Northern Experience Wildlife Tours

Category: Family and friends

  • Sport Relief

    I spent yesterday in an unfamiliar role; as support to The Swan Striders (Sarah and Kirsty) as they took part in the Sport Relief mile at Druridge Bay Country Park.  This is the first step in a grand plan that should eventually see them completing a marathon.  As they only began their training regime a couple of weeks ago, and Kirsty tore a calf muscle last week, it was impossible to guess how they would perform.  Needless to say, they both finished the mile (well, 1.4 miles…) still running, in a time of 16:47.  I’m a proud husband 🙂

    My own health improvements are taking the form of lots of walks (I’d love to run with the girls but one of my knees is very unstable).  After the Alnwick Tourism Fair on Friday I walked the 4 miles up to Morpeth to collect Sarah’s car from the garage where it had been for it’s MOT.  Against the prevailing wind I knocked 5 mins off the time it took in the other direction with the wind behind me.  Progress…and now we’re going to set a series of targets for me, probably culminating in the Three Peaks.  As ever there was a wildlife angle to my walk; although an unexpected one as I flushed a Woodcock from under a hedge near Hepscott.  Yellowhammers, Skylarks and Reed Buntings were singing and there’s a vibrant fresh feel to the countryside.  Can you feel it?

  • A change in the weather

    The feeders in our garden have been busier in the last couple of days than at any time during this winter.  No less than 6 Blackbirds have taken up residence, 3 or 4 Robins are posturing and defending territories, a steady stream of Blue, Great and Coal Tits, along with our 2 regular Willow Tits, are emptying the feeders rapidly and a flock of 8 Long-tailed Tits are putting in daily appearances.  Chaffinch numbers are way down on previous winters, but Greenfinches are now almost ever-present during daylight hours and three pairs of Bullfinches are never far away.  It’s interesting that, even on a very short-distance scale, there’s such a noticeable movement of birds from their ‘normal’ habitat (Choppington Woods) to the gardens around the edge of the woods whenever the weather turns colder.  Birdwatching doesn’t get any easier than sitting in the kitchen, glass of port in one hand and a slice of Christmas cake in the other 🙂

    First thing this morning everything was frozen solid again.  However, by lunchtime when Martin took Dad to the railway station there was a noticeable thaw – even though the thermometer was showing the temperature having only just crept above freezing.  Then it started to rain and most of the remaining patches of ice and snow vanished.  The birds were still around in the numbers of recent days though and, if the weather forecasts are anything to go by, we’re in for some more very hard winter weather at the end of this year and the start of the new one.  Wrap up warm.

  • Skating on thin ice

    After seeing my photos appearing in Martin’s blog posts for the last couple of days, I thought I’d turn my hand to writing today’s blog.

    I started the day by taking my father-in-law for a birdwatching walk around Choppington Woods although, with everything frozen solid, there were very few birds to be seen.  We did find a couple of distant Roe Deer but, on the whole, the walk consisted of a consistent attempt to not fall on the ice.  With the partial thaw and heavy rain of yesterday, followed by another hard freeze overnight, all of the footpaths were covered with a treacherous layer of transparent ice.  A couple we passed were complaining about their new walking boots not being any help to remaining upright.

    Back at home, lunch was home-made vegetable soup, baked ham and a selection of cheeses.  Just the thing in this weather.  Martin had spent the whole morning in bed with a sore throat, ear-ache and a splitting headache; probably the outcome of having a puncture on the Landrover late last night and being outside in the bitter cold…without a hat or gloves!  I have to wonder sometimes…

    He did perk up a bit once lunch was ready though, and then spent most of the afternoon processing and backing-up the images from the last few days.  Tomorrow the plan (weather permitting) is to try and photograph Kingfishers, and to get closer shots of Roe Deer. Good job we’ve got two cameras 🙂

  • Winter walks

    There’s little that’s better than going for a walk with snow on the ground.  On Christmas Day I took dad for a walk around Choppington Woods, mainly so we weren’t under Sarah’s feet 😉  Today all three of us walked along the River Blyth and through the dunes in Druridge Bay.  The traditional boxing Day pheasant shoots in the woodland of Druridge Bay provided an ‘interesting’ aural backdrop.  I’ve had some fascinating conversations about hunting recently, with wildlife photographers and with friends who have hunted for several years.  What some people may find surprising is that two apparently disparate groups have much in common; not least a love and appreciation of the countryside.    Wildlife- and birdwatching with a camera may have a very different outcome (certainly for the wildlife) from hunting, with the only thing getting fired being a camera shutter, and the only things getting shot being images of wildlife, but there’s a lot we can learn as photographers and wildlife watchers, from the techniques employed by hunters.  Wildlife crime may still be a major issue in many areas, but that’s a topic for another blog on another day.

    With NEWT events on Holy Island, in the Harthope Valley and around Lee Moor Farm before the end of the year, and places to go and things to photograph on our days ‘off’ in-between, we’re looking forward to the last five days of 2009.  Here are a few images from today:

    It may be a cliche...
    It may be a cliche…
    Captured in the split-second before it noticed me
    Captured in the split-second before it noticed me
    Northumberland's iconic mammal
    Northumberland's iconic mammal
    Dashing through the snow
    Dashing through the snow
    Roe doe and Roe buck
    Roe doe and Roe buck

  • Another waiting room

    With a busy schedule over the Christmas and New Year period, this weekend is our chance to visit friends and family in Derbyshire and East Yorkshire.

    I spent most of Friday afternoon filling all of our bird and squirrel feeders.  The Jays were around again, screaming at me from the Ash tree at the bottom of the garden.  The Coal Tits were rather bolder, perching just above my head and settling into ‘angry little bird’ mode.  After all the feeders were replenished, it seems I need to pay a visit to my good friend Martin over in Haltwhistle to re-stock our extension with sacks of bird food 🙂

    We drove down to Derbyshire in the snow on Friday evening.  The roads were fine, but the carpark at Wetherby Services was a proper nightmare.  A delicious casserole and a glass of wine awaited us at the end of the journey.  Saturday dawned clear, bright and snowy and we spent the day visiting friends.  Saturday evening’s entertainment was a meal in Derby with Sarah’s parents and her youngest sister and other half, followed by a theatre visit to see The Snow Queen. Or so we thought…

    As we walked from the car park towards the restaurant, the pavements were glistening with ice.  Which is when Sarah’s mum went base over apex and heard her leg break. 🙁 We had an ‘interesting’ 5 hours in the  Royal Derby Hospital, followed by a takeaway pizza.  The best laid plans…

    Now we’re on our way back north, and conditions look perfect for carrying out our next two offshore surveys on Tuesday and Wednesday.  Best wrap up warm.

    Get well soon mum.  And enjoy putting your feet up over Christmas 🙂

  • North of England Raptor Conference 2009

    Yesterday was the North of England Raptor Conference 2009. This year it was organised by the two study groups based in the Peak District, and was held at the Agricultural Business Centre in Bakewell. The distance from the northeast had clearly discouraged most of the Northumberland raptor workers who normally attend. For us it was less of a problem though; Sarah’s parents live in Derbyshire so we were able to combine attending the conference with visiting them. As an aspect of birdwatching raptors aren’t everyone’s cup of tea, but they can be a fascinating part of an overall approach to the hobby, and a number of species lend themselves well to amateur study.

    The first speaker was Bill Heinrich, talking about the work done by The Peregrine Fund with Peregrine, California Condor, Aplomado Falcon and Gyrfalcon. Some novel approaches to dealing with conservation problems caused by hunting were described, and it did raise the question of why we can’t adopt a process of engagement to deal with some of the problems we face in Britain.

    A description of a survey of Merlin numbers followed, and this is particularly pertinent to Northumberland as some detailed work on the species has been carried out in our home county.

    Next came Ian Newton. As the author of ‘The Sparrowhawk’, one of the best monographs we’ve ever read, we were both looking forward to hearing him speak again. As he was talking about the subject of that monograph, and the species of raptor that breeds closer to our office than any other, it was all the more fascinating. It’s a real gift to make scientific study interesting and understandable, but Professor Newton does that very well. Lots of ideas for studying our local Sparrowhawks occured to both of us during the talk, so some of the long dark winter nights will be taken up with planning that study.

    The morning’s proceedings were drawn to a close by the estate manager for the National Trust in the Peak District, outlining the challenges that our upland areas face.

    After lunch came a talk that we were both eagerly anticipating; Steve Roberts describing how to find, identify and study Honey Buzzards. To describe it as entertaining doesn’t really do justice to Steve’s approach to public-speaking.

    Then it was the turn of Terry Pickford, with a talk entitled ‘Ground-nesting Peregrines in the Forest of Bowland’. What we actually got was a talk that concentrated almost exclusively on Hen Harriers. We understand Terry’s passion for Hen Harriers completely, but giving an unpublicised presentation on the scheduled topic for the next speaker, we both found rather offensive and distasteful.

    The scheduled speaker from the RSPB had been unable to attend so a last-minute stand-in had the unenviable task of talking about ‘The Hen Harrier in 2009’. It was refreshing to hear a level-headed summary of the events of this year and we applaud the speaker for his openness and honesty in the face of some self-important heckling from one or two members of the audience.

    Anthony Messenger was the next speaker, describing nearly 20 years of studying Hobbies in South Derbyshire. This was another talk that stimulated many ideas, particularly as the species occurs in small numbers in Northumberland during the breeding season.

    The final speaker was Andrew Dixon, talking about Saker Falcon conservation and sustainability in Mongolia. Martin had been looking forward to this one as he taught with Andy’s wife Nicola in the early part of this decade. Like Bill Heinrich’s talk, this was another description of a ‘different’ approach to raptor conservation. Food for thought…

    The conference ended with a short Q&A session, but you could probably have an all-day Q&A on Hen Harriers alone.

    As the conference closed and delegates departed, we were fortunate to have an opportunity to chat with Steve Roberts and Andy Dixon about our own Honey Buzzard studies in Northumberland. Proven breeding remains an elusive goal…but we’ll get there.

  • Open Farm Sunday

    After spending Saturday at the Rising Sun Country Park, where the Newcastle RSPB Member’s Group were celebrating their 40th birthday, Sunday saw us spending a long day in the field. As part of Open Farm Sunday we were helping Ian Brown at Lee Moor Farm. We started with a (not quite the) Dawn Chorus Walk followed by breakfast at the Black Olive Cafe and then guided conservation tours were on offer right through the day. As we wandered through some excellent wildflower habitat, marvelling at the amount of Ragged Robin Lychnis flos-cuculi, lots of birds were in evidence. Buzzards were seen on each walk, Willow Warblers were singing their descending scales, Whitethroat and Lesser Whitethroat were both seen as were Siskin and Goldcrest. The recent influx of Painted Lady butterflies was mentioned by one walker, who had witnessed the huge numbers of this beautiful insect arriving in Sussex in late May…and Sarah’s sharp eyes soon picked up one as it raced by. Eventually 3 were seen as they settled on the track in front of us, and we all pondered on the fact that, although we may regard butterflies as delicate, they had travelled the distance from North Africa and the middle-East to be in Britain for the summer. As shadows lengthened, guests began to arrive for the evening barbecue and Bat & Moth walk. Just as the sun slipped below the horizon, the bat detector crackled into life and our first Pipistrelle of the evening appeared close by, hunting insects over a small pond. Everyone, young and old, was able to see this tiny mammal, which was soon joined by a 2nd, then a 3rd. A dispute between two of the bats saw a high-speed chase, before one returned to swooping and diving just feet away. As a spectacular moonrise illuminated the fields around Lee Moor, attention turned to the moth trap and it’s first ‘customers’ of the evening. After close study they were released unharmed into the vegetation, and we left Lee Moor after a long and successful day.

  • Signs of Spring

    06:30 – Martin woke from a good night’s sleep and sensed something different, but he couldn’t quite put his finger on it. The most obvious thing was that the sky wasn’t the deep black of a winter morning, but it was starting to get light already. 06:30? When did this start to happen? Then the dawning recognition…bird song. That was it; robins, blackbirds, chaffinches, mistle thrushes and song thrushes – all belting out their very own ballads as they tried to woo the ladies. As daylight took hold, the scene around the feeding station wasn’t quite how it has been recently. The blackbirds were fighting instead of feeding, our resident collared doves were nibbling each other instead of the seed that we provide for them – the long-tailed tits were feeding, but just the two of them instead of the dozen or so that usually encapsulate the feeders in a heaving ball of pink fluff.

    As we headed up the coast, the warm sunshine broke through the fluffy white clouds that were scudding across the sky, propelled by a wind that was chill enough to remind us that it is still the winter. A sprinkling of snowdrops decorated the roadside verges, another sign of new life after the heavy snow of recent weeks. And then, after a very productive and enjoyable photographic session near Bamburgh, on the journey home we passed fields of very small lambs. Does any creature revel in new life as much as these little balls of white wool as they dash headlong around the fields?

  • Footprints in the Snow

    I returned home yesterday lunchtime, after having put in a few extra hours at work, to see that there was still a covering of snow in our garden. Martin had spent the morning watching a red squirrel bury hazelnuts in the garden and he was able to point out the tiny squirrel footprints to show where they had been. Along with the prints of blackbirds and other garden regulars there were some large bird footprints. Without a second thought we assumed that one of our neighbour’s chickens had come to take advantage of a free breakfast of spilled bird seed under our feeders.

    I was definitely ready for some fresh air in the afternoon and we decided to head out to see if we could find some more footprints in the snow before it all melted. Unfortunately, despite an icy chill in the air the snow was beginning to disappear and the only footprints that we could find were those of the many folk that had beaten us to it and their trusty four legged companions. We did have some excellent views from a local vantage point but as the afternoon wore on we were ready to head home for a warming mug of hot chocolate.

    As I was waiting for the kettle to boil I looked out into the garden as the feeders provided the local finch and tit population sustenance to make it through another sub-zero night. Then the owner of the large footprints in the snow wandered into view. Definitely a new addition to our garden bird list, and whilst by no means an unusual or rare bird, one that neither Martin nor myself would have predicted to be in our garden. Not one of our neighbour’s chickens but a Moorhen!

    We would love to hear of any unusual birds that you have seen in your garden over the recent cold spell; let us know by e-mailing us at: blog@newtltd.co.uk

  • What’s in a name?

    I have recently been dipping into an old book that a friend had given to me when he was having a clear out. The book, published in 1936 is called “Birds of the Wayside and Woodland” and is a fascinating insight into a bygone age and just reading it can transport me back through the decades. It does give a fascinating insight, however, into names and how they have changed. I was particularly reminded of this today when we were travelling down the A19 to take Martin’s grandma out for lunch on her birthday. We passed fields of pheasants, and usually you may not give this colourful game bird a second glance, but look closely and you will see wide variation. These birds, which feature in the Northern Experience logo, are really quite remarkable. Some of the males can be almost black in colour and some have vividly marked neck rings whilst others have none. My book gives some indication as to the reason for this under the entry for Pheasant. It refers to two species: the “Common Pheasant” Phasianus colchicus, introduced into this country centuries ago, and the “Ring-necked Pheasant” Phasianus torquatus introduced more recently. Of course, the pheasants that we see now are a mixture of various species and races and it is impossible to distinguish their ancestry. One of the distinguishing features of all pheasants, the long tail, does mean that the name is given to other species, colloquially, and I was interested to read in my book of “Reed Pheasant” and “Sea Pheasant”. I had never heard of these species before but, turning to the relevant pages, all became clear. They referred to Bearded Tit and Pintail, respectively birds of reed and sea and both with long tails. Whilst Bearded Tit is a rare bird in Northumberland, Pintail can be seen off the Northumberland coast in winter and is a spectacular sight on our Lindisfarne safaris.

    Browsing through the book, I also got to discover some other local and now forgotten names for other bird species, for example ‘Black Curlew’ (Glossy Ibis – a rare visitor to Britain), ‘Common Bunting’ (Corn Bunting – now almost absent from Northumberland) and ‘Blueback’ (Fieldfare – a winter visitor from Scandinavia).