting a colour scheme that is not going to blend in anywhere, the 'Subsea Viking' is a offshore support vessel owned by the Dutch company Royal Van Oord and currently contracted to the Norwegian Eidesvik Offshore group. I suspect it will be working as part of the offshore wind farms under construction in the wider region.

The tanker 'Stolt Sanderling' moored at Greenwells Quay at sunset. In the last few months a number of tanker vessels have used this quay which does not appear to have any suitable unloading facilities for such cargoes. When departing the following day (PIP #1), there was the odd sight of the ship being escorted by two of Sunderland's pilot vessels - the PV Portunus (left) and the PV Heron (right).

Still going strong at 70! Arriving on a particularly terrible day weather wise in Sunderland, the Fortuna is amongst the oldest working ships to visit here recently. Built in 1954, it currently serves as a safety vessel for windfarms and other offshore projects for the Dutch company Rederij Groen. It would be interesting to know more about the history of this ship but there seems very little information available about it online.

An overnight arrival all the way from the Port of Newcastle, the survey vessel 'Baltic Explorer' is berthed at Greenwells Quay. The ship has an interesting history having apparently served for the French Ministry of Defence for a decade prior to its acquisition by the Garant Group. In the afternoon, the ship departed from Greenwells Quay and moved the short distance upstream on the River wear to Corporation Quay (PIP #1).

Arriving from Hamina in south-eastern Finland, the UHL Flair moves past Greenwoods Quay on the way to its mooring at spot at Corporation Quay. It is a sister ship to the UHL Flash which visited Sunderland in December 2022.

Limekiln Gill is one of a number of steep, wooded valleys that run perpendicular to the North Sea along the Durham coast. Locally these are known as gills or denes/deans and they act as refuge for woodland species that were heavily exploited in a landscape dominated by mining and other industrial activities. Nothing remains of the lime kilns for which this valley was (presumably) named and today it is part of the larger Castle Eden Dene nature reserve.

The Sydborg berthed at Greenwells Quay just prior to departing for Rotterdam in the Netherlands. In almost all cases that I have seen in the last two years, general cargo ships have used either Corporation Quay or the Hudson Dock in Sunderland Port - I wonder what influenced the unusual choice of Greenwells Quay in this case?

A Leonardo AW-189 searching the River Wear after a call-out.

The Inshore Lifeboat of the Sunderland Lifeboat station responding to a call out. This particular call out involved both Sunderland lifeboats, as well as a coastguard helicopter dispatched from Prestwick in Scotland and the Tynemouth lifeboat (17-34 'Osier'). The small craft is named after a former crew member of the Sunderland RNLI station who tragically lost his life in an air crash at Cork Airport, Ireland in 2011. PIP #1: The coastguard helicopter searching the River Wear.

A colourful arrival into Sunderland in somewhat stormy conditions. Tracing the owner of the ship proved quite tricky, and is not helped with some websites listing the ship as the Helene G. It appears to be owned by Gerdes Shipping based in Haren, but is not listed in their current fleet It appears it may have been in service with the Norwegian Peak Group at some stage but is not listed with the latter either.

The Encofrador arriving into Sunderland from Gijon in northern Spain. At first glance, the ship appears like a standard cargo ship, but on closer inspection the bulky central section stands out. This has been adapted to carry cement, with a capacity of 5,100 tons. Built in 1976, the name of the ship apparently translates to formworker or carpenter. It is one of three ships in the fleet of Masaveu Industrias.

Having arrived into Sunderland the previous Wednesday, the Karewood Pride departed on the rising tide today.