A swell time ;-) NEWT’s North Sea Pelagic 19/07/19
by martin on 22/07/19 12:41, under North Sea, White-beaked Dolphin
Friday’s 4hr evening pelagic headed out of the Tyne piers into a stiff breeze and long rolling swell…
Kittiwakes and Fulmars circled the boat, Gannets soared by, Manx Shearwaters rose out of the troughs and up over wave crests before vanishing back behind the swell, Puffins , Guillemots and Razorbills sat on the water before making a frantic escape and small flocks of Common Scoter passed by.
Heading south a dolphin put in a brief and stealthy appearance so we were soon on our way again…and six White-beaked Dolphins were suddenly bow-riding in the gloom of a cloud laden sunset 🙂
Blustery; NEWT’s North Sea Pelagic 17/07/19
by martin on 19/07/19 13:28, under North Sea
Wednesday’s 4hr evening pelagic had a forecast that looked good…
We checked south of the Tyne first and were accompanied by Kittiwakes and Fulmars on a stiffening westerly as Puffins, Guillemots and Razorbills sat on the water, Gannets soared past and flocks of Common Scoter speckled the dark grey sky. By the time we found a couple of White-beaked Dolphins the rain was quite heavy but almost everyone stayed out on deck watching them 🙂
Subtle sunset…and here come the White-beaks :-) NEWT’s North Sea Pelagic 10/07/19
by martin on 11/07/19 12:21, under North Sea
After a cetacean-free pelagic last Friday I was hopeful that Bottlenose Dolphins have mainly moved north and White-beaked Dolphins would be here any day now…
A flock of Common Scoter off Whitley Bay liftg4d from the water and flew past us, Puffins and Common Guillemots were sitting on the sea, Gannets soared past and myself and Tim both spotted a large, slow moving fin away to the north. It looked like a probable Minke Whale, although we couldn’t relocate it, but then breaching White-beaked Dolphins appeared from the north and showed brief interest in the boat 🙂
Heron there ;-) Druridge Bay Safari 09/07/19
by martin on 10/07/19 16:02, under Druridge Bay
I collected Robin and Cia, and Linda and Pete, from Newbiggin ahead of a day exploring Druridge Bay and southeast Northumberland…
Over the years we’ve refined our tours on the coast to included different habitat types and starting with a walk through some riparian woodland we were rewarded with great views of Nuthatches and a Dipper as a Banded Demoiselle proved flighty and the quiet calls of Bullfinches revealed their presence in rank vegetation and the treetops.
On the coast a Kestrel was hanging in the breeze as Curlews, Oystercatchers and Common Redshanks explored rockpools and a Meadow Pipit lined up alongside a row of Tree Sparrows as the simple song of Reed Buntings, the fast chatter of Sedge Warblers and the rhythmic chuntering of Reed Warblers emanated from the reedbeds around coastal pools and a very vocal Linnet was incredibly obliging just a few feet way from us on a fence post. Linda and Pete’s experience of birdwatching in the warm sunshine of Portugal hadn’t prepared them for the sight of a Spoonbill in the cool heavy rain of Northumberland in early July, and Little Egrets added to the southern feel alongside the much more regular sight of Grey Herons stalking imperiously through the shallows as a fantastic group of waders included Avocet, Lapwing, Curlew, Dunlin, Common Redshank, a lone Golden Plover, brief Common Sandpiper and Green Sandpiper that only showed for a couple of seconds as they flew from the mud along the reed edges in front of us, Black-tailed Godwits in fantastic orangey red plumage and a Spotted Redshank that stopped obligingly alongside a Common Redshank allowing a great comparison. Another set of species that allowed an impromptu ID masterclass were Sandwich, Common and Arctic Terns as the rain intensified and we headed back in the late afternoon.
St Mary’s sunset; NEWT’s North Sea Pelagic 05/07/19
by martin on 09/07/19 08:36, under North Sea
Friday’s 4hr pelagic demonstrated just how quickly things can change with our marine wildlife. A few Puffins, Guillemots, Razorbills, Gannets and small flocks of Manx Shearwaters and a bigger flock of Common Scoter were far fewer birds than on our previous sailings and the echo finder showed that there was very little in the way of shoals of bait fish. The end of the evening brought another stunning sunset behind St Mary’s Island, with a whale-shaped gap in the clouds, as we headed back towards the marina 🙂
Dolphins and a stunning sunset :-) NEWT’s North Sea Pelagic 03/07/19
by martin on 04/07/19 11:39, under Bottlenose Dolphin, North Sea
We set out from Royal Quays in better conditions than on Friday and Laura quickly found the Bottlenose Dolphins just around the corner in King Edward’s Bay again 🙂
With Puffins, Guillemots, Razorbills, Gannets, Kittiwakes, Fulmars and Common Scoters all seen as we headed north towards Newbiggin, Laura spotted more dolphins and they came to bow-ride the JFK Two as the dipping Sun bathed them in beautiful light as Jupiter rose through the Belt of Venus and a stunning sunset provided a backdrop to St Mary’s Island as we headed back to the river 🙂
A cracking start, and 1000-up :-) NEWT’s North Sea Pelagic 28/06/19
by martin on 02/07/19 13:21, under North Sea
Incredibly this is our 1000th blog post, and it coincides with our first pelagic trip of 2019…
We’d been watching reports on the North East Cetacean Project Facebook group through the day so we knew there’d been dolphins at the mouth of the Tyne most of the afternoon, and Allan had seen them at 16.30 on his way back in from an angling trip.
We weren’t even out of the mouth of the river when the first breaching Bottlenose Dolphins could be seen just north of the piers 🙂
Head’s up :-) Bespoke Farne Islands Safari 27/06/19
by martin on 01/07/19 15:49, under Farne Islands
Thursday was a Farne Islands Safari, and after we cancelled Wednesday’s 4hr pelagic due to the rather lumpy sea I was pleased to see that it was nice and calm as I collected Peter and Jan from Newbiggin…
A Kestrel perched obligingly on a telegraph pole as we headed up the coast and our first stop, for Arctic and Little Terns, produced an unexpected Spotted Redshank and a Ringed Plover as well as an extraordinary number of Common Blue butterflies and a good number of Painted Ladies over the incredible carpet of Bloody Cranesbill in the dunes with Skylark, Meadow Pipit, Reed Bunting and Stonechat all along the walk.
After having our picnic on the beach at Beadnell we headed to Seahouses and discovered that parking spaces were in short supply so we parked on the edge of the town and walked down to the harbour where Eiders were on the water with well-grown young, for our sailing on board Glad Tidings. Rafts of Puffins on the water scattered ahead of the boats heading towards the islands as lines of Guillemot, Razorbill and Puffin headed back to their hungry chicks. Gannets soared past as Grey Seals lazed on the rocks, Cormorants and Shags dried their wings in heraldic pose, Fulmars skirted the clifftops, the onomatopoeic cries of Kittiwakes echoed in the rocky gullies and the stiff breeze spared us the ‘experience’ of the unmistakable aroma of a seabird colony 🙂
Landing on Inner Farne we walked along the boardwalk, where the Arctic Terns were less aggressive than just a week earlier, tern chicks were starting to extend and flap their still developing wings, Black-headed Gulls were mobbing Puffins as they tried to get back to their burrows, and the pufflings waiting inside, Common and Sandwich Terns kept themselves to themselves (something we should all be grateful for, particularly in the case of Sandwich Tern!) and I mentioned that halfway along one stretch of boardwalk there would probably be an Arctic Tern that would approach you but not attack, and would adopt your head as perch if you stood still. Sure enough, the tern behaved just as predicted and landed on Jan’s head 🙂
After the short journey back to the mainland we headed back down the coast with a brief stop to admire an Avocet close to the road 🙂
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