Northern Experience Wildlife Tours

Friday saw us in the Cheviot Valleys, enjoying probably the best weather so far this year, leading another Prestige Tour.  With a client fascinated by geology and botany it was an excellent day out, with the abiding memories being the chuckling of Red Grouse in the Harthope Valley and a yaffling Green Woodpecker at Alwinton, that culminated with a meal at the Angler’s Arms at Weldon Bridge.

Yesterday we had a Kielder Prestige Tour that that had been arranged as a 70th birthday present.  Collecting our clients from Belford we headed southwest.  After a fine drive in the beautiful weather, we reached Bellingham and left the public roads behind for an hour as we journeyed through the forest.  A pair of Red Grouse on a moorland edge provided excellent views, Roe Deer crossed the track in front of us and Common Buzzards flew close by across clearfell areas.  Back in civilisation we stopped for a comfort break and found our first Common Crossbills of the day.  Small groups were flying overhead, giving their distinctive calls, and a few were perched at the top of nearby trees dismantling cones with ease.  Huge numbers of Chaffinches were around the feeding station at Leaplish and, as the day progressed we had excellent views of Siskins, Goldeneye, and an incubating Oystercatcher, as well as one of the Osprey pair that have returned to Kielder this year.

The journey back retraced our route from the morning, with one exception.  The birthday boy suggested a short-cut to Chatton, and that proved to be very fortuitous.  Just before Chatton village, myself and Vic, who were in the front of the Landrover, noticed a large bird in a flooded field.  As we stopped…there was a White Stork!  It’s legs were hidden by the bankside vegetation, so we couldn’t see if it had the most obvious sign of captivity; colour rings on it’s legs.  As it stalked along the bank, flushing a pair of Oystercatchers, those legs were gradually revealed to be bare of any adornment.  Howard managed to take some photos, but the bird was very wary and quickly began to head away from us.  With White Storks, there’s always the taint of ‘escapee from captivity’ but this would be a good time for an overshooting bird returning from it’s wintering quarters in tropical Africa and, regardless of it’s origin, this was one stunning bird.  An unpredictably exciting end to the day out.

White Stork, Chatton, Northumberland 17/04/2010

After a Druridge mini-safari on Tuesday, which included a visit to the Common Crane near Eshott, yesterday was something completely different with a Kielder Safari.

After collecting Ruth and Diana from Stannington we took the scenic route up through Knowesgate to Bellingham, in the wilds of west Northumberland.  That’s the point where we deviate from the public roads and follow a track that’s off-limits to the public.  Along the way we saw a few Buzzards, but a superb male Goshawk, and an incredibly skittish Red Fox, were the highlights of the drive through the forest.  Around the reservoir there were Crossbills and Siskins everywhere.  Lunch just over the border in Scotland was followed by more birdwatching and the spectacle of a Common Buzzard catching, dismembering and consuming a vole.  With lots of other buzzards up in the air whenever the sun came out, there was plenty to see.  A stunning drake Mandarin brought a splash of garish colour to the afternoon and a long-distance ‘scope view of last year’s Osprey nest revealed a small white blob – probably the head of one of the pair that have returned to the site.  As we headed back towards civilisation a large flock of Fieldfares and Redwings near Bellingham was a reminder that the winter is only just behind us.

I spent the last three days guiding a familiarisation trip around the northeast, showcasing the landscape, wildlife and birdwatching of Northumberland, the North Pennines and Tees Valley for two wildlife officers and the development manager from ORCA (Organisation Cetacea).

My main input was to the 2nd and 3rd days, as I had another booking for the 1st day so only joined the group late in the afternoon on a rather wet Northumberland coast.

Day 2 dawned bright and dry at home but, as I passed Morpeth, it looked wet and misty ahead.  The main road to Rothbury had been closed by flooding so a detour via the moors and past Cragside was necessary.  We met up with Gill Thompson, the Northumberland National Park ecologist, and parked at Lordenshaws for a walk up Simonside.  It was cold, snowy and exhilarating and we walked up to the start of the ridge.  Meadow Pipits, Skylarks and Red Grouse were all seen as we climbed.

Steph, Kathryn and Martin on the ridge above Lordenshaws

Returning to the car we set off to drive across to Otterburn, round the base of Simonside.  That ran into a slight problem as, although we were fine in the Landy, Gill’s car couldn’t get through one of the floods we encountered.  I continued with the girls and Gill backtracked to Rothbury to find an open route to Otterburn.  After an excellent lunch at Otterburn Mill we headed towards Kielder Water and Forest Park.  A drive along a forest road that isn’t publically accessible produced excellent views of Roe Deer and Common Buzzard…in increasingly heavy snowfall.  At the Kielder Castle visitor centre there was excellent information provided about Ospreys, Goshawks, Tawny Owls, Red Squirrels and Hen Harriers.  We also visited the two wildlife hides at Bakethin and Leaplish.  Crossbills were calling in the tree tops, Goldeneye were displaying on the reservoir and the feeding station was a hive of activity, with Chaffinches, Coal Tits and an elusive Treecreeper.  As we returned to the dam wall and waved goodbye to Shona, it was time to head to Hadrian’s Wall.  Gill provided an excellent description of the wall, it’s history and the geology of the area while we were at Steel Rigg.  Then, after a long day out it was time to travel the short distance to Saughy Rigg Farm; our accommodation for the night and also where were having dinner, hosted by the Kielder Partnership.  The welcome, accommodation, evening meal and breakfast at Saughy Rigg were as outstanding as ever and it was good to chat to Sian and Shaun (who were both students at Haydon Bridge High School when I was teaching there).

Yesterday was our North Pennines day.  I went out for a walk at 6am, and it was a beautiful Spring morning; Curlews were displaying and the early rays of sunlight were highlighting the contours and crevices of the landscape at their very best.  After a breakfast that would set anyone up for being stranded in the middle of nowhere, Black Grouse was clearly high on the wanted list and I’d devised a route that would take in my top 2 sites for this handsome bird.  The first obstacle was a vintage Triumph, completely blocking the road with it’s front wheels in a ditch where it had hit a patch of black ice.  We manouvered our cars (Stephen had been away at a meeting the day before so was now travelling behind us) and a van to safety, in case the Triumph started sliding once it was back on the road.  Thankfully that was accomplished without any problems and we continued.  We would have checked one Black Grouse site and then re-traced our route, but that patch of black ice on a sharp downhill bend led to  a change of plan and we took the road from Allendale to Carrshield instead…

As we crossed the moor there was a thin layer of snow on the road, but there were tyre tracks coming from the other direction so we continued.  Stephen was following our tracks and then, at the high point of the road, the Landy skidded on some hidden ice, juddered and stopped.  Snow was drifting in faster than we could shovel it away and we couldn’t get any traction to free us from the drift.  Other vehicles from either direction were getting into difficulty in less snow than we had and…to cut a long story short…the entire incident involved  two Landrovers, a family estate car and a snow plough all stuck fast, a team of drivers busy shovelling snow, two snapped tow ropes and Steph and Kathryn using the supplies (and flasks of boiling water) from the back of our Landy to provide coffee and hot chocolate to keep everyone warm.  (Note to self; keep two shovels in the Landy in future!).

Once we we free from the drift, and checked that everyone else was able to continue, we headed on and found two excellent Blackcocks by the side of the road.  Across to Langdon Beck and our (delayed) rendezvous with Shane Harris from the North Pennines AONB Partnership.  As we re-structured the schedule Shane said “can anyone hear hissing?”.  Yes, after all the effort we’d put into trying to get some traction with our offside front tyre…it was punctured.  Just a minor inconvenience really so, with the spare wheel on, we had lunch at the Bowlees visitor centre (where the weather was positively summery), walked along the river at Low Force and then drove all the way down the Tees Valley to visit RSPB Saltholme.  Finally, I dropped the girls at Royal Quays, ready for their first sailing this afternoon.

As Stephen put it at the end of the trip “A real Northern Experience!”.

With the continuing excellent weather the Buddleia in our shrubbery is plastered with butterflies, bees and hoverflies. Ten Peacocks and four Painted Ladies are busy consuming as much nectar as they can, so we’ll be out there shortly with our cameras. Then it’s a day in the middle of the countryside for us; pre-walking routes for the Kielder Walking Festival, Northumberland National Park Walkfest and a couple of one-off trips for clients.

The thing about wildlife is that, wherever you go, there’ll always be something to look at. Perhaps we’ll find a pond and search for Dragons and Damsels? maybe a birdwatching gem will lie along one of our routes? turning a stone or log may reveal reptiles, amphibians…or worms and beetles. Every day is a voyage of discovery.

Saturday saw us making the short journey to Newbiggin, to attend the launch event for Scone Mad. Colin and Jackie, the owners of Nevins Nibbles, have an incredible range of scones and the public were voting to select the 100th variety. With the contenders including Jelly Bean, Boost and Chili & chocolate, the competition was going to be close. We’re looking forward to finding out the identity of the winner. Even this interlude had a birdwatching theme; 2 adult Mediterranean Gulls were soaring over Newbiggin as we sat out in the sun, and Nevins Nibbles has played host in the past to meetings of the legendary collection of hardy, seabird-obsessed Northumberland residents that form SWAN (Sea Watchers at Newbiggin).

Later that afternoon we headed to Redesdale to pre-walk the route for this Wednesday’s ‘Birds of Redesdale’ walk. Common Sandpipers were swee-wee-wee-wee-weeing along the river, Roe Deer were bounding through the long grass and Painted Ladies were seen in very good numbers.

Sunday was our first stint as wardens at the Osprey Watchpoint in Kielder Water and Forest Park. Over 80 visitors were entertained and informed by the four wardens and the weather was glorious (for most of the time anyway…). After 7 hours at the watchpoint we were driving home – towards some ominous looking clouds. Sure enough, the first drops of rain began to hit the windscreen, and then the heavens opened. Thunder and lightning accompanied the deluge and we rounded a bend only to find a cyclist in the middle of the road. The chain had come off his bike so, with the thunderstorm inching closer we suggested that he put himself and the bike in the back of our car. The journey to Morpeth saw us driving through a lot of deep flooded roads so he would have struggled to get himself home without getting into real difficulty. We dropped him at Ashington and eventually we arrived home, with a 1hr journey having taken 2hrs, and steaming mugs of hot chocolate were in order as we dried out.

On Saturday we ventured into Kielder Forest, checking out some new sites for our forthcoming safari on March 24th. The weather was changeable, but we still found our first Sand Martin of the year, as well as Goosander, Mandarin, Merlin, Buzzard, Kestrel, Sparrowhawk and plenty of Redwing and Fieldfare.

Yesterday was WeBScount day, so we walked along the beach from Cresswell to East Chevington. It was so warm that hats and gloves weren’t required (for the first time in a long time). The beach was beautiful and clean and the weather was glorious; fluffy clouds against a deep blue sky above Druridge Bay. There were still plenty of birds as well, including a flock of 52 Sanderling charging up and down the edge of the surf like clockwork toys and 120 Wigeon resting on the sea. It won’t be too long before these winter visitors are on their way again but, for a few weeks now we’ll have the early summer visitors and the lingering wintering birds at the same time.

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.

05:55. Another 5 minutes until the alarm goes off, but we’re already awake…and in the churchyard across the road so are the Tawny Owls. This morning it sounds like a very clear territorial dispute between 2 males. Each tremulous hoot was answered by another bird slightly further away. Listening to Tawnies is one of the great pleasures of life – whether it’s the birds in our garden, the ones that start their nightime serenading while we’re out checking our fox and badger sites, the one that usually starts our winter bird race list or the male that on a May bird race responded to an imitation of it’s call by flying in to investigate and perched on a horizontal branch just above head height and only 20m away from us. Although the ‘ke-wick’ and ‘hooo-hoo-hoo-hoo-hooo’ calls are typically given by the female and male respectively that isn’t always the case; the male uses the sharp contact call and the female can hoot, although it’s much coarser than the resonating beauty of the male’s song.

Easy to hear, but difficult to see, although in May our Kielder trips will include a demonstration of Tawny Owl chicks being ringed (when there is a brood of the right age). In the meantime, why not listen near your local woodland and enjoy the aural world of the ‘Brown Owl’?