Northern Experience Wildlife Tours

Category: Kielder

  • A mixed weekend

    Saturday saw us making the short journey to Newbiggin, to attend the launch event for Scone Mad. Colin and Jackie, the owners of Nevins Nibbles, have an incredible range of scones and the public were voting to select the 100th variety. With the contenders including Jelly Bean, Boost and Chili & chocolate, the competition was going to be close. We’re looking forward to finding out the identity of the winner. Even this interlude had a birdwatching theme; 2 adult Mediterranean Gulls were soaring over Newbiggin as we sat out in the sun, and Nevins Nibbles has played host in the past to meetings of the legendary collection of hardy, seabird-obsessed Northumberland residents that form SWAN (Sea Watchers at Newbiggin).

    Later that afternoon we headed to Redesdale to pre-walk the route for this Wednesday’s ‘Birds of Redesdale’ walk. Common Sandpipers were swee-wee-wee-wee-weeing along the river, Roe Deer were bounding through the long grass and Painted Ladies were seen in very good numbers.

    Sunday was our first stint as wardens at the Osprey Watchpoint in Kielder Water and Forest Park. Over 80 visitors were entertained and informed by the four wardens and the weather was glorious (for most of the time anyway…). After 7 hours at the watchpoint we were driving home – towards some ominous looking clouds. Sure enough, the first drops of rain began to hit the windscreen, and then the heavens opened. Thunder and lightning accompanied the deluge and we rounded a bend only to find a cyclist in the middle of the road. The chain had come off his bike so, with the thunderstorm inching closer we suggested that he put himself and the bike in the back of our car. The journey to Morpeth saw us driving through a lot of deep flooded roads so he would have struggled to get himself home without getting into real difficulty. We dropped him at Ashington and eventually we arrived home, with a 1hr journey having taken 2hrs, and steaming mugs of hot chocolate were in order as we dried out.

  • The overlap

    On Saturday we ventured into Kielder Forest, checking out some new sites for our forthcoming safari on March 24th. The weather was changeable, but we still found our first Sand Martin of the year, as well as Goosander, Mandarin, Merlin, Buzzard, Kestrel, Sparrowhawk and plenty of Redwing and Fieldfare.

    Yesterday was WeBScount day, so we walked along the beach from Cresswell to East Chevington. It was so warm that hats and gloves weren’t required (for the first time in a long time). The beach was beautiful and clean and the weather was glorious; fluffy clouds against a deep blue sky above Druridge Bay. There were still plenty of birds as well, including a flock of 52 Sanderling charging up and down the edge of the surf like clockwork toys and 120 Wigeon resting on the sea. It won’t be too long before these winter visitors are on their way again but, for a few weeks now we’ll have the early summer visitors and the lingering wintering birds at the same time.

  • More BTO Atlas work

    We went up into Harwood today, to undertake our late-winter visit to two of the tetrads we’re surveying for Bird Atlas 2007-2011. The weather was fine, with big fluffy clouds against a beautiful blue sky, and quite warm; at least it was quite warm while we were out of the wind… The winter is a great time for a walk in the forests of Northumberland, although the density of birds is somewhat limited. A pair of Mistle Thrushes caught our attention and, as we scanned the area for more birds, a pair of Stock Doves were up and displaying, a single Skylark flew overhead and a Buzzard soared above the trees. With a strong breeze and excellent visibility we expected to find more raptors, and two Kestrels hovering over an area of clearfell were a good addition to the list. Inland winter birding is often characterised by periods of nothing, interspersed with sudden concentrations of birds, and today was no different; after a long time with nothing to add to the list we came across a field that held 50 Fieldfares, 12 Redwings, 6 Mistle Thrushes, half a dozen each of Chaffinches and Goldfinches and a single Song Thrush. A pair of Stonechats ‘chacked’ angrily at us and flicked their tails as we had the temerity to cross their clearfell territory. The best was yet to come though; as we walked along the forest rides a Great Spotted Woodpecker flushed from close by and we rounded the edge of a plantation…and our ears were assailed by the maniacal screaming of a male Goshawk who had been sunning himself near the top of a spruce tree and didn’t take too kindly to being disturbed. His escape route was across a clearfell so we enjoyed the best views we’ve ever had of this phantom of the forest. When our Kielder trips begin on March 24th, this will be one of our target species; powerful, secretive but always impressive.

  • Pillow talk

    05:55. Another 5 minutes until the alarm goes off, but we’re already awake…and in the churchyard across the road so are the Tawny Owls. This morning it sounds like a very clear territorial dispute between 2 males. Each tremulous hoot was answered by another bird slightly further away. Listening to Tawnies is one of the great pleasures of life – whether it’s the birds in our garden, the ones that start their nightime serenading while we’re out checking our fox and badger sites, the one that usually starts our winter bird race list or the male that on a May bird race responded to an imitation of it’s call by flying in to investigate and perched on a horizontal branch just above head height and only 20m away from us. Although the ‘ke-wick’ and ‘hooo-hoo-hoo-hoo-hooo’ calls are typically given by the female and male respectively that isn’t always the case; the male uses the sharp contact call and the female can hoot, although it’s much coarser than the resonating beauty of the male’s song.

    Easy to hear, but difficult to see, although in May our Kielder trips will include a demonstration of Tawny Owl chicks being ringed (when there is a brood of the right age). In the meantime, why not listen near your local woodland and enjoy the aural world of the ‘Brown Owl’?