Author: martin

The harsh ‘kev-i-week’ calls echo around the stone walls as Kittiwakes either sit on their precipitous nest ledges or soar against the clear blue sky. Effortless gliding low over the faintly rippled water surface leads to a steep climb to join the other members of the colony. The tell-tale white splashes on the rock face identify this as a well-established site and the density of occupied nests suggests that this really is a des-res. I can sit for hours watching these gentle-countenanced birds; the white underparts, ‘dipped in ink’ black wingtips and dove grey upperwings and mantle all combine to produce a bird so different from the noisy, scrabbling brutes of the gull family that most people are familiar with. A tri-syllabic ticking alerts me to the presence of a Linnet; too high overhead to identify by sight, but it’s flight-call gives it away. Behind me a Greenfinch starts it’s tuneless wheezing, before launching into the air and song-flighting with a canary-like trill.

Close your eyes and imagine all of these sounds; the clamour of a seabird colony and the call and song of two of our finches. Imagine the faint seaweedy smell of ozone. Imagine you’re sitting below a coastal cliff, bathed in warm summer sunshine. Now open your eyes; and discover that you’re actually sititng beside me in the shadow of the Tyne Bridge and the world’s most inland colony of Kittiwakes…and who would have thought that such a remarkable place could be right there and so accessible?

On Tuesday I was at the launch of the North East Wildlife Trusts ‘Living Landscapes’ project. I have a great interest in this as the three project areas in Northumberland coincide with three of NEWT’s locations. The venue for the launch was The Sage, Gateshead. A remarkable-looking building from the outside, and stunning inside as well. The keynote speaker for the launch was Chris Packham, who has just been announced as Bill Oddie’s replacement as presenter of Springwatch. Chris’ speech was passionate and thought-provoking; it’s always captivating to listen to someone who really cares. After spending the afternoon at the launch, I needed some fresh air and to stretch my legs so, once Sarah was home from work, we walked from Druridge Pools to East Chevington, in the dark. The clouds were clearing and under the starry sky we could just make out the route of the tracks and paths we were following as waders and wildfowl were calling in nearby ponds and fields.

Mid-late March is always a busy time for NEWT; tourism leaflet distribution days in Berwick and Alnwick, and other meetings all seem to fall at this time. Added to that we’re busy finalising some of this year’s special events, including a Dawn Chorus and Northumbrian breakfast at Lee Moor Farm on International Dawn Chorus Day, May 3rd, but perhaps our most exciting event this spring will be our Black Grouse Spectacular based at The Otterburn Tower on 5th/6th May. With access to a lek that is off-limits to the public, this really is a Northern Experience Wildlife Tours exclusive, focusing on one our favourite species and favourite habitats.

Another sunny day…I even managed to hang the washing out on the line, and the long-tailed tits on the peanut cage didn’t flinch when I was standing within a few feet of them. A flurry of movement along the garden fence revealed that the dunnocks are now dancing in earnest; they can provide endless entertainment once the hormones start flowing. Jumping up and down while flicking their wings in the air, presumably only they can hear the music that their display of aggression/affection is choreographed to. This relatively unobtrusive ‘little brown job’, the hedge sparrow of my youth and the hedge accentor of modern nomenclature, has a fascinating mating system. One strategy is for the female to actively encouraging mating with two males so that, when the business of chick-rearing comes about, she has an increased amount of support. From the perspective of the male, it’s in his interest to mate with as many females as possible, but to not allow ‘his’ females to mate with other males. This leads to females mating with additional males under the cover of dense vegetation to avoid being seen. And all of this is probably going on in your back garden…

I had a few errands to run this morning so was pleased to see that the weather was fine with big fluffy white clouds against a deep blue sky. There was still a biting chill in the air though, so I put on my hat and gloves and set off to walk to Guidepost. Remarkably, in the middle of a housing estate, my ears latched on to the cascading song of a skylark. Reminiscent of my youth; when I hear that song then it takes me back to summer days spent just laying in meadows, listening to the sound and trying (often in vain) to locate the singer. This time, however, he couldn’t evade my gaze and I watched for a while as the tiny dark speck quivered against the clouds before finally descending. The volume and variety of birdsong is growing steadily as the days lengthen and new shoots and blooms are swelling and bursting. The snowdrops have now been joined by the yellow, white and purple of crocuses. Greenfinches are wheezing, goldfinches are twinkling (ok, I know that technically twinkling is visual rather than aural) and song thrushes are repeating themselves, and repeating themselves, and… 🙂 The transition from winter to spring is quite a blurred one and I’ll be surprised if we’ve seen the last snow of this winter for example. Could this be my favourite time of the year? It’s certainly exciting, and I can barely wait for our first Kielder Safari on March 24th. Lingering winter visitors gathered in flocks prior to departure, raptors displaying and all those songbirds proclaiming their territories and seeking the approval of the opposite sex.

And it will only get better…

One of my favourite birds, and last night I managed to see no less than five! I was giving a talk, at the Dunstanburgh Castle Hotel in Embleton, to the Potters Bar and Barnet RSPB members group who are in Northumberland for a few days. Night was setting in as I drove up the coastal route and two Barn Owls and a Fox between Lesbury and Embleton enriched the journey. After a very nice dinner it was time for the slide show. A late finish saw me eventually heading back south at 11pm. 45 mins later I’d found another three Barn Owls – all sandwiched into just 5mins of the journey between Widdrington and Ellington. All of this under a beautiful, clear starry sky. So much more exciting than driving in daylight.

I came downstairs to the sound of screeching this morning. Perhaps next-door’s cat had caught one of the birds around our feeding station? No, it was an altercation between 2 male Blackbirds. Rolling around the patio, the bundle of black feathers was a maelstrom of stabbing beaks and kicking feet. Oh, the joys of spring! The chaffinches have got in to a similar mood as well; the flock of 10-20 males that has spent most of the winter beneath our apple tree is now a series of interconnected fights as each bird struggles for the dominance that will give him top spot for nesting and breeding. The weather forecast is for a return to wintry conditions over the next few days; possibly snow, certainly frost. Will hostilities cease in favour of the really serious business of finding enough food simply to survive the decreasing temperatures? Time to check the levels in the feeders I think.

Look out for unusual sea creatures. A 3m-long Oarfish has been washed up on the beach at Tynemouth. This follows tideline corpses at Hauxley on Boxing Day and Amble last Monday (the same day as the one at Tynemouth). Only 4 records of these fish (the longest bony fish in the world) in the UK, and 3 in Northumberland in 2 months. What is going on? We’ve had some unusual things on our pelagic trips in the last few years; Ocean Sunfish (the heaviest bony fish in the world) and Wilson’s Petrel (a southern-hemisphere seabird that hadn’t been recorded in the British North Sea before we found one in 2002), but nothing as bizarre as this. I think I’ll be spending more time beachcombing, and as much time as possible on the SarahJFK with my good friend Allan Skinner

On the road from Craster to Alnwick there’s a sign pointing to “Lee Moor Business Park”. I’ve always thought that out in the Northumberland countryside was a bit of an odd place for a business park, but today I had the opportunity to go and see what goes on there. After a very nice lunch with Ian Brown (chatting about a wide range of topics and issues related to Northumberland), in the Black Olive Sandwich Lounge (highly recommended), I went for a walk around the farm trail. Flocks of tree sparrows, reed buntings and yellowhammers were all along the hedges by the trail and I lost count of the number of partridges and pheasants that I flushed from the tall vegetation that has been left around the field edges. Common buzzard and common kestrel were testament to the volume of wildlife on the farm, as were all the small mammal holes and runs around the entire length of the trail, and finding two of my favourite mammals, stoat and brown hare, was a real bonus. An environmentally-friendly business park, set on an environmentally-friendly farm, may sound like the stuff of dreams but it isn’t – it does really exist; diversification, biodiversity and renewable energy all set beneath the big skies of Northumberland.