Northern Experience Wildlife Tours

Between the slow times of the winter (filled this year by the Northeast Cetacean Project) and the start of our busy season comes a week that is exhausting but enjoyable.

Sarah was away on Sunday so I took myself off for a walk in Harwood.  Lots of Siskins and Crossbills were calling throughout the entire 10 miles, and I managed to capture some images.  The howling wind made my other intention, recording their calls, a bit trickier.  A couple of Common Buzzards were braving the breeze, and a female Goshawk appeared and disappeared before I could get the camera on to her.  I’m not sure whether carrying a dSLR, 500mm lens and heavy tripod around 10 miles of, partially snow-covered, forest tracks is an indication of dedication or insanity.  Whichever, it was certainly good exercise.

Tuesday was an extraordinary day;  first the Hadrian’s Wall Trade Fair and Tynedale Tourism Day, then I drove to Matfen Hall for an Outdoor Show training session and from there up to the Gun Inn at Ridsdale for a pre-breeding season Hen Harrier volunteer meeting.  Wednesday was the tourism fair in Berwick, organised by the NNTA, and yesterday I attended the Sustainable Tourism Conference at the Rivergreen Centre in Durham.

Now, at the end of the week, it’s the Alnwick Tourism Fair, followed by a SENTA member event at The Old Ship in Newbiggin.

Saturday was planned as the next survey day for NEWT/Marinelife…and then in the early hours of Saturday morning the sea began to turn ‘a bit lumpy’ (c)Allan Skinner.  With over 3m of swell smashing it’s way through the harbour mouth at Amble there was no chance of getting the boat out.

With all three NEWT guides having the day together we headed inland to finish our BTO Winter Atlas timed tetrad visits in Harwood.  Ironically, given the wintry weather on the coast, there was less snow than on our last visit.  Birds were few and far between and, after what turned out to be a strenuous 4 miles over rough ground, as we headed back towards home the late afternoon light looked just about perfect for a visit to Nursery Park to photograph the Waxwings.  The light was as good as we could have wished for and the 20 or so birds that were still present were much more obliging than they had been in previous days.

Waxwings stacked on top of each other

Do you think I can swallow this in one?

Bohemian Waxwing, Ashington, Northumberland 20/02/2010

Bohemian Waxwing, Ashington, Northumberland 20/02/2010

On Sunday we separated out to do different surveys; Sarah covered the WeBS count stretch from Cresswell-East Chevington and back (taking her total distance walked over the weekend to nearly 12 miles) and Martin and Andy set out from Amble along with Tim Sexton, on calmer seas, to start surveying the Farne Deeps.  Remarkably, all three surveyors on this trip used to live within 100m of each other in the late 90′s, on Percy Park in Tynemouth.  Tim was on the famous Wilson’s Petrel pelagic back in 2002, and Andy only missed that one as he was delayed while heading back from Mull.  The journey out to the deeps was unremarkable, other than for the number of Gannets that we found, and a lone Common Seal was an interesting find.  Fulmar and Guillemot were also seen throughout most of the survey, and a small number of Puffins were around as well.  As we headed east on the first transect we could see some very dark clouds massing to the south.  By the time we’d completed the 13 mile run and turned to follow the next transect west the clouds had caught up with us.  Sea state 5 in a near white-out was one hell of an experience, but we continued to keep our attention on the sea, still surveying in the hope that the weather would soon pass by.  It did, and we completed that transect before heading north and then east along the next survey line.  Ten miles along the transect we were hit by another winter storm, this time coming from the east.  With the turning tide making our skipper’s task increasingly difficult, we made a note of the position we’d reached and headed back to the warmth and comfort of the shore.  Two days, three NEWT guides, four surveyors.

Now I’ve got a couple of days of office stuff to catch up on; press trip proposals to write, images to process for articles I’ve written and we’re already well into planning for the Birdwatching Northumberland stand at the British Bird Fair.  I reckon I’ll be able to fit in some time for photography though

We went up into Harwood today, to undertake our late-winter visit to two of the tetrads we’re surveying for Bird Atlas 2007-2011. The weather was fine, with big fluffy clouds against a beautiful blue sky, and quite warm; at least it was quite warm while we were out of the wind… The winter is a great time for a walk in the forests of Northumberland, although the density of birds is somewhat limited. A pair of Mistle Thrushes caught our attention and, as we scanned the area for more birds, a pair of Stock Doves were up and displaying, a single Skylark flew overhead and a Buzzard soared above the trees. With a strong breeze and excellent visibility we expected to find more raptors, and two Kestrels hovering over an area of clearfell were a good addition to the list. Inland winter birding is often characterised by periods of nothing, interspersed with sudden concentrations of birds, and today was no different; after a long time with nothing to add to the list we came across a field that held 50 Fieldfares, 12 Redwings, 6 Mistle Thrushes, half a dozen each of Chaffinches and Goldfinches and a single Song Thrush. A pair of Stonechats ‘chacked’ angrily at us and flicked their tails as we had the temerity to cross their clearfell territory. The best was yet to come though; as we walked along the forest rides a Great Spotted Woodpecker flushed from close by and we rounded the edge of a plantation…and our ears were assailed by the maniacal screaming of a male Goshawk who had been sunning himself near the top of a spruce tree and didn’t take too kindly to being disturbed. His escape route was across a clearfell so we enjoyed the best views we’ve ever had of this phantom of the forest. When our Kielder trips begin on March 24th, this will be one of our target species; powerful, secretive but always impressive.

…a big, black, hairy bull? He’s got a ring through his nose” Not exactly the words you want to hear from a farmer on a quad bike, when you’re in the middle of nowhere doing some more tetrads for the BTO Atlas. No, we hadn’t seen him, and weren’t entirely reassured by the farmer’s assertion that the bull was very placid. So, we headed on into the forest anyway. No sign of any bulls, friendly, angry or otherwise, and no sign of any birds. The howling, icy-cold gale was probably encouraging them to keep themselves tucked away in the densest areas of vegetation. Eventually we did find a tit and ‘crest flock. Plenty of Long-tailed Tits, those entertaining balls of pink, black and white fluff, Goldcrests, Coal Tits and the regular churring of Wrens (now there’s a species with ‘angry little bird’ syndrome) along our route. Then, nearing the end of our eight mile walk, there he was; contentedly munching the pathside vegetation, and clearly very placid.