Northern Experience Wildlife Tours

Going back to basics

by martin on 03/02/21 10:58, under Photography, Uncategorized

NEWT having a period of hibernation, while we deal with another enforced lockdown, has been an interesting time. We’re walking every day (1.6 miles in a morning or at lunchtime, then 6-10 miles on both Saturday and Sunday). Occasionally I’ll carry my big lens (150-600mm) with me, but mostly I prefer to travel light…

Like many photographers I have a lot of kit accumulated over the years, often with a specific function in mind. Until a couple of years ago my photography was mainly offshore wildlife, and nightscape, using lenses that were purchased specifically for those (70-200mm and 14-24mm). I was leading a photography holiday in Glencoe over Christmas 2018 and during the briefing I said we’d have a constructive critique of our images after dinner each evening. “Only if you agree to put your images up for discussion too”. I don’t usually carry a camera during workshops, but agreed to put one camera body with a 50mm prime lens, and no other accessories, in my rucksack, along with lunch, first aid kit, emergency group shelter etc.

The effect was extraordinary. All of that kit, and I fell completely in love with a lens that cost me less than £100. Through all the challenging times of the last 10 months, it’s been rare that I would leave the house without that lens mounted on my D810 and in my hand. It’s provided a stable point of focus (apologies for the unintentional pun…) and keeps my mind occupied. Here’s a little gallery of images I’ve taken with it, from Glencoe in December ’18 through to a walk in the woods 2 days ago.

Of course, I’m now finding lots of situations where 50mm is slightly too much reach…note to self – research 35mm primes 🙂

Stay safe and well, and we’ll see you on the other side of this 🙂

Murmurings; Otter mini-Safari 29/10/20

by martin on 30/10/20 12:10, under Uncategorized

Other than a few nights at the Battlesteads Observatory, I’ve had a month at home with my feet up recovering from an operation in late September to fix an old foot injury. Even the drizzly, murky weather didn’t curb my enthusiasm for getting back out with clients so I met Maria ahead of a few hours searching for Otters…

Teal, Gadwall, Shelduck, Mallard, Wigeon, Tufted Duck and Red-breasted Merganser were all constantly stirred by Marsh Harriers drifting over the pool, Lapwing and Curlew flew by and then the Starlings started arriving. Here’s Maria’s video 🙂

NEWT’s North Sea Pelagic 22/09/2020

by martin on 09/10/20 11:26, under Uncategorized

Our pelagic season ended with a 10hr Northumberland Ultimate Pelagic, and the sea demonstrated what a fickle mistress she is. The previous afternoon we’d had White-beaked Dolphins and good conditions offshore…and now the sea was ominous and brooding as a stiff southwesterly started to pick up and we were treated to a sea that was majestic and choppy…

Comments Off more...

NEWT’s North Sea Pelagics 21/09/2020

by martin on 09/10/20 11:20, under North Sea

Our final 4hr daytime pelagics for 2020 were very contrasting. Our morning sailing was a great few hours offshore but didn’t produce any cetacean sightings so in the hour between sailings, I suggested to Allan that we should just head straight out in the afternoon…and just at the point where we were about to turn and head back to shore, there were the White-beaked Dolphins 🙂

Comments Off more...

Light on the water; Bespoke Photography 10/09/2020

by martin on 11/09/20 09:33, under Bottlenose Dolphin, Northumberland Coast, Photography

Yesterday was a trip we were really looking forward to after what has been a really challenging year in so many ways. Emma and Janine have been on a couple of photography holidays that I’ve led since late 2018 and yesterday’s trip was organised for Janine’s birthday. Water and wildlife were the specific requests so I’d discussed how to structure the full day with Sarah and we thought we’d got a workable plan…

We started with wildlife; Dunlin, Redshank, Bar-tailed Godwit, Curlew and Turnstone all exploiting the rich food supply available on freshly uncovered sand and seaweed as the tide fell. Low-angled sunlight and mirror-calm water were everything we could have wished for and after a morning of wading birds we headed off for an excellent lunch, and outstanding views from our window table, at the Jolly Fisherman.

Post-lunch we stretched our legs and walked towards Dunstanburgh Castle as the tide turned and surf started breaking over the rocks in the foreground while we sat close to the rising water. Juvenile Gannets were diving offshore and I was thinking that there must be plenty of fish when I spotted a couple of dorsal fins and for the next 5 minutes we watched a group of around 10 Bottlenose Dolphins that seemed to be on a mission to get somewhere away to the south 🙂 Heading back south down the coast our final stop was at Howick Haven/Rumbling Kern as the tide started to flood in below the Bathing House.

Lovely entertaining clients who are pleasure to spend time with, fantastic light, obliging wildlife and the Northumberland coast. There can’t be many better ways to spend a day 🙂

Comments Off :Bar-tailed Godwit, Bottlenose Dolphin, Common Redshank, Dunlin, Dunstanburgh Castle, Howick Bathing House, Northern Wheatear, Turnstone more...

Joyriders; NEWT’s North Sea Pelagic 02/09/2020

by martin on 04/09/20 10:11, under North Sea, White-beaked Dolphin

Wednesday’s 10hr Northumberland Ultimate Pelagic sailed with the intention of heading out to the furthest reaches of the Farne Deeps but just over 2hrs in, Mark and Martin looked at the weather and decided that it wouldn’t be safe to head as far offshore as planned. Checking the forecast for the rest of the day, and the bathymetric chart, a new course was set…and there were the White-beaked dolphins 🙂 52 minutes of mayhem later they departed as suddenly and mysteriously as they’d arrived, leaving behind a boat filled with grinning clients and memory cards filled with images and video 🙂

Comments Off :Fulmar, Great Skua, Guillemot, Kittiwake, Puffin, Razorbill, White-beaked Dolphin more...

Wading through the sublime light; Druridge Bay mini-Safari 20/08/2020

by martin on 21/08/20 10:25, under Druridge Bay

I arrived to meet Paul and Helen ahead of a few hours around Druridge Bay and we set off to walk south along the coast…

A mixed wader/gull/tern roost produced Lapwing, Golden Plover, Dunlin, Knot, Ruff, Black-tailed Godwit, Little Ringed Plover, Common Redshank, Spotted Redshank, Sandwich Tern and Common, Black-headed, Herring and Great Black-backed Gull as Grey Herons stalked the water’s edge and three Marsh Harriers quartered back and forth along the reeds. The waders all lifted a couple of times and Teal, Mallard, Gadwall, Shoveler and Coot all looked panicky but we couldn’t see what was causing all of the concern.

Starlings were roosting among the waders and a large flock speckled the sky before heading away out of sight to the north as Stonechats and Linnets perched on top of scattered bushed in the dunes, beautifully illuminated by low angle diffuse sunlight. One male Stonechat was sharing a prominent perch with an undeniably cute juvenile Common Whitethroat and the raucous calls of Pheasant came from rough pasture as Silver Y moths were nectaring busily on Red Clover.

With the Sun setting away to the west, and the Summer Triangle of Vega, Altair and Deneb about to make an appearance through a break in the clouds, a Sparrowhawk flew low over the dunes and a Barn Owl ghosted across the path ahead of us before making its way along dips in the dunes and eventually heading away north as daylight faded to darkness and the calls of Greylag Geese coming to roost accompanied our departure.

Comments Off :Altair, Barn Owl, Black-tailed Godwit, Common Gull, Common Whitethroat, Coot, Deneb, Dunlin, Gadwall, Golden Plover, Great Black-backed Gull, Grey heron, Greylag Goose, Herring Gull, Knot, Lapwing, Linnet, Little Ringed Plover, Mallard, Marsh Harrier, Reed Bunting, Ruff, Sandwich Tern, Shoveler, Silver Y, Sparrowhawk, Starling, Stonechat, Summer Triangle, Teal, Vega more...

Northumberland Ultimate Pelagic 15/08/2020

by martin on 20/08/20 14:57, under MInke Whale, North Sea, White-beaked Dolphin

Saturday was our first 10hr pelagic, after August 5th had weather that wasn’t great. White-beaked Dolphin put in an appearance early in the day, a Minke Whale was well to the ENE of Alnmouth and Harbour Porpoise were regular throughout the day. Amongst mist and rain we had some sublime conditions, extraordinary light and incredibly smooth water…

Our 10hr pelagic on 15/08/20 produced White-beaked Dolphin, Minke Whale, Harbour Porpoise and some incredible light over a smooth sea

Comments Off :Harbour Porpoise, JFK Two, Minke Whale, North Sea, North Sea pelagic, White-beaked Dolphin more...

Druridge Bay mini-Safari 12/08/2020

by martin on 13/08/20 11:10, under Druridge Bay

With COVID19 having brought about some changes to how we deliver our mini-Safaris, I arrived at Druridge Bay to collect John and Jo for NEWT’s first land-based tour since February…

Our tour model for the last 12 years has been built around the use of the NEWTmobile (initially our Land Rover Defender, and more recently the Galaxy) to transport our clients between wildlife watching locations. Our new model involves still visiting a couple of locations on each mini-Safari, but walking between sites and I was curious how that would work.

Stonechats and Linnets were perched on top of bushes along the coastal path as a Cuckoo flew towards us before vanishing into a dip in the dunes and a Marsh Harrier was quartering a field edge below the setting Sun. As the harrier settled on a fence post, a Barn Owl took it’s place patrolling the same edge, below the Sun and above a Brown Hare that allowed occasional glimpses as it made it’s way along the back of a field. Skeins of Greylag Geese were scattered across the background of a stunning orange sunset as a second Cuckoo took off and flew along a fence line before looping around a patch of Sea Buckthorn and vanishing into the bushes.

As the Sun dipped below the horizon and Vega shone almost directly overhead, Grey Herons were chasing each other from favoured feeding spots and a Barn Owl appeared in front of us and plunged into the grass just a few metres away before emerging and flying off with it’s prey! Then, with light levels fading rapidly a Long-eared Owl flew head-on towards us.

I like our new model: see more, cover more ground, don’t have dead time traveling 🙂

Comments Off :Barn Owl, Cuckoo, Grey heron, Linnet, Long-eared Owl, Marsh Harrier, Stonechat more...

NEWT’s 4hr North Sea pelagics July/August 2020

by martin on 13/08/20 10:28, under Bottlenose Dolphin, North Sea, White-beaked Dolphin

After a break of a few months we got back up and running in July, starting with our 4hr evening pelagics (and some 4hr daytime pelagics organised due to high demand!)

Here’s a gallery of images covering a few of the trips where we found dolphins. 10 trips in total – 5 found White-beaked Dolphin, 4 found Bottlenose Dolphin 🙂