Our Seabird Spectacular package holiday managed to coincide with some increasingly heavy seas and strong northerly winds. Getting on a boat would have been somewhat inadvisable , but we still managed to get good views of all the target species for the holiday, including Roseate Tern, Little Tern and Puffin. Perhaps we should have renamed the holiday Mammal Magic as Noctule, Pipistrelle, Red Fox, Rabbit, Grey Seal, Weasel, Stoat, and Otter were all seen during the 2 days 🙂 With excellent accommodation and food at The Swan throughout the holiday, it was a great way to spend a weekend in late July. We’ll be running Seabird Spectacular again in 2012 (11th-14th June) so give us a call now on 01670 827465 for more details or to book your place.
Category: Druridge Bay
-
The icing on the cake
As the rain hammered down while I packed the car ready for Sunday’s Otter Safari I was filled with optimism; the weather forecast (really, I should stop believing these…) suggested that the afternoon and evening would be dry and bright.
When I arrived at Church Point Marc and Marika were already there, and we were joined by Becky and Jim soon after. The trip was a present for one of each couple, and we set off for an afternoon of birdwatching combined with searching for Otters. First stop was one of our Little Owl sites, and Becky’s sharp eyes picked out a juvenile bird that was doing a very passable impression of a stone. Our next stop, beside the River Coquet, produced Common Terns fishing, flyby Curlews (and a discussion of separation from Whimbrel), 4 Common Sandpipers and some impressive thunderstorms away to the north and west of us.
A heavy shower as we reached the NWT reserve at East Chevington kept us in the car for a few minutes, during which time we were entertained by a family party of Stonechats. As the rain eased we walked to the hide overlooking the north pool. Amongst the throng of Common, Sandwich and Arctic Terns and Lapwings were 3 adult Knot, still in breeding plumage. Suddenly the entire roosting flock lifted, and the unmistakeable figure of a Spoonbill flew across our field of vision. It seemed intent on landing, but the constant harrassment from the terns meant that we were treated to several flypasts, including one where it was just 20m away from us. As if this wasn’t spectacular enough, 2 Little Egrets appeared, while the Spoonbill was still circling, and were subjected to the same treatment. Eventually a semblance of calm returned and we watched a juvenile Marsh Harrier as it pranced comically in the wet grass, presumably eating worms that had been brought to the surface by the rain, and a second juvenile harrier harrassed by crows. Another creature to benefit from the rain was a very young Hedgehog busily eating worms and, in a real ‘aahh’ moment, pausing briefly to sniff the air.
Our picnic stop, overlooking the southern end of Druridge Bay, produced rafts of Eiders and Common Scoters, the piping calls baby Guillemots rising from the waves below, Gannets and Sandwich Terns plunging into the sea, at least 3 Arctic Skuas and the majestic lumbering menace of a Pomarine Skua passing south just offshore.
Changeable, showery weather often produces good sunsets, and this was no exception; as a band of steel grey cloud drifted along the horizon, sunlight shone through a narrow gap, fading from gold to orange to red to pink. And there, in the reflection of the dramatic sky, was the main event – an Otter, twisting and turning, creating panic among the waterfowl, perched imperiously on a boulder and then vanishing into the deepening shadows of the water’s edge. Clouds of Noctule Bats and Common Pipistrelles swirled overhead, occasionally passing within a few feet of us, a female Tawny Owl called from the nearby trees, and the scene faded to darkness…
-
Exposure compensation
When we’re on a trip with a specific target, we usually find what we’re looking for. Sometimes, we don’t though…and sometimes we find something that we hadn’t even considered as a possibility.
I collected Gary and Stephanie from Seahouses and we headed south towards Druridge Bay and southeast Northumberland. ‘Red Squirrel and raptors’ was the aim of this photography/birdwatching trip. Our first raptor of the day was a Common Buzzard, although it was soaring too high in the morning heat to allow Gary any realistic chance of locking onto it with his camera.
For once, we didn’t have any luck with the squirrels. I’d checked and replenished our feeding site a couple of hours earlier but, although there was evidence that food had been taken in the 2 hours prior to us arriving, the squirrels stayed high in the canopy and out of sight.
Heading inland, through some of our favourite Northumberland countryside, a distant speck over a plantation caught my eye. The speck had that almost undefinable ‘something’ about it that set my pulse racing. I knew what it was, and it was all I could do to not yell the name loudly enough to deafen my clients. Lazily drifting like an oversized gull, carrying what seemed an impossibly large (and recently decapitated) fish, the Osprey eventually passed overhead 🙂
Dropping back to the coast, we stopped for lunch just south of Cresswell…and watched a Minke Whale lunge-feeding offshore.
Rare birds, scarce mammals. All part of what makes Northumberland so very, very good 🙂
-
Bird Watching Magazine Reader Holiday Day 3: 09/07/2011
On Saturday morning our destination was Druridge Bay and southeast Northumberland and another poor weather forecast ( a bit of a running theme during the holiday…) suggested that we may well get wet. An addition to the mammal list for the trip raced across the road ahead of us; a Stoat – an endearing predator and one of NEWT’s favourite animals.
We arrived in Amble for our sailing around Coquet Island with Dave Gray’s Puffin Cruises; as Dave manoeuvred the excellent Steadfast into the harbour, the rain arrived from the northeast. The sailing around the island produced excellent views of Roseate Terns, as well as Common, Arctic and Sandwich Terns, Gannets, Puffins, Razorbills and Guillemots. As we sailed in a wide arc from the island to begin the journey back to the harbour an Arctic Skua was harassing terns away to the north. Four more Arctic Skuas were followed by a real seawatching prize as a Pomarine Skua lumbered menacingly by before settling on the sea. Our final Arctic Skua flew over the harbour just before we docked and I suggested that the Country Barn Coffee Shop at Widdrington would be the best destination once we were back on dry land.
Refreshed, dried and ready to go we visited the NWT reserve of East Chevington. The tern roost allowed close comparison of Common and Arctic Terns, but the bird described by one participant as ‘bird of the holiday’ was a superb male Marsh Harrier. A juvenile harrier appeared briefly over the reedbed as well, but the male perched for several minutes on a fence post. Just after we reached Druridge Pools, the heavens opened, lightning flashed, thunder rolled and 2 Wood Sandpipers bobbed along the edge of the main pool. A trip to Cresswell, and the most northerly breeding Avocets in England, followed and we all enjoyed views of a very obliging Brown Hare, Little Gulls and both Little and Great Crested Grebes. Another excellent evening meal and entertaining conversation (including David’s comment about Captain Birdseye in a cape..a reference to my appearance during the Coquet Island trip), concluded our final night in Seahouses.
As I put my coffee cup and glass of orange juice on the table at breakfast on Sunday morning I looked out over the harbour and the words “it’s a glorious morning” were quickly followed by “and there’s a Spoonbill!”. Everyone rushed to the window to watch, as Northumberland delivered a fantastic finale to the holiday; poor weather forecasts, some stunning downpours, big seas, beautiful weather, iconic landscapes, excellent birdwatching…all in four days!
-
Otter magic
Sunday was my third consecutive collection from Seahouses. By the time I collected Chris and Jayne a sea fret had rolled in. As we drove south, we left it behind and found ourselves in bright sunshine. After an afternoon of birdwatching around Druridge Bay and southeast Northumberland, including 5 stunning adult Little Gulls roosting together, we settled down to search for Otters. With the strong sunlight reflecting off the water it was difficult to see but, just as the sun sank behind a row of distant trees, all of the ducks began to look edgy. Sure enough, our quarry appeared soon after; twisting and turning, diving and leaping, before vanishing into the sunwashed reeds 🙂
-
Highs and lows
When I collected Charlie from Springhill Farm campsite, for a day’s birdwatching around Druridge Bay and southeast Northumberland, I could never have guessed that the day would bring such extremes of emotion and experience.
As a wildlife tourism business we appreciate that the control of Grey Squirrels, in order to conserve our Red Squirrels, is a difficult issue for many people. And so it should be; after all, that control involves the permanent removal from the population of Grey Squirrels. We’ve shown Red Squirrels to lots of clients over the last three years, and we always explain the Red vs Grey issue in as much depth as we can. It’s almost impossible to describe my feelings as we approached one of our favourite woodland glades, only to be greeted by the sight of a Grey Squirrel scampering up a tree trunk.
The other end of the emotional scale came as we ate our lunch just south of Cresswell, and watched 3 adult White-beaked Dolphins, and a calf, breaching time and again.
Two mammals, eliciting very different emotions. Then again, watching wildlife should be an emotional experience…
-
An eventful evening
Thursday was my 3rd consecutive late finish.
Before setting off for a ‘Red Squirrel and Badger Safari’ I had a few admin things to get done including some more planning for the Birdwatching Northumberland stand at this year’s British Bird Fair (I’ve got 2 lecture slots at the Bird Fair this year!).
After collecting our picnic from The Swan, I headed to Church Point to collect Vince and Karin for their second safari day this week. Some unexpected birdwatching highlights included a Little Tern and a Cuckoo. A group of Tufted Ducks staring at a reedbed, and a clearly annoyed Mute Swan staring at the same reedbed and hissing, suggested that we were close to an Otter but in the blazing sunshine it stayed in the shade of the reeds and out of sight.
The first of the day’s targets was achieved with possibly the reddest Red Squirrel I’ve ever seen, simply stunning as it ran along the sun-dappled canopy, and then it was time to position ourselves close to our favourite Badger sett. Would the badgers come close? would they only appear when it was too dark to really appreciate what magnificent animals they are? all worries were eased when, in broad daylight, our first Badger of the evening came trotting along only 5m away, apparently oblivious to our presence. Another 3 Badgers followed, as well as 3 Red Foxes, and Tawny Owls were calling from the trees around us.
Of all of our tours, our evening mammal trips perhaps have the greatest unpredictability and the most remarkable ‘atmosphere’ of them all. It’s still my favourite time of the day 🙂
-
The Otter unpredictability of wildlife
After Tuesday’s Otter Safari, Wednesday brought another one, this time a Prestige Tour.
Now, I know that you can never guarantee the wildlife that you’ll see on any day (not entirely true, I know…) but the sentence “what we really want is to photograph an Otter” adds a certain pressure to the proceedings 🙂
I collected Pete and Christine and we began our otter search of Druridge Bay and southeast Northumberland. After a near miss (wildfowl scattering in a pattern that we’ve come to recognise as strongly indicative of the presence of otters), we settled by a mirror calm pool and waited. As we marvelled at the remarkable weather condition of bright sunshine and heavy rain, a heightened sense of alertness amongst the ducks increased my confidence that ‘mission accomplished’ would be the outcome of the trip. That confidence wasn’t misplaced and we enjoyed 25 minutes of an Otter twisting, turning and feeding. As a stunning sunset developed we waited to see if there would be a reappearance. There was, and with the cover of twilight the star of the show became more enterprising in it’s hunting technique; stealthily approaching ducks and their ducklings. After a couple of failed sorties it returned to feeding on small fish and another 30 minutes of action.
-
Elusive
We’ve just finished a run of 3 late finishes in 3 days…and we’re looking forward to more over the next couple of months 🙂
Tuesday was our latest Otter Safari and I collected Steve & Marilyn, Nigel & Jane and Vince & Karin from Church Point before heading north through Druridge Bay. After a tour of the coast that included a fantastic fly-past by a male Marsh Harrier at East Chevington and an impromptu ‘terns and gulls’ ID session we setttled into position by one of our favourite Otter spots. We didn’t see anything other than mild panic amongst the waterfowl, and the elusive predator remained, well elusive. A Barn Owl flying past was so close that the view was like a whiteout through binoculars, but eventually we had to admit defeat when it was simply too dark to see anything. That’s the thing about wildlife…but if it was always predictable it would be boring.