Northern Experience Wildlife Tours

Here we go again...

It’s hard to believe that we posted on the blog back in January about the big freeze last winter and here we are again in a similar position already before the end of November (although at least at the moment it isn’t so prolonged).

I went in to Newcastle last Wednesday for a seminar about the IMCORE project, and there was a bit of light snowfall.  When I came out of the Ridley Building an hour later the world was white, and it’s just gone on from that point.  After Sarah got home from work on Thursday evening the next time we used either of the cars was when we dug her car out of the snow this morning so she could go to work.  We’ve made the most of the last few days though; walking the 2 miles there (and 2 miles back) each day to visit a friend who’s now in a residential care home, doing most of the admin in 3 days that we would usually do through the winter (including adding all of our 2011 trips to the website) and finalising a couple of projects that we’ve been working on.

Birdwatching in our little part of southeast Northumberland has been interesting for the last few days.  We’ve got an ever-expanding flock of Coal, Great and Blue Tits, Dunnocks and Wrens are now ever present around the feeding station and a very optimistic pair of Collared Doves were mating at the top of the Apple tree earlier this morning.  Two pairs of Bullfinches are regular visitors but other finches are in short supply; there’s just a single pair of Chaffinches, we’ve only had one visit from Goldfinches in the last few days and, particularly worrying, we haven’t seen any Greenfinches around the feeders at all.  A Sparrowhawk is still regularly patrolling over Choppington Woods and a flock of 50-60 Redwings flies out from the woods each morning.

Now, after a morning of blue skies, it’s just started snowing again.

We’d planned to do some survey work this morning, but the prospect of walking along the beach from Cresswell to East Chevington into a stiff northerly with heavy rain and temperatures only hovering just above freezing wasn’t too tempting.

Instead we opted for some southeast Northumberland birdwatching with a walk along the River Wansbeck near Morpeth.  Our local river is a real gem in some parts and we walk several of them regularly.  In the gloom and wet of this morning we still enjoyed the Mallards and Moorhens on the river, the flocks of Coal Tits and Long-tailed Tits in the trees and, best of all, the iridescent electric blue of a Kingfisher as it perched on a tree overhanging the water.  An afternoon spent working (on the Northeast Cetacean Project and a business plan that we’ve been preparing) will be followed (we hope!) by a relaxing Sunday evening and then a busy week ahead; finalising and submitting the business plan, bringing the Northeast Cetacean Project database up to date, drafting a couple of articles that Martin’s writing and meeting up with some old friends (and new ones) as we put together next year’s itinerary for NEWT.  Oh, there’ll be a few blog posts as well

With a good breeze coming from the east and misty drizzle on the coast, conditions have been looking good for a fall of migrants since yesterday morning.  Some of the most exciting birdwatching available on the Northumberland coast happens in conditions like these…

As we left the house last night to walk down to The Swan, Redwings could be heard overhead and the distinctive call of a Yellow-browed Warbler gave us a heard-only garden tick.

This morning we had to be out well before dawn to count Pink-footed Geese at East Chevington as part of the Icelandic Goose Census.  The air over the dunes was filled with the calls of Redwings, Song Thrushes, Blackbirds, Chaffinches, Bramblings and Goldcrests.  Eventually, nearly 3000 geese departed their overnight roost and we drove to Cresswell, ready for our second survey of the day.  This time it was our regular WeBS count.  After a brisk walk north along the beach of Druridge Bay we arrived at East Chevington for the second time this morning, where there were flocks of Chaffinches and Goldcrests in the hedgerows and Sarah spotted a ‘ringtail’ harrier, but it quickly passed through.  After taking both cars back home, and deciding how to spend the rest of the weekend (although most of that is predetermined), Sarah’s just gone to do some shopping, and I’ve just had a call about a Red-flanked Bluetail at Newbiggin…decisions, decisions

Our October tours will concentrate on the coast and birdwatching will feature heavily.  Give us a call on 01670 827465 to find out what’s on offer and what we can do to enhance your Northumberland birdwatching experience.

We’ve been away for a few days, as part of the Birdwatching Northumberland consortium at the British Birdwatching Fair 2010.

Thursday started very early for Martin, with a North Pennines Prestige Tour for clients who were staying at Wallfoot in Carlisle.  Managing to avoid the worst of the weather, avian highlights included Merlin, Goldcrest, Nuthatch, Red Grouse, Black Grouse, Whinchat and Wheatear.  The long drive down the M6 didn’t, unfortunately, miss the heavy rain.  However, a late arrival at the White Lion in Whissendine, and a few beers in the bar with such luminaries as Ipin set Martin up nicely for an early start on Friday.

Sarah was at work (in her ‘proper’ job) so, apart from attending a couple of lectures, Martin was on the Birdwatching Northumberland stand for all of the first day.

Saturday we planned to work ‘split’ shifts, but with Martin again spending most of his time on the stand; apart from another couple of lectures and one or two chats with clients, colleagues, suppliers, competitors and collaborators (both old and new).

Another excellent curry at the White Lion, and a ‘few’ beers, on Sataurday night was followed by the dawning of the final day of Bird Fair 2010.  One of us was a bit ‘under the weather’ but perked up in time to give his talk ‘The North Sea – a new birding frontier’ at 3.30pm.  What could have been a bit of a graveyard shift managed to generate a lot of interest, with 134 bird fair attendees making their way to the lecture marquee to enjoy a brief history of the Northumberland pelagics.  There were a few questions at the end of the lecture, then Martin was stopped and asked some more, for the next 10 minutes, as he headed back to the stand – where other people who had been in the lecture were waiting to ask more questions.

After three days at the Bird Fair we’d made a lot of new contacts, renewed some old acquaintances and we’ll shortly be entering exciting partnerships with some big names in the birding world.  Just a few very busy weeks to come first…

A final night in the midlands was followed by the journey north on Monday, and then a Prestige Tour yesterday.  Beginning with  an actively feeding Dipper was a good start then, with a particular request for wading birds, it was good to strike a rich vein on the coast; Green and Common Sandpipers, Greenshank, Redshank, Spotted Redshank, Curlew, Whimbrel, Oystercatcher, Lapwing, Dunlin and Ruff.  What seemed to go down better than all of the other birds though were the always impressive Grey Herons.

In the last week we’ve had a few days out with clients, but gentle, short walks birdwatching in Druridge Bay, southeast Northumberland and on Holy Island rather than the somewhat more strenuous treks into the Cheviots or the North Pennines.  I can’t currently use the exercise bike when I’ve got a day in the office – because I broke one of the pedals.  Yesterday though, I managed to find an activity which, after 2 hours left me barely able to move…

I’d had a good day, stayed focused, achieved (almost) everything on my daily task list and decided to start preparing things for this coming Friday’s pelagic (Wednesday, Thursday and Friday daytime are already booked with clients).  First task was to strip, clean, oil and re-assemble our chum grinder.  Then the bulk of the ‘chum’; prepare 3.5kg of popcorn…that’s 35 large pans full of the stuff.  I dropped the pan lid on myself, along with some sizzling hot oil, but not to worry…it’s a purposeful activity.

Then a brief detour into a very important task; Sarah’s on her way home from work and it’s my turn to cook.  Having checked the contents of the freezer, the fridge and the cupboards earlier in the day I decided that the all-new efficient Martin was going to serve up something special;  Guineafowl breast, stuffed with mozzarella and chorizo, wrapped in streaky bacon and served on a bed of couscous and roasted vegetables.  More by good luck than good judgement, everything was ready at the same time.  Then I cleared away the dishes, did the washing up, cleaned all the kitchen work surfaces…have I been taken over by aliens

Then to the real work of preparing the ‘chum’.  Slowly, painstakingly, just a few handfuls at a time all that popcorn needed to go through the grinder.  Sarah did some work in the office, I was grinding popcorn.  Sarah went for a 5km run, I was still grinding popcorn.  Eventually, after 2 hours, it was all done.  Moths were swarming around the patio, Common Pipistrelles were swishing close by my head, Red Foxes were calling in the woods behind the house and it was so dark that I could only just see to find my way around the garden.  I added a mixture of oils to the popcorn, put the lid on, and there it will sit until Friday evening when it will be put to use as we continue our quest for petrels.

I was giving a talk last night and realised just how important the final week of July has been over the last few years; 7 years ago we were married, 6 years ago I’d just returned from leading a week of birdwatching and whalewatching on Mull, 3 years ago I was in my final week as a teacher and 2 years ago we had our first bespoke tour for clients wanting to experience the wildlife and birdwatching that Northumberland has to offer.

We spent our wedding anniversary on Holy Island, and here are some of the orchids we found;

Common Spotted Orchid, Holy Island, Northumberland 26/07/2010

Northern Marsh Orchid, Holy Island, Northumberland 26/07/2010

Marsh Helleborine, Holy Island, Northumberland 26/07/2010

I’m sitting in the office writing this , and the rain is hammering down outside.  We had a Prestige Photography trip yesterday in brilliant sunshine, but first a quick catch-up (hard to believe but sometimes there are other things to do that are more important than blogging…).

Kirsty and Sarah continued their running plan by competing in the Sunshine Run last Wednesday, with yours truly again acting as pack animal.  I’m seriously considering taking up running,  as everyone seems to enjoy it so much.  They both bettered their personal best times for 5km, so a big well done to them from me

On Sunday we had something quite different; a photography tuition afternoon with a group of ‘looked-after’ children.  We had planned to visit the Farne Islands but the strengthening wind meant that the afternoon sailings were cancelled, so instead we walked along a section of the North Northumberland coast and looked at techniques for creative landscapes and birds in flight.

Yesterday was a wildlife photography tour of Druridge Bay.  I collected Eileen and Dave from Warkworth and we visited our favourite southeast Northumberland sites.  Damselflies, butterflies and moths featured heavily throughout the day, as might be expected on a sunny day in mid-July, although with it being so warm they were a bit skittish.  As ever, patience paid off.

Ringlet, Druridge Bay, Northumberland 13/07/2010

Narrow-bordered Five-spot Burnet, Druridge Bay, Northumberland 13/07/2010

Latticed Heath, Druridge Bay, Northumberland 13/07/2010

Blue-tailed Damselfly, Druridge Bay, Northumberland 13/07/2010

Common Blue Damselfly, Druridge Bay, Northumberland 13/07/2010

Now, those are the words that a girl wants to hear when she gets home after a hard day at work…

What could it be?

A bar of chocolate?

A nice steak?

A bottle of champagne?

But I paused, and asked the question “Is it edible?”.  The reply “it could be” didn’t exactly fill me with confidence that we were talking about ‘exciting’ in my terms rather than Martin’s.

Just to explain my hesitation; as many of you know, Martin has lots of enthusiasm for anything connected with natural history.  Birdwatching, whales and dolphins are just the tip of the iceberg.  Lichens are a bit esoteric by anyone’s standards, but he’s approaching that apparently mind-bending subject with the same enthusiasm that I’m assured he approached fungi, mosses and liverworts while he was still at infant’s school.  Moth-trapping is one of his favourite activities though, and with our garden list now approaching 250 species there’s always a sense of anticipation whenever we open the trap in a morning.  On workdays that’s usually done after I’ve left for work…

With an ever-growing media library (images, video and now sound recordings), and a house filled with gadgets, nets and sample pots it could be just about anything waiting in the fridge…

And here it is;

An Elephant in the fridge

Do you think he’ll get the hint about champagne?

No, not a homage to the Molly Ringwald film , or the Psychedelic Furs track that inspired it, but the latest step in Sarah and Kirsty’s training plan.

With showers forecast for this morning it looked as though the Cancer Research UK Race for Life in Gateshead could be a bit damp.  As it turned out, the rain didn’t start until well after the girls had finished the race.

They were pretty relaxed, but both quite excited as well, before the start.  I went along as sherpa to the Northern Experience/Swan at Choppington duo.

Colder than it looked!

Birdwatching interest was provided by a family of Mute Swans on the lake

Mute Swans with 7 cygnets

Participation in the pre-race warm-up was enthusiastic.

"Put your hands in the air if you're a runner rather than a jogger"

Faced with the option of runner/jogger/walker they opted for ‘runner’.  Despite both Sarah and Kirsty having been ill, and unable to train, for the last week they crossed the finish line after 33mins 1sec.

Nearly there

Then they had a well-deserved sit down (and some Jaffa Cakes).  The girls exceeded their fund-raising target and I think they should feel justifiably proud of their achievements; they completed the race in a good time and raised money for a good cause.

Now we’re on our way to The Swan for Sunday lunch.  I think they might be wearing their medals

Done it!

Our NMN event at Lee Moor Farm was plagued by the scourge of moth trappers everywhere; cloudless skies and plummeting temperatures.  The early evening entertainment included an impromptu cricket match during the BBQ (which was being expertly and skilfully, poked by the two chefs for the evening; Ian and yours truly), where my best off-breaks were dispatched imperiously to all corners of the business park by Ian’s youngest daughter, Larissa

We did catch some moths though;

0647 Brown House Moth Hoffmanophila pseudospretella 2

1728 Garden Carpet Xanthorhoe fluctuata 2

2190 Hebrew Character Orthosia gothica 1

We also recorded one species of bat; Common Pipistrelle Pipistrellus pipistrellus, with up to four flying around as darkness closed in and our cricket match came to a close.

We’ll be back at Lee Moor for Open Farm Sunday on June 13th, and planning to round off the day with another BBQ, bat walk, moth-trapping session, cricket match.  It’s excellent family fun so give us a call and join us for what promises to be another great evening at Lee Moor