Northern Experience Wildlife Tours

Category: Druridge Bay

A bit of this…

The last few days have been fairly quiet, although quite varied. On Thursday I was at the North Northumberland Tourism Association AGM at Paxton House. On arrival the car park was close to full, with just a couple of spaces not occupied. I reversed my Mondeo into one of them, thinking that the snow sounded very crunchy, and went into the meeting. For me the highlight of the event was a talk by Laurie Campbell, covering things that he’s photographed in and around North Northumberland. Returning to my car and the inevitable…it wouldn’t move anywhere with the wheels spinning on the snow. Luckily Chris Calvert from Bamburgh Castle was leaving at the same time and, along with Verity from the Grace Darling Museum, he helped to push the car clear of the snow. I wouldn’t have had that problem in the Landrover…

On Friday I chaired a committee meeting of the Southeast Northumberland Tourism Association. As a new project, all of the committee are putting in a lot of effort and our AGM will be in February, the website should be up and running soon and we’re designing a leaflet to highlight the tourist attractions in our area.

On Sunday we carried out our WeBS count (a week late but the Birdwatching Northumberland Press Trip coincided with the scheduled count date). Northeasterly winds at the start of the month have deposited huge volumes of sand a long way up the beach (and along the footpath in Cresswell village) almost to the height of the dunes in some places. The highlight was a loose group of divers on the sea, 15 Red-throated, 2 Great Northern and 1 Black-throated. As we approached the Chibburn mouth, the end of our survey section, Sarah commented on the sheer walls of sand next to the Chibburn as it wound it’s way down the beach. Not surprisingly, Sarah took the sensible approach and walked well away from the edge…at least I earned some brownie points by removing Sarah’s ‘scope and tripod from my shoulder and throwing it clear as the sand gave way beneath my feet.

Now I’ve got a day in the office and it’s gloomy and overcast. Two Jays and a Great Spotted Woodpecker are in the apple tree and Siskins have started visiting the feeders (after merely flirting with the boundary of our garden earlier in the winter). Lesser Redpolls are still around the edge of Choppington Woods. Can we set a new high total for our garden when it’s the Big Garden Birdwatch next weekend?

25/01/2010
Snowy Sunday

Yesterday we took advantage of the bright sunny weather to visit Druridge Bay and check out a couple of sites in preparation for an otter/badger Safari on Tuesday. We had been out on Saturday with the same intention, but the 35mph+ northeasterly winds, and treacherous road conditions led to an early return home…

As we drove past Cresswell, Sarah spotted a family of Whooper Swans in a roadside field. As they seemed fairly settled, Sarah decided to capture an image of them in the snow. Luckliy we did this there and then, as there was no sign of them when we passed by there an hour later.

Whooper Swans near Bell's Farm

Checking all of the unfrozen water that we could find in southeast Northumberland did eventually produce a brief sighting of an Otter.

Druridge Pools was remarkably photogenic; a handy dog-walker added to the photo opportunities and Teasels are really attractive covered in snow or frost. There was a noticeable movement of Skylarks along the coast as well; 200+ as we walked from the Oddie Hide back to the car.

Druridge in the snow

More attractive than when they're in flower?

Once we were back at home, Sarah was watching the comings and goings at the feeding station when she called through to the living room “Brambling!”. I ran to the window just in time to see it fly over our neighbour’s garden and out of sight. I set the camera up ready and eventually it appeared at the end of our garden with a flock of Chaffinches. Then it vanished again…and appeared in our neighbour’s garden. Another disappearing act and, after what seemed like an eternity, it flew in from the churchyard on the opposite side of our house. That wasn’t the end of the story though, as it hid in the thickest tangles of our apple tree for over an hour before offering up a reasonable shot.

A cracking winter garden visitor

Now I’m back at the desk in my office, collating survey data, preparing newsletters and catching up on e-mails…but I can still see the birds at our feeding station, and a rather optimistic Sparrowhawk displaying over Choppington Woods. A New Year but some old friends; Birdwatching, Northumberland and a dSLR.

04/01/2010
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…

Captured in the split-second before it noticed me

Northumberland's iconic mammal

Dashing through the snow

Roe doe and Roe buck

26/12/2009
Masters of all we survey?

I’ve just finished my 3rd consecutive day of survey work (ok, today was just a couple of hours around dawn, but you get the idea).

Friday and Saturday saw me up to 20 miles offshore, leading a survey team of Alan Tilmouth, Ross Ahmed, Allan Skinner (our boat skipper) and Jimmy (erstwhile SarahJFK crew member and very diligent data-recorder). Friday didn’t look promising as we drove to Royal Quays in thick fog, and the marina was mired in the gloom as well as we met up with Tom Brereton from Marinelife. However, once out of the Tyne we quickly passed out of the fog bank and into some stunning weather.

Martin and Tom scanning for cetaceans

Ross, Alan and Tom observing and recording seabird distribution and abundance

On the return there was a superb sunset but the fog had extended to almost 6 miles offshore and we had one of those real pelagic experiences.

Tom scanning ahead of the SarahJFK for cetaceans

Ross and Alan still recording as we approach the fog bank that ended Friday's survey

Tom, Martin, Ross and Alan heading home

Yesterday had overall better visibility but slighty lumpier seas, as we covered the area from Blyth to Druridge Bay. Having completed about 80 miles of transect surveys in 2 days we’ve already gathered a lot of seabird data. The North Sea (which is relatively small) seems pretty big when you’re far enough offshore to not be able to see any land. When 3 experienced seawatchers look around and say “we don’t really have a clue what’s out here do we?” then it hammers home the importance of what we’re doing. Having found Puffins on both surveys so far, and five Little Gulls on Saturday, we’re all eagerly anticipating the rest of our winter surveys. We’ve got a few spaces on most of the survey trips (which will run when the weather allows us the opportunity) which are available for a contribution of £20/person/trip (a much lower rate than our commercial pelagics trips in July-September). Give us a call, wrap up warm and join us on a journey into the unknown.

On dry (well, drier) land, Sarah and myself set out this morning for the December Icelandic Goose Census.Two Barn Owls were a bonus in the bone-chilling temperatures. Last month I drew a blank with our goose monitoring and this month was hardly any better; just 3 Greylag Geese at the roost site that is designated as part of the census. Looks like we’ll be out again at dusk, trying to locate the birds as they fly to roost.

13/12/2009
Shifting sands

The sharp wind, and even sharper pellets of icy rain were stinging the backs of our necks as we walked along the beach from Cresswell to East Chevington yesterday. Once every month, between September and April, we walk this section of the Northumberland coast. Purposeful birdwatching; the waders and wildfowl that we encounter are logged a part of the WeBS (Wetland Bird Survey) totals. The beach is an extraordinary landscape, rarely the same from one month to the next. Yesterday was a first for us, after several years of walking this stretch; the sand was so high at one point that we could see inland, over the top of the dunes. It opened up a whole new view. Some months the sand is so low that almost the entire journey is over exposed rocks, sometimes there are no rocks, sometimes the sand is very level, sometimes it’s steeply shelving, sometimes there are tank blocks visible like a row of sinister teeth. When you combine that with the variability of the sea, it’s almost a different walk each month. The only downside is that nice sunny mornings mean that there is a lot of disturbance, and wader numbers are low. Sanderling is the species most affected. These cute white waders, playing ‘chicken’ with the edge of the surf, with their clockwork toy leg action are sometimes present in good numbers and sometimes not so. Yesterday was a poor day, with only three of them along the 3.2 miles of our count area. One was colour-ringed though, so we have a good chance of being able to find out where it was ringed, and where it’s been seen since then. Maybe it’ll still be there next month. who knows? That’s one of the joys of survey work.

23/11/2009
Call of the wild geese

The last two days have featured a lot of geese. On Saturday we led a ‘drop-in’ birdwatching session in Budle Bay, for the Northumberland Coast AONB. Starting at 10:30, it was cold and breezy but the air was filled with Pink-footed, Greylag and Barnacle Geese for much of the day. The people who came along had varying interests and questions; some just wanted to know what “all of those geese” were, some were keen to learn the difference between Black-tailed and Bar-tailed Godwits…and one was interested in identifying sub-adult gulls! We were able to oblige on all counts, and really enjoyed a day of engaging the interested, the not-so-interested and the much-more-interested than they were before.

This weekend was also the start of the Icelandic Goose Census for this winter. Pink-footed Geese are counted at core sites in October and November, Greylags in November and December. Our site is one of few that have both species in important numbers so we get to survey in all three months – and it can be very, very cold at dawn in mid-December! We have to arrive early so that we can sneak into position before it starts to get light. The site has been heavily disturbed for the last two winters and the geese have been erratic in using it as a roost. The journey to the site yesterday morning was enlivened by the creatures that use man-made roads for hunting, feeding and as a route from A to B; rabbits, hares, frogs, rats, a hedgehog, two barn owls and a long-eared owl were all along the 15 min journey from home. There was no sound when we arrived, and it was too dark to see. Would the geese be there, or would we have to spend another winter trying to track them down? As the grey light of dawn began to cast a faint glow over the pool it was obvious that they were there. Over 3000 Pink-footed Geese, 250+ Greylags and we snuck in, counted and snuck out without the birds flushing. Back at the car we were able to watch as they began to depart for their daytime feeding areas. Big flocks of geese are one of the great spectacles of the natural world. Birdwatching is like that; so many stunning sights and sounds that you can have an excellent day out at any time of the year. Big winter flocks, whether they be of geese, starlings, corvids, finches, waders or ducks are right near the top of our list of things that can change perception of what birdwatching is all about.

19/10/2009
The future naturalists

In the late nineties and early noughties, when I was a committee member of the Northumberland & Tyneside Bird Club, the issue of the ‘next generation’ of birdwatchers, and the recruitment of new members, was often discussed. Like many organisations, the average age of the club’s membership was increasing by one every year (which isn’t that surprising; you would need an awful lot of new, young members to affect that particular statistic). Committee attitudes varied from genuinely concerned through not thinking there was an issue to, and I still find this one hard to believe. not wanting new, inexperienced, birdwatchers to join at all.

We frequently hear wildlife ‘celebrities’ bemoaning the fact that young people aren’t interested in wildlife. Are they right in that assumption? I had chance to consider this last week – August is a busy time for family bookings for NEWT (not surprisingly) and we had an Otter mini-Safari, with a family who had sons aged 12 and 15, and a Druridge Bay mini-Safari, where the family had a 9-year old son and 6-year old and 2 year-old daughters. Both trips were very succesful; Otters performing right in front of us on the first one and a wide range of spiders, wasps, bees, moths, butterflies and damselflies on the second….and all of the children were enthusiastic. On Thursday evening, we helped to lead a Bat Walk in Choppington Woods. The walk was fully booked, with 16 participants, and this was mainly families. Despite having to wait for the first bats to appear, enthusiasm levels stayed high and eventually we had them hunting close to us. Two of the children managed to locate a slight gap in the trees and discovered that this was where the bats were hunting. With a bat detector, and the keen eyesight of the young, they were enthralled for nearly 2 hours. There is a generation of young naturalists out there; we just need to work out how to engage, encourage and support them.

17/08/2009
As the sun goes down

Martin had just returned from leading a mini-safari when the ‘phone rang; “can you organise an otter safari for us this evening please?” Flexibility has always been a given for NEWT; a late summer tour of Southwest Northumberland, birdwatching in the depths of the winter, photographing otters, searching for rare orchids, an impromptu whale and dolphin cruise for a top national journalist. If we can make it happen then we will…

The field full of Greylag Geese were sitting quietly, nibbling away at the grass. Behind them, a Roe Deer was working it’s way slowly along the fence line and three Brown Hares were alternately running across the field and impersonating clods of earth. A few Starlings circled overhead and were soon joined by another small group…and another…and another. Eventually over a thousand were swirling over the reedbeds. The big loose flock suddenly condensed into a tight ball as a Sparrowhawk began pursuing them. A juvenile Marsh Harrier made a brief appearance before dropping into it’s nightime roost site and distant flocks of corvids and Wood Pigeons were sprinkled across the sky like poppy seeds.

Of our main quarry there was no sign; all of the ducks and swans were paddling around calm and contented, so we moved on to site number two. Another set of panic-free wildfowl…and time for a strategic decision; do we wait and hope, or check a site where yesterday afternoon there was so much agitation, and aversion to one corner of a pool, that there had to be a big predator lurking in the reeds?

The decision to move sites was made and we settled to watch a flock of waders. Roosting on a mudflat and seemingly unstressed…but then a wave of panic rippled through the flock. Calm restored, but only for a few seconds, before the worried calling started again. Then a flock of Canada Geese arrived for the evening roost. A few minutes of calm settled over the pool and we watched the sunset; vivid slashes of pink, then orange, cut across the sky and visibility was so good that we could see The Cheviot and Hedgehope, many miles away to the northwest. Then it happened, chaos as all of the geese tried to take off; with only a few metres to the edge of the water they didn’t really have a chance and they stumbled onto the mudflat, scattering Lapwings left, right and centre. Surely, there could only be one cause for the panic? And there it was; diving gracefully through the reflection of the sunset, making a beeline for the geese before changing course and heading away into the deepening shadows of the night. Then it was time for us to do the same.

07/08/2009
Quality…and quantity

Our Otter Safari started later than originally planned – and finished a good while later as well. It started with a courting pair of Great Crested Grebes; entertaining us, and prompting the whirring of camera shutters and DV tapes. Then, they started to look very nervous; that’s often the first sign that there’s a predator at large. The second sign was when nervousness turned into rapid departure. Finally, an otter appeared on the water surface. Sleek, handsome and supple, it twisted, turned, dived and ate it’s lunch. After a short while underwater it surfaced – alongside a second otter! Down they went, and reappeared as a trio!! With several broods of ducklings around, the mother ducks went into a frenzy; feigning injury to distract the otters, which were carving through the water like porpoises. The chase brought them closer until, suddenly, they were less than 50ft from us; lazily floating along and fixing us with a stare that seemed to say “if only we were a bit bigger…”. With 2 video cameras running we recorded much of the action, so tomorrow will see it uploaded to our gallery and to YouTube as well. Wildlife may not always perform to plan, but our success rate with otters keeps on rising and, with a little patience, the views can be mind-blowing. After the otters we spent a while checking through flocks of terns and gulls and watched 2 Marsh Harriers drifting over a coastal reedbed. Finishing the day with even more quality wildlife, a Barn Owl was hunting exactly where Martin predicted. To join in the Northern Experience, check our calendar and look for Otter Safari (or ‘Otters and Badgers’ for an evening with a difference, or ‘Druridge Bay’ for an excellent day’s birdwatching in southeast Northumberland with the possibility of Red Squirrels, Otters and Roe Deer as well).

13/06/2009
Birdwatching on the Costa del Druridge

The fabulously warm summer weather that has blessed us this bank holiday has meant that the participants on this weekend’s otter safaris could do without their coats and gloves and were able to enjoy some fantastic wildlife and birdwatching in glorious sunshine under brilliant blue Northumberland skies.

On Sunday, our group had fantastic views of an adult Mediterranean Gull which was easily compared to close by Black-headed Gulls (in fact it is the Mediterranean Gull that has the black head, but ‘Dark Chocolate Brown-headed Gull’ isn’t too catchy!). Warblers were singing along our walk of a very tranquil River Blyth, including Blackcap, Garden Warbler, Willow Warbler and Chiffchaff. Later on in the day, Whitethroat and Reed Warbler were added, with the latter even being viewed from not too far away. A lunch stop near the coast allowed a Fulmar that wheeled around the cliffs to be photographed, whilst the rest of us enjoyed a well earned picnic lunch! Further up the coast it was the unexpected that caught our eye. A Pheasant had mistakenly wandered into a Lapwing’s breeding territory and the Lapwings called in reinforcements to deter the clearly very confused Pheasant. We had a very entertaining 10 minutes watching as the Lapwings dive bombed the Pheasant who did not know what to make of the whole debacle as it just stood there are put up seemingly no resistance before wandering off to comparative safety. We were hardly able to tear our eyes away from this to watch the Grey Partridges who had appeared close by, but who wisely decided not to follow in the Pheasant’s footsteps. A little later it was another unexpected sighting that had all of our binoculars pointing skyward as two adult Spoonbills flew over. We watched them fly northward and speculated on where they might land but we did not manage to catch up with them again as we meandered back north along the coast to return our guests to the Red Lion in Alnmouth.

Today we were out again, as it seemed was almost everybody else, keen to enjoy the warm sunshine. A Roe Deer came to drink from a pond where we were watching Herons, Gadwall, Lapwing and Ringed Plover, amongst other things. It disappeared into the willow to graze. As we headed off for our lunch stop, House Martins were busy gathering mud from a roadside puddle to use as cement for their nests, and starlings and House Sparrows came to bathe. Then, as we were busy eating lunch, overlooking one of our favourite otter spots, we were able to enjoy views of an otter diving as it looked for lunch. Then as it moved off to relax, it was joined by not one, not two, but three other otters, presumably youngsters as they were play fighting in the water together. They entertained for at least another half an hour before moving on, which was a shame because we could have sat there all day watching had they allowed us to!

25/05/2009