Northern Experience Wildlife Tours

Category: Farne Islands

  • 4 out of 5

    A lot of enquiries that we receive are along the lines of “we’d like to see a…”.  Naturally, we do our best to oblige (and, far more often than not, successfully).

    Paul and Louise had a list of 5; Grey Seal, Puffin, Badger, Otter  and Kingfisher.  The first 2 were straightforward; a trip around the Farne Islands on Glad Tidings V produced plenty of each.  We headed south towards Druridge Bay and enjoyed close views of a huge bull seal, as he hunted fish in the Coquet estuary.  Our one Otter sighting of the day came at the NWT reserve of East Chevington; a young kit feeding in the North pool.  With lots of terns, cormorants, geese and 3 Marsh Harriers and a Common Buzzard, there was plenty to see.  Kingfisher, however, eluded us.  They’ve been quite scarce this year, in fact, during 2011, I’ve seen more of each of the other 4 targets for this trip than I have Kingfishers.

    As the sun headed down towards the horizon, our favourite Badger sett once again produced the goods as a Badger passed within a few metres of us, completely unconcerned, before vanishing up an adjacent hillside to continue foraging.

  • Deeply moving

    Yesterday brought a new product to the NEWT stable, as we launched our first RIB trip to the Farne Deeps on Ocean Explorer.

    As we headed southeast at a speed of 27knots Puffins, Guillemots, Razorbills, Gannets, Kittiwakes and Storm petrels were seen.  In less than an hour we were over the edge of the deep water, and the first cetaceans of the trip were spotted; 2 fins were seen, and just a few minutes later we found ourselves surrounded by White-beaked Dolphins 🙂  At least 6 animals, including a calf, came to investigate the boat – bow-riding, racing past within a few metres of us and, for the lucky crew member with the wetsuit and camcorder with underwater housing, performing like the stars that they are.  Eventually they vanished back into the deep as unexpectedly as they’d arrived, and we watched for a Minke Whale that surfaced to breathe just once.

    After an exhilarating ride around some of our offshore waters, we finished with something a little more familiar to most of our clients and a sailing around the Farne Islands.  Grey Seals watched us from the rocks as some impressive white surf rolled along the edges, and an Arctic Skua (the only one of the trip) harrassed terns as we headed back towards the harbour.

    We’re running 3hr evening trips on Ocean Explorer on August 2nd, 9th, 16th and 25th, searching down the coast to Dunstanburgh and back up to the Farne Islands for seabirds and cetaceans.  Give us a call on 01670 827465 to find out more and book your place, or click here to book now.

  • Bird Watching Magazine Reader Holiday Day 1: 07/07/2011

    I met with Geoff and Jenny, Roy and Lorraine & David and Linda on the Wednesday evening in the bar of the Bamburgh Castle Inn and, after introductions and drinks, we went upstairs to the conservatory for dinner.  A steady stream of Gannets was heading north and I outlined the plan for the coming days; modified in light of the weather forecast!

    An 06:30 start on Thursday morning appealed to three of the group, so we set off to walk around Seahouses Harbour and along to the golf course.  Lorraine had dreamt the night before that we found a Bluethroat.  Not just any Bluethroat though; a Fork-tailed Bluethroat (something that doesn’t exist…although we spent the rest of the holiday looking for one!).  The heavy swell and breaking waves gave the sea an imposing look, and the strong, cold southeasterly wind and dark clouds all around added to the atmosphere.  With high tide approaching, wading birds were concentrated onto just a few exposed rocks; among the Oystercatchers, Redshanks and Curlews were a single Ringed Plover and 5 summer-plumaged Knot, their peachy-orange underparts showing why, in some parts of the world, they’re known as Red Knot.  A Whimbrel flew by and Linnets, Pied Wagtails, Rock Pipits and a reeling Grasshopper Warbler were all added to the day list and we headed back to the inn, and breakfast.  No less than 6 Rock Pipits were outside the window during breakfast and an all too brief probable Hummingbird Hawkmoth whizzed by.

    The main question was whether our all-day birdwatching trip to the Farne Islands with Glad Tidings would go ahead; the weather forecast wasn’t promising, and the sea looked foreboding.  I was optimistic though – by our planned departure time the tide would be ebbing and should take off some of the swell.  Sure enough, we boarded Glad Tidings III just after 10am and headed towards the islands.  Gannets soared majestically above the swell, Puffins raced by on whirring wings and our passage wader list grew with the addition of Grey Plover and Purple Sandpiper.  Grey Seals bobbed around, watching as we passed by on our way to Staple Island.  Enjoyment of the breeding auks, Shags, Kittwakes and Oystercatchers was enhanced by the wild feeling of the islands, as waves smashed into the cliffs and fountained high above the birds.  Transferring to Inner Farne at 1pm, we were the first group onto the island for the day.  The Arctic Terns gave us their usual warm welcome and we spent the afternoon enjoying the fascinating bird behaviour that can be witnessed at close range.  The group were keen to fix the separation criteria for Common and Arctic Terns firmly in mind, so we spent some time looking carefully at lots of birds and considering individual variation.  We spent a lot of time watching Puffins as well; not an identification problem, but endearing and fascinating!  With mobs of Black-headed Gulls waiting to rob the adult Puffins as they return with beaks filled with Sand eels, the Puffins have quickly developed strategies to deal with this; circling back out over the sea until the gulls have moved away from your burrow is an obvious one, but the one that is most fascinating involves a Puffin running into another  bird’s burrow, waiting until the gulls have moved and then running to another burrow – sometimes visiting as many as 5 or 6 sanctuaries before reaching their own chick.  In an increasingly heavy swell, the journey back to the mainland was quite an experience.

  • Farne Islands 04/07/2011

    By Monday morning, our car could almost have driven itself to Seahouses 🙂  I collected John and Anthea from their holiday accommodation at St Cuthbert’s House and we had a tour of the North Northumberland coast before boarding Glad Tidings IV and sailing to Inner Farne.  The tern colony was as wonderful as ever.  I felt a little bit let down though, as not one of the terns managed to hit my head!  Arctic, Common and Sandwich Terns were all studied to fix identification criteria firmly in mind and Puffins were, as always, well appreciated.  The hour on the islands passed in no time at all, and soon we were heading back across to Seahouses.  The Farne Islands are still one of the most extraordinary places I’ve ever visited, and that I get to visit them with such nice clients is a real joy.

  • The passing of a legend

    We’re sure that all of the readers of our blog will be saddened to hear of the passing away of Billy Shiel M.B.E., early this morning.  Billy was a good friend to NEWT and will be greatly missed.

    In recent years, whenever we were in Seahouses with clients or just having a wander on our own, Billy would stop his car if he saw us to ask how we were getting on.  He’d always be keen to impart up to date information about the latest sightings around the islands and our clients always commented afterwards about how welcoming and helpful he was.

    Martin had some long discussions with Billy when he was carrying out research for the Northeast Cetacean Project.  Perhaps the most controversial cetacean off Northumberland, in terms of it’s status and distribution, is Killer Whale, or Orca.  Billy was an ideal, and very willing,  interviewee.  When he began his answer, when asked if he’d ever seen a Killer Whale around the Farnes, with “Have I got a story to tell you…” Martin wondered if this would would be confirmation of the previously unsupported online claims that Killer Whales prey on Grey Seal pups around the Farne Islands during the winter.  However, the sentence continued with “…it was 4.30am, sometime in late June, 1948.”!

    Tourism in Northumberland has lost a genuine legend and our thoughts are with Mrs Shiel and all of her family at this sad time.

  • Juggling act

    We’ve just finished what has almost certainly been our hardest week since we started NEWT; organising and guiding a 7-night Northumberland birdwatching holiday for no less than 18 clients.

    The Bamburgh Castle Inn was our accommodation base for the week and the upstairs conservatory, with it’s excellent views over the harbour, Farne Islands and Bamburgh Castle, was reserved for our dinner each night of the holiday.  Many, many thanks to Sean and his team for the entire week 🙂

    The unseasonal high winds weren’t going to get the better of us, and our original itinerary for the week was shuffled/re-jigged/abandoned as we took some calculated risks to ensure that our planned boat trips to the Farne Islands and Coquet Island both went ahead.  They did, and we’re eternally grateful to Billy Shiel’s Farne Island Boat Trips and Dave Gray’s Puffin Cruises for the incredibly professional way that they handled our clients.

    I asked the group for their highlight of the week…and got a lot of answers; A mixed flock of waders, resplendent in breeding plumage, along the coastline of Druridge Bay.  An Otter, lazily fishing in a coastal pool. Sailing around Coquet Island as the sky darkened and all of the terns flushed from the island when the RSPB warden walked up the slipway.  A pair of very pink Roseate Terns mating.  Walking through the dunes at Newton in the howling gales of Monday afternoon.  Staple Island and Inner Farne.  Red Grouse wandering through the heather on our day in the Cheviots.

    All too soon, the week was over and I led a brief foray into the North Pennines for a few of the group as they headed south.  There, in the driving rain and howling gale, a Black Grouse sat hunched in the bracken – looking even more annoyed than they usually do 🙂

    The week wouldn’t have run so well without the quality of service from all of the other companies we worked with, but I want to say a massive thank you to Sarah.  Client care, liaison with suppliers, running the NEWT office for the week and realising what I was going to ask before I had even asked it were all taken in her stride and made the week work.  Thank You 🙂

    We’re already dealing with enquiries for group holidays in May 2012, so get in touch to find out what we can offer you and your group; whatever time of the year, whatever the size of your group…

  • 2 days on Lindisfarne

    Well, a day and a half really…

    On Sunday I collected Helen from her parent’s house in Swarland and we crossed the causeway onto Holy Island.  A good walk around the island provided excellent views of Wheatears, displaying Lapwings, a cacophony of Grey Seals and a very inquisitive Stoat.  Helen spotted it and, once it ducked out of sight, I enticed it back out by pishing.  Thrift and Bladder Campion were both in bloom and, once we were back on the mainland, we enjoyed a Whitethroat as it song-flighted from tree to tree.

    Our final port of call was Stag Rocks.  A scan seemed to reveal little other than a raft of Eiders but there, amongst the black-and-white ‘Cuddy Ducks’ was a smaller dark bird; the vagrant Black Scoter, still there and still applying his transatlantic affections to a female Common Scoter.

    Tuesday’s wildlife walk was slightly different.  I met up with Jude and her parents at the Beal Road end car park and we drove across the causeway.  48 hours after our previous Lindisfarne trip, and the Wheatears had moved on.  A recent arrival though, was a Sedge Warbler.  Skylarks provided a continuous backdrop to our walk and a pair of Roe Deer were bounding through the fields, leaping fences and apparently keeping an eye on us.  4 hours passed quickly and it was time to head home…and get ready for Wednesday’s Kielder Safari.

  • Familiarising

    Last week saw a repeat of a familiarisation trip we led in late March 2010, as the ORCA wildlife officers, who will be on board the DFDS King Seaways over the summer months, had a couple of days with us to familiarise themselves with Northumberland and the wildlife and birdwatching opportunities that it has to offer.

    One major difference was the weather; this year it was warm and sunny…a marked contrast with last year’s trip, when the weather threw everything it could at us.

    After a very nice meal at Longhirst Hall on Thursday evening with the wildlife officers, and Jude Leitch from Northumberland Tourism, I collected Richard and Isabelle on Friday morning and we headed north along the coast.  With a relatively calm sea, we enjoyed a cruise around the Farne Islands on Glad Tidings V.  Rafts of Puffins, the raucous calls of Guillemots and Kittiwakes, Grey Seals lazing in the sun and 2 Common Terns displaying and calling high over the islands were all well appreciated.  Once back on dry land we drove down the coast to Low Newton, to have lunch at the Ship Inn.  As we turned off the main road an unexpected bonus appeared in the shape of a ringtail Hen Harrier, mobbed by crows before heading inland.  More birdwatching along the coast followed, including a visit to Holy Island, before an outing at dusk on the North Northumberland coast that produced sightings of a Roe Deer and 2 Otters.

    Saturday started with an interesting discussion during breakfast “what’s the difference between a whale and a dolphin?”, then we travelled down the coast, birdwatching in Druridge Bay, before it was time to deliver Richard and Isabelle to the waiting ship.  Good luck to them both, and may they find many cetaceans this summer 🙂

  • Net gains, or net losses?

    January is a quiet month for NEWT as far as days out with clients go, but it’s been an incredibly busy month for other reasons.

    The threat to tourism services in Northumberland, following public sector spending cuts and the impending closure of One Northeast, have occupied a lot of my time.  As Chair of SENTA (Southeast Northumberland Tourism Association) and also Outdoors Northumberland (until last Monday when I stepped down at our AGM), as well as being part of Northumberland Tourism’s ‘Ambassadors’ group, I’ve been involved in meetings and discussions about where we go from this point on.  I’m not going to go into great detail here, as there are many issues to deal with before the position that will be adopted by Northumberland’s tourism businesses is resolved enough to be made public.

    The other big meeting this week was the latest NE regional hub meeting for Netgain (the North Sea Marine Conservation Zones Project).  Along the Northumberland Coast, and in our offshore waters, we have some stunning wildlife and habitats.  The Farne Islands and Druridge Bay are places that we’ve enjoyed so much wildlife with our clients and the North Sea itself has produced encounters with rare, elusive and iconic creatures on our pelagic trips for many years now.  With so many different interests represented on the regional hub, there were always going to be conflicts (of ideology and interests, rather than personal conflict between hub members thankfully).  The only way forward will be through concensus and that requires a certain amount of give and take by everyone involved.  The Netgain team have done a fantastic job of managing the discussions, providing the mapping data that hub members have asked for and answering some often difficult, and contentious, questions.

    I care passionately about tourism in Northumberland, and I’m sure that any regular reader of our blog will know my feelings about the North Sea, so I’ll keep doing all I can to help move both of those projects towards a sensible solution.  Ultimately though, we’re a conservation-minded tourism business so I’ll be seeking solutions that have the best interests of tourism businesses and the marine environment at their core.

    I even managed a couple of hours birdwatching earlier this week as well; a successful trip to see the Hawfinch at Mitford was followed by a walk across some exposed moorland where I was entertained by 2 Red Foxes as they bounded through a patch of heather like a couple of spring lambs.  Invigorating and stimulating, and across the coastal plain of central and southeast Northumberland I could see the sea with the full moon rising over it.  A truly magical  moment that reminded me where my passion comes from.

  • Winter birdwatching around the Farnes

    After postponing our Seal and Seaduck Special last Saturday (sea conditions were ideal, but it would have been really irresponsible to encourage anyone to drive on Northumberland’s roads at the time) we arrived at Seahouses Harbour yesterday morning ready for our final boat trip of the year.

    Everyone was well wrapped-up and we were soon boarding Glad Tidings VI.  As we sailed out of the harbour a veritable battery of long lenses was produced in readiness for the anticipated wildlife.  With a skipper and crewman with excellent eyesight and wildlife-spotting skills, 2 NEWT guides, and clients with sharp eyes as well, the boat was soon being manouvered to offer the best possible opportunities to view or photograph the wildlife.  After 13 years of organising offshore wildlife trips we know the importance of the skipper to the success (or otherwise…) of the trip and, with Craig and William, we were in excellent hands.

    The first half of the trip concentrated on the Farne Islands themselves.  A lot of the Grey Seals had well-grown pups, quite a few of the adults were moulting and there were a couple of cow seals still heavily pregnant.

    Grey Seal, Offshore wildlife photography, Northumberland, 11/12/2010
    Grey Seal
    Grey Seal, offshore wildlife photography, Northumberland 11/12/2010
    Grey Seal and the Longstone Lighthouse
    Grey Seal, offshore wildlife photography, Northumberland 11/12/2010
    Grey Seals

    Grey Seal, offshore wildlife photography, Northumberland 11/12/2010
    Grey Seals

    Shags were sitting around on the islands, Little Auks were bobbing about like corks in the increasing swell, and we had a brief view of a Black Guillemot as it flew from Gun Rock towards Inner Farne.  Heading north we enjoyed the sunny (but cold) weather and scoured the sea just south of Holy Island.  Plenty of Eider were sitting around, along with a pair of Scaup and several Red-breasted Mergansers but a Slavonian Grebe near Guile Point proved elusive.  Red-throated and Great Northern Divers were seen but in much smaller numbers than we would normally expect.  The journey back down the coast featured one of our favourite birds; Long-tailed Ducks were sitting around in groups of 10-15 and offering some excellent photo opportunities.

    Long-tailed Ducks on an offshore birdwatching trip, Northumberland 11/12/2010
    Long-tailed Ducks
    30 or 40 Common Scoters proved a bit more skittish and didn’t come near the boat.  2 Gannets were a bit of a surprise before we returned to the harbour.

    Although the wildlife was very obliging perhaps the best thing about the day was the truly beautiful lighting conditions, a real bonus for wildlife photography and something that all of the photographers on board commented on.  We can’t control the light, or the weather, but we keep taking clients to the right places at the right time…