Author: martin

…or magical memories? Earlier today I had a long, and very enjoyable, chat with Iain Scott of Enterprise Island. I was fortunate to be a participant when Iain and his team brought their own particular brand of inspiration to Wansbeck in October last year. It’s a good job I didn’t have a blog at that point in time…

When Iain called, I’d just spent the entire morning writing Christmas cards…one of the occupational hazards that you never get warned about. In truth, as I wrote each card, memories came flooding back from the last 12 months; advice, support and help from other businesses and the support agencies in our area, cold, exhilarating boat journeys across to the Farne Islands, the day my Goretex jacket finally gave up any pretence of being waterproof, new-born seal pups, sceptical 10-year olds, endearing Red Squirrels, enchanted 10-year olds, majestic Peregrines, tiny babies too young to appreciate what is around them (in the world that will one day be theirs), sinuous Otters, retired or semi-retired couples with a remarkable connection to the environment, swirling Starlings. Actually, all that writing isn’t a hazard, it’s a joy – because all that we do is a thread that is weaved into the fabric of the world. I know that I won’t be able to watch a glistening Grey Seal pup emerging into the hostile environment without momentarily returning in my mind to other times when that happened; vivid memories of people and places, and the experience that connected us all with Northumberland’s wildlife.

The ground was covered in frost, like a dusting of icing sugar. The frozen puddles mirroring my footsteps and my breath condensing in the icy air. As I walked through the ethereal cloud I half imagined that it was going to freeze on my head and face, coating me with the same hoar frost that gave the pathside bushes a magical air.

The pond was covered with birds, and in the calm of a cold winter morning the calls of Teal, Gadwall, Mallard, Goldeneye, Shoveler, Wigeon and Mute Swan (yes, that’s right, although their vocalisations are quiet, if you are lucky enough to be close by, you realise that they are really quite conversational) layered the soundscape that makes these experiences so relaxing.

Then, a sudden frantic departure from one corner of the pond…and I re-focus my video camera to the now vacant area of water. A few Teal and Mallard are still half-hidden amongst the poolside vegetation, surely they haven’t overlooked the danger that scattered all of the other birds? They soon realise that it’s time to go as an otter bounds along the bank before sliding into the water. Bobbing to the surface like a corked bottle, gliding with menacing intent or rolling on its back and looking like the cutest animal on the planet, nearly an hour passes while I’m absorbed into watching one of my favourite predators doing what it does best. A handy raft covered in vegetation provides the ideal spot to tidy itself up after dinner, before slipping back into the pool. I leave, with face frozen, fingers and toes numb but heart pounding.

That was the title of the talk given by Roy Dennis at last night’s indoor meeting of the Northumberland and Tyneside Bird Club. A really entertaining talk covering, amongst other subjects, radio-tracking, migration and translocation projects. Roy was also selling, and signing, copies of his new book with the same title. The lecture theatre was as full as I’ve ever seen it; but you wouldn’t expect anything else with a high-profile speaker talking about raptors. At the North Terrace after the meeting Roy was chatting with a group of us about topics as diverse as Honey Buzzards, Hobbies and Pine Martens and the potential of Northumberland to hold breeding Ospreys and White-tailed Eagles. Hopefully it won’t be another 15 years before we have the opportunity to hear him speak in Northumberland again.

The first copies of Birds in Northumbria 2007 were also distributed at the meeting; it’s a very high quality annual report and first impressions are that the production is even better than in previous years. The quality of image reproduction in particular stood out. Congratulations to Ian Fisher and Steve Holliday who have the often thankless, and not necessarily enviable, task of editing it.

Well, it’s now 8am, there’s a heavy frost, the bird feeders are full and I’m away out to get some fresh air…

After I raised myself from my sick bed, Sarah suggested that some fresh air might do me good. So. I found myself as a passenger in Sarah’s car as we headed up to Druridge Bay and the potential of filming a Starling roost. As it happened the birds were very compliant, swirling backwards and forwards in ever-increasing numbers before they funnelled down into their night-time abode. Even better, as I was filming them I became aware of a movement low to my right…and then a Stoat ran straight over my feet! but before I could angle the camera downwards it had vanished through an obvious run in the hedge.

Then, after a visit to our friends Beth and Sharon at Holistic Harmony in Ashington, we were on our way to the Discovery Museum in Newcastle and a book launch. Mike Pratt is Chief Executive of the Northumberland Wildlife Trust and his first book ‘Wild’ has just been published. A very enjoyable and inspiring launch party saw Mike reading chapters from the book. I can’t say more than go out and buy a copy…it really is very good. So much of Mike’s reading struck such a chord with my own experiences that I could picture myself in those same situations.

I’ve spent the last few days in the office but we have been out doing business-related stuff the last two evenings. On Tuesday we went up to Felton to meet up for a pint and a chat with Mark Winter of Birdwatch Northumbria. Leaving the pub we opted for the ‘scenic’ route home, as it’s a good road for Barn Owls. This almost turned to disaster as, within 5 minutes, icy roads and heavy snow made driving conditions hazardous. Sarah’s skill behind the wheel saw us safely home, although somewhat later than anticipated.

Last night we went to the very entertaining Bizfizz business showcase at Newbiggin. Living in Wansbeck we applaud the effort that Jan and Graeme put into coaching budding entrepreneurs in our small corner of Northumberland.

At 8.45 am this morning the snow arrived, so activity levels around our feeding station quickly escalated to frenzied and nearly 2kg of seed vanished in 5 hours. I spent the day training as a Health Walk Leader, although the demonstration walk was rather curtailed by the heavy snow and treacherous conditions underfoot. Weather forecast looks good for our Farnes and Holy Island cruise on Saturday so we should have an excellent end to the week, with our final visit to the seal colony for this year.

Yesterday evening I gave a talk to the Coast Wildlife Group. ‘A Summer of Pelagic Seabirding’ concentrates on two trips I organised in 2002; the NTBC field trip from Plymouth-Santander and the “Wilson’s Petrel” pelagic. This is followed by a gallery of birds and cetaceans that have been recorded on pelagic trips out of Royal Quays and Seahouses in the subsequent years. The weather during the day was awful so I decided to improve the presentation by incorporating video clips from various pelagic trips. All was going well until I transferred the PowerPoint presentation from my PC to the laptop. Then, disaster, the video clips wouldn’t play…and it took me a long time to realise that the clips weren’t embedded in PowerPoint, but that it accesses them from the hard drive when the appropriate slide is reached. Then it was an easy problem to solve. I enjoyed giving the talk and it brought a few things into real clarity; how much the digital age has impacted on wildlife recording in the last few years (dSLR, digiscoping and video recording as well as the possibilities it has opened up for presentations) and how intriguing our pelagic wildlife is, with so many questions still unanswered.

Sarah’s parents were visiting us this weekend, and on Saturday we decided to head up the coast. An excellent lunch at The Ship Inn, Low Newton-by-the-sea, was followed by a walk along the beach – which was still encrusted with frost at 2.30 in the afternoon. Harkess Rocks at Bamburgh was our next destination, with spectacular pink clouds massing above the horizon over the Farne Islands, looking like swathes of candy floss. As daylight departed we drove to Berwick to see the penultimate night of the Northumberland Lights “State of Berwick” display. Although we’d enjoyed beautiful clear weather all the way up the coast, when we reached Berwick it was shrouded in freezing fog. Everything (including ourselves once we’d been out of the car for a few minutes) was frozen. It was a surreal winter wonderland, but bitterly, bitterly cold.

Yesterday, I took the in-laws to the Harthope Valley, to do a walk that I’m writing for the Northumberland National Park 2009 Visitor Guide. The ground was frozen solid and, as we made our way around the route, Pheasants, Red Grouse, Goldcrests, Buzzards, Mistle Thrushes. Long-tailed Tits and Green Woodpeckers were all busy either feeding, or looking for food, or squawking in alarm as we passed through their icy domain. Having walked up an appetite it was time to head home and enjoy Sunday lunch before filling our bird feeders (currently a daily event…).

The surface of Catcleugh Reservoir reflected the beauty of the surrounding hills and the serenity of the Whooper Swans, as the hills themselves reflected the eerie calls of these winter visitors from the north. The air was icy but absolutely still; a sublime start to a day in the Cheviot valleys. Buzzards perched on fence posts or beat their wings furiously trying to find those elusive thermals, Kestrels hovered above the heather, Green Woodpeckers yaffled indignantly as we passed through their plantation, Great-spotted Woodpeckers jumped from branch to branch before scaling the heights of the tree trunks, Goldcrests and Coal Tits flitted restlessly among the bare branches, Red Grouse engaged in vigorous pursuit from one side of the valley to the other, Dipper and Grey Wagtail raced along the streams and a Brown Hare sat, unmoved by our presence, in a field that was also hosting a Grey Heron. The pink, orange, yellow, red and grey of the sunset framed the sudden appearance of Jupiter and Venus and dark descended. End of November? Limited daylight? It has a magic all of its own.