Northern Experience Wildlife Tours

Author: martin

  • Druridge Bay mini-Safari 12/08/2020

    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 🙂

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

    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 🙂

    Bottlenose Dolphin, Tursiops truncatus, White-beaked Dolphin, Lagenorhynchus albirostris, North Sea, Northumberland, whalewatching, whalewatching North Sea, whalewatching UK, whalewatching Northumberland, dolphin spotting, dolphin spotting UK, dolphin spotting North Sea, dolphin spotting Northumberland
    Bottlenose Dolphin, Tursiops truncatus, White-beaked Dolphin, Lagenorhynchus albirostris, North Sea, Northumberland, whalewatching, whalewatching North Sea, whalewatching UK, whalewatching Northumberland, dolphin spotting, dolphin spotting UK, dolphin spotting North Sea, dolphin spotting Northumberland
    Bottlenose Dolphin, Tursiops truncatus, White-beaked Dolphin, Lagenorhynchus albirostris, North Sea, Northumberland, whalewatching, whalewatching North Sea, whalewatching UK, whalewatching Northumberland, dolphin spotting, dolphin spotting UK, dolphin spotting North Sea, dolphin spotting Northumberland
    Bottlenose Dolphin, Tursiops truncatus, White-beaked Dolphin, Lagenorhynchus albirostris, North Sea, Northumberland, whalewatching, whalewatching North Sea, whalewatching UK, whalewatching Northumberland, dolphin spotting, dolphin spotting UK, dolphin spotting North Sea, dolphin spotting Northumberland
    Bottlenose Dolphin, Tursiops truncatus, White-beaked Dolphin, Lagenorhynchus albirostris, North Sea, Northumberland, whalewatching, whalewatching North Sea, whalewatching UK, whalewatching Northumberland, dolphin spotting, dolphin spotting UK, dolphin spotting North Sea, dolphin spotting Northumberland
    Bottlenose Dolphin, Tursiops truncatus, White-beaked Dolphin, Lagenorhynchus albirostris, North Sea, Northumberland, whalewatching, whalewatching North Sea, whalewatching UK, whalewatching Northumberland, dolphin spotting, dolphin spotting UK, dolphin spotting North Sea, dolphin spotting Northumberland
    Bottlenose Dolphin, Tursiops truncatus, White-beaked Dolphin, Lagenorhynchus albirostris, North Sea, Northumberland, whalewatching, whalewatching North Sea, whalewatching UK, whalewatching Northumberland, dolphin spotting, dolphin spotting UK, dolphin spotting North Sea, dolphin spotting Northumberland
    Bottlenose Dolphin, Tursiops truncatus, White-beaked Dolphin, Lagenorhynchus albirostris, North Sea, Northumberland, whalewatching, whalewatching North Sea, whalewatching UK, whalewatching Northumberland, dolphin spotting, dolphin spotting UK, dolphin spotting North Sea, dolphin spotting Northumberland
    Bottlenose Dolphin, Tursiops truncatus, White-beaked Dolphin, Lagenorhynchus albirostris, North Sea, Northumberland, whalewatching, whalewatching North Sea, whalewatching UK, whalewatching Northumberland, dolphin spotting, dolphin spotting UK, dolphin spotting North Sea, dolphin spotting Northumberland

  • NEWT Reopening and COVID19 01/07/20

    March 17th, when we suspended all of our tours, seems like such a long time ago! We’ve been overwhelmed with messages of support that have kept us going through those last few difficult months and so many of you have rescheduled tours with us for later this year and some for next year already too, and we’re incredibly grateful for that!

    We now hold the ‘We’re Good to Go’ Industry Standard, showing that we are following government and industry COVID19 guidelines. Social distancing in the countryside isn’t an overly challenging task but we’ll also be carrying hand sanitiser for guests to use and all of the binoculars that we have for guests to borrow will be thoroughly cleaned after each tour.

    After a careful and thorough assessment of all of our tours, for our first, easily manageable, steps back to running NEWT we’re planning to initially start with pelagic trips (with reduced passenger numbers), mini-Safaris (walking from a pre-arranged meeting point) and one-to-one photography workshops (with a pre-arranged meeting point). Other than pelagic trips all tours will initially be on an exclusive basis.

    We’re busy today contacting all of our clients who have trips that had to be postponed or who are booked with us over the next month and then we’ll be taking new bookings before the end of the week 🙂

  • Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) – Statement from Northern Experience Wildlife Tours

    With updated advice from the UK Government yesterday afternoon (March 16th) we’ve reviewed our position relating to upcoming tours.

    We’re in unprecedented times and our thoughts are with anyone whose life is being adversely impacted. Wherever you are we hope you and your loved ones stay safe and healthy.

    Our government has advised against non-essential travel or social interaction and our view is that our tours fall firmly in the non-essential category. We’ve taken the decision to suspend all of our tours until we have further guidance from the government. We’re directly contacting all of our clients with upcoming trips to discuss options for postponing or refunding. We’d like to reassure everyone that if you’ve paid for a tour with us, either in full or a deposit, your money is safe.

    As a small business we know the current situation will hurt us, and the other small businesses we’ve worked with over the last 12 years, but the health and wellbeing of our clients and the wider public is, and always will be, our primary concern.

    Once we’re through this we’ll still be here and still taking our clients out to experience Northumberland’s landscape and wildlife. Hope to see you soon!

    Red Squirrel,Northumberland,wildlife photography tuition,wildlife photography holidays

  • Bespoke Otter Safari 07/02/20

    As I collected Amy and James from Warkworth, ahead of a day around Druridge Bay and southeast Northumberland, the forecast for the morning was good, but there was a chance it would start to deteriorate during the afternoon…

    With only a gentle breeze every area of water we looked at was close to mirror-calm. Mallard, Gadwall, Goldeneye, Wigeon, Teal, Mute Swan, Canada Geese and Greylag Geese were all staying low on the water as Grey Herons sat in their usual pose of misery and Water Rails began squealing from the reeds. Little Grebes were diving, Cormorants were drying their wings with heraldic majesty and Lapwings flushed in panic, caught on the now stiffening breeze like windblown leaves. Curlews flew off, their eerie cries carrying over the calm water and a presumably confused Fulmar was soaring around over a coastal pool before heading back out to sea. More Fulmars accompanied our lunch stop, arcing along the clifftop with an uncharacteristically calm North Sea behind them. With the breeze picking up there was an obvious lack of passerines. Jackdaws and Wood Pigeons were sitting in bare trees, Little Grebes were patrolling close to overhanging vegetation where Moorhens were dabbling and as the Sun was setting in the west, remarkably orange, 3 Roe Deer were chasing around a steep field overlooking the river.

    Another great winter’s day with lovely clients 🙂

  • Vital signs; Otter mini-Safari 12/01/20

    A dual purpose title for today’s blog…

    I collected Fara, Andrew and Nicola & Graeme and Jen from Newbiggin and we set off to explore Druridge Bay and southeast Northumberland on a Sunday morning that was thankfully lacking the stiff breeze that has characterised the winter so far…

    Water that was almost mirror-calm was patterned with the concentric circles of diving Little Grebes, Goldeneye and Cormorants as a Grey Heron stood motionless, uncharacteristically obliging, and a Little Egret darted at small fish in the shallows before flying upstream, followed by noisy Oystercatchers, into what little breeze there was.

    En route to our second site I thought it would be worth stopping to check for Little Owls, and one was sitting quietly sunning itself. If you’ve never seen one of these elfin sprites, here’s one of Sarah’s photographs from a few years ago 🙂

    Little Owl,Athene noctua,bird photography,wildlfie photography,Druridge Bay,Northumberland,bird photography workshop,wildlife photography workshop

    The temperature was starting to drop and a breeze was becoming noticeable as we settled to scan over a pool and reedbeds. Suddenly the Lapwings all took flight, forming a tight wheeling flock tossed on the breeze as Mallards turned and stared at one area of reeds. After a couple of minutes the Lapwings were back down, as the discordant calls of Canada and Greylag Geese carried on the breeze and Mallard, Wigeon, Teal, Gadwall, Pintail and Wigeon were all dabbling contentedly again. The calm didn’t last long though and the Lapwings were soon scattering in panic again. The third time they flushed the Mallards were once again looking at the same reedbed, this time with three Little Grebes joining with the intense study of a very localised area. Everything we’d look for when searching for Otters was happening right in front of us…the only thing missing was an appearance by our quarry itself. Here’s an Otter from January 2015, sporting a very fetching boa of seaweed 🙂

    Eurasian Otter,Lutra lutra,Northumberland,otter watching,otter safari,otter photography workshops

    Lovely clients, lots of photography discussion, great weather and I brought home an owl pellet to dissect 🙂

    and ‘Vital signs’ as a blog title? It’s a track on Rush’s album Moving Pictures and our tribute to Neil Peart who sadly passed away last week.

  • Halcyon days; Otter Safari 19/12/19

    After a couple of weeks where we didn’t have any scheduled trips it was a nice change of scenery to have a day out around Druridge Bay and southeast Northumberland and I collected Kev from Woodhorn as the rain started to fall…

    Mid-morning produced a trio of great birds. A 1st winter Glaucous Gull had just settled back into a roost when Kev spotted a Kingfisher perched in front of us as a stunning drake Pintail up-ended just beyond it. Mallard, Gadwall, Teal, Wigeon, Tufted Duck and Little Grebe all scattered in panic as a young male Marsh Harrier drifted over the pool and along the reeds where Water Rails were squealing.

    Our picnic spot produced a Fulmar arcing over the sea in sight of cliff-edge nest sites and Redshank, Curlew, Turnstone and Oystercatcher all flew from rocks and along the shore.

    The afternoon brought more Goldeneye and Little Grebe, another Kingfisher in the deepening gloom of dusk, noisy flocks of Pink-footed, Greylag and Canada Geese and a remarkable flock of possibly as many as 50 Greenfinches as Cormorants perched menacingly on fallen trees and Grey Herons stalked through the shallows.

  • Mud, mud, glorious mud; Lindisfarne Safari 21/11/19

    Yesterday was Colin and Charlotte’s second day out with NEWT this week and this time we were heading north to Lindisfarne…

    A quick look at Monk’s House Pool on the way up the coast revealed the continued presence of the Long-tailed Duck that we saw with Sue earlier this month and then we headed to the causeway. It was still impassable but that was intentional because it put us in position to watch how quickly the birds exploit the newly revealed food supply as the tide falls. Pale-bellied Brent Geese, Shelduck, Wigeon, Red-breasted Merganser, Eider, Curlew, Turnstone, Redshank, Knot, Dunlin, Golden Plover, Grey Plover, Lapwing, Bar-tailed Godwit, Ringed Plover and Little Egret were all feeding or flying past us and a Merlin flew over the causeway as we drove towards the island. The eerie moaning of Grey Seals carried on a southerly breeze and we set off to walk around the main body of the island. A Sparrowhawk flew low through the dunes, a male Stonechat was in rank pathside vegetation and Roe Deer were watching us warily from the dune tops before bounding away and, as the light faded, Starlings began streaming across the saltmarsh and dunes towards their nighttime roost.

  • Waxing and Murmuring; Druridge Bay Safari 19/11/19

    I arrived in Newbiggin to collect Colin and Charlotte for a day around Druridge Bay and southeast Northumberland, but sadly not Tony who’d had a fall earlier in the week and wasn’t able to be on the trip with us…

    On calm water Little Grebes were constantly diving as a Kingfisher flew by and settled in a bush overhanging the river and a flock of Goldeneye were a reminder that we’re really into the realm of wintering birds now. A mixed flock of Blue Tit, Long-tailed Tit and Goldcrest also contained a nice surprise in the form of a Treecreeper. We were in the right area for Waxwings too, with sightings in a few places nearby over the last few days. No sign of the Bohemian beauties but we bumped into Hector who was also searching for them. We headed to our picnic spot overlooking the North Sea and had just stopped the car when Hector ‘phoned. The answer to the question “Would you like your lunch, or to see some Waxwings first”? was answered with a resounding “Waxwings!” from Colin and Charlotte and a few minutes later we were watching 13 of them beside a main road in Ashington 🙂

    After lunch we found ourselves watching a mixed flock of Lapwing, Golden Plover, Dunlin, Ruff, Curlew and Common Snipe as skeins of Pink-footed Geese yapped overhead. With the Sun dipping towards the horizon, although it doesn’t really get that high above it at this time of year, Roe Deer were exploring rushy fields and poolside reedbeds, the trumpeting calls of a family of Whooper Swans heralded their arrival at a nighttime roost site and then there were the Starlings. Thousands and thousands, swirling in front of us, funneling down into the reeds, panicking as a Sparrowhawk flew by, keeping up a constant chatter like a myriad of leaves rusting in the breeze and then, as the light faded towards unmanageable, streaming out of the reeds in wave after wave of black towards an alternative roost.

  • Wind-blasted; Bespoke Lindisfarne Safari 05/11/19

    I collected Sue for her 10th NEWT safari and we headed north in weather that didn’t seem to be quite certain of what it was…

    Along the causeway, with the tide only just receding from the road, Curlews, Knot, Bar-tailed Godwits, Grey Plovers, Redshanks and Oystercatchers were probing the freshly exposed mud as Pale-Bellied Brent Geese, Wigeon, Mute Swans and Shelducks were grazing along the water’s edge and Little Egrets were dotted around the saltmarsh.

    Soon we had one of the best sights you can hope for when arriving on the island…Andy M on the main road staring intently into a tree 🙂 Among a scattering of Goldcrests a Yellow-browed Warbler was exploring the canopy and we watched it for a few minutes before exploring around the village. With Eiders and Red-breasted Mergansers just offshore, as dense wader flocks wheeled over the mudflats, Fieldfares, Redwings, Blackbirds, Song Thrushes and an unseasonal Spotted Flycatcher were searching for food as a stiff northerly brought repeated stinging rain showers. What we thought was a tree covered in dead brown leaves suddenly burst into life as a dense flock of Starlings left the bare branches behind and a Kestrel flushed from the hedge top before hanging motionless in the wind.

    As we watched the transition from a rapidly falling tide to slack water, Turnstones, Oystercatchers and a lone Purple Sandpiper were probing through piles of seaweed with impressively breaking surf just a few feet beyond them, Cormorants and Shags battled into the wind, Roe Deer were on the sheltered side of a hedge and an unexpected Long-tailed Duck on a freshwater pool was followed as dusk approached by a Fox trotting across the road in front of us before slowly making it’s way along a field margin.

    Another great day out with Sue. See you next year!