Northern Experience Wildlife Tours

Category: North Sea

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 🙂

12/04/2011
My week in pictures…and a few words

22/02/2011 Northeast Cetacean Project Transect Survey. 15 cetacean sightings; 21 Harbour Porpoises, 2 possible Minke Whales

Staring into the teeth of a strong southeasterly

Our Lead Surveyor, and St Mary's Island

23/02/2011 Advisory visit from the Green Tourism Business Scheme. Sustainable tourism is one of our highest priorities and visit went well – looking forward to the report 🙂

24-27/02/2011 Outdoor Leisure Show at the NEC, Birmingham.

Northumberland – An Independent Spirit, Outdoor Leisure Show 2011

Northumberland – An Independent Spirit, Outdoor Leisure Show 2011

Northumberland – An Independent Spirit, ready for the start of the Outdoor Leisure Show 2011

28/02/2011 Catching up on admin, dealing with enquiries and holiday bookings and looking forward to Sarah getting back from New York.

01/03/2011 Preparing our monthly newsletter for March. Approving graphic design for our new vehicle. Getting the new vehicle safety tested (including a full MOT – on a vehicle only 8 months old, it’s enough to make you weep).

02/03/11 Meeting to discuss/plan the continued promotion of nature tourism in the Northeast. Dealing with enquiries, and some more enquiries 🙂

03/03/2011
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.

21/01/2011
Frenetic Friday

Yesterday involved a real mixture of my favourite places, and a wide range of activities.

Starting just after 07:00 I checked the 12 Longworth traps that we set on pre-bait in Choppington Woods earlier in the week. With 9 of the 12 having been emptied of food, the small mammals we’re interested in had obviously found the bait. The one slight problem was that initially I could only find 11 traps! Despite having a GPS location for each, and marking adjacent vegetation with tags, it took 20 minutes to locate one of them. Veronica Carnell, who is supervising me while I gain sufficient experience to run a trapping programme on my own, had warned me that this would happen 🙂

Then I had a short drive across to Blyth for the second day of the Netgain regional hub meeting. It’s been incredibly educational to listen to the views and concerns of other stakeholders, who don’t necessarily approach things from a conservation point of view. Equally, it was impressive to see such wide and varied viewpoints coalescing into a concensus by the end of the meeting. Although I have an interest in the project from a nature tourism angle, my main input was on the distribution and seasonality of cetaceans and seabirds off the Northumberland coast. The protection of the marine habitat is so important to us that, as a business, we’ll keep making my time available for Netgain meetings until the conclusion of the project.

After the meeting I drove to Seahouses and collected a journalist from the Edinburgh Evening News, for a trip across to the Farne Islands. We occasionally run press trips where the journalist will be accompanied by wife/husband/partner, but 2 adults, a 6-year old, a 3-year old and a baby was pretty much a first (apart from a guy from a local paper in Cumbria who managed to blag a free holiday, for himself and his family, from accommodation providers, activity providers and attractions in Northumberland in 2008…and then never wrote the article that was used as the hook for getting all the freebies – ah well, live and learn). The trip across to the Farnes was everything I would expect in late October; breezy, cold and a fantastic wildlife experience. The Grey Seal pups were predictably cute, and at least 3 Peregrines were hunting the Feral Pigeons that live on the islands. We’ve got a Seal Safari next Friday, which includes a trip around the Farne Islands (weather permitting), a Landrover safari and picnic so give us a call on 01670 827465 for more details or to book (especially if you are a family – it’s 1/2 term week so we’re offering generous discounts on family bookings). With 5 trips out with clients over the next 5 days (including 2 days where we’re fully booked already) it’s going to be a busy week.

All of that would have a been a busy day…but there was one thing left, and it was something that I was really looking forward to. As Newcastle University graduates, myself and Sarah both have an emotional attachment to the Hancock Museum (or Great North Museum:Hancock as it’s now named…but you won’t find either of us, or many other local naturalists, calling it that). So, yesterday evening I felt quite honoured to be standing in the Clore Learning Centre at the museum giving a lecture about the Northeast Cetacean Project to the Natural History Society of Northumbria. With an attendance of over 100 at the lecture it’s a subject that people are really interested by. One of the question asked at the end of the talk was “how will the data be used? what value does it have?”. Which took us nicely back round the loop to the day and a half of Netgain meetings.

23/10/2010
A flying birdwatching trip to Holland

On Wednesday afternoon we set off from Royal Quays, out into the North Sea, onboard the MV King of Scandinavia as guests of DFDS. The weather forecast was for it to be wet, although we did manage a couple of hours birdwatching from the observation lounge before the driving rain obliterated the view. Gannets were diving into the increasingly heavy swell, a stunning Pomarine Skua arced across the bow of the ship and a single Puffin was tagging along with six Little Auks.

Arriving in IJmuiden the next morning, it was still raining 🙁 We were collected from the ferry terminal by Lin, a local guide who we had been introduced to by the ORCA wildlife officers from the ferry. As we headed north Egyptian Geese were around the grass verges near the port, Cormorants were perched atop most of the lampposts, Common Buzzards were on roadside fences and we saw one lingering Spoonbill. Our destination was the reserve of Zwanenwater, where Lin is a volunteer. As we walked through the reserve the high pitched ‘seep’ of Redwings was a constant backdrop, Song Thrushes were flushing from every patch of cover, every bush seemed to hold several Robins and a Common Redstart flicked up from the path in front of us. We were then taken on a tour of the off-limits areas of the reserve by Fred, another of the volunteers.

Stonechats were seen along the track and there was an impressive spread of Grass of Parnassus.

Stonechat, Zwanenwater, Noord-Holland 30/09/2010
Grass of Parnassus, Zwanenwater, Noord-Holland 30/09/2010
Despite the rain we managed an impressive haul of raptors; Common Buzzard, Marsh Harrier, Hen Harrier, Kestrel, Sparrowhawk and Osprey were all seen well but, most impressive of all, the real highlight for both of us was the views we had of Northern Goshawk. The birds quartering the dunes in search of rabbits and small birds came as a bit of a surprise, but not as much as the two birds that were perched on dead trees overhanging the lake. Fred explained that they sit there and watch the ducks, before swooping down and taking them off the water. We didn’t see that, but we did manage some distant images of one of the birds.

Northern Goshawk, Zwanenwater, Noord-Holland 30/09/2010
All too soon we were on the ferry again and heading back to Northumberland, making plans to return to Holland in the spring.

02/10/2010
Northumberland; Birdwatching on the high sea

Yesterday was our final full-day pelagic for the year. With a couple of late cancellations, ten of us boarded the SarahJFK and headed out to sea. Before we reached the end of the Tyne piers there was already a bit of swell…

Once we were out and heading offshore it was exhilarating, with an often icy westerly breeze and long rolling waves from the north. Small groups of Pale-bellied Brent Geese passed by during the day and a small group of Greylag Geese and Pink-footed Geese as well – a sure sign that the autumn is here. There was an almost complete absence of Fulmars, leading to speculation about what these enigmatic seabirds are doing when we can’t find them, and only one Manx Shearwater. Arctic Skuas were a bit thin on the ground, but we did find a good pelagic prize – a sub-adult Pomarine Skua that passed by with two Great Skuas. Excellent views of the latter species, and some stunning Sooty Shearwaters were the highlight of the day, and there were lots of Kittiwakes and Gannets, although that accolade could have gone to the 2 White-beaked Dolphins that were seen briefly on 3 occasions late in the afternoon.

Great Skua or 'Bonxie'

Sooty Shearwater

Sooty Shearwater – the epitome of grace
The swell proved a bit too much for some participants so, in between scanning for birds and cetaceans, I spent some time providing sympathy and advice for the worst of the stricken 🙂 Don’t let that put you off signing up for any of next-year’s pelagics though; it’s actually quite unusual for anyone to be really seasick on one of our pelagics, but the big swell (probably originating a few days ago from the near the north west coast of Norway) combined with a strengthening westerly breeze was a freak combination of conditions that managed to hinder the enjoyment of all the birds around the boat for a couple of the girls. I was once asked, by someone who was a self-professed non-sailor, why I would spend so much time on a small boat in the North Sea…I think that now I would just send them a link to the images in this post and the videos in my Farne Deeps trip report

We’ve got one more pelagic this year, around the Farne Islands, Holy Island and the Skate Road on Saturday December 4th, so give us a call on 01670 827465 for further details or to book.

19/09/2010
Birdwatching by boat off the Northumberland coast

Now, you shouldn’t need to read too many of my blog posts to realise that seabirds and cetaceans occupy a special place in my heart, and that I’m in my element once I’m on a boat off the Northumberland coast.

Saturday was our annual ‘Whale and Dolphin Cruise’ on Glad Tidings V, out of Seahouses. With 36 participants, including the other NEWT guides (Sarah and Andy), all safely on board we set off down the coast. We were soon enjoying views of two Arctic Skuas and then panic on the deck as our eagle-eyed skipper spotted two Sooty Shearwaters off to one side and everyone rushed to see them. These ocean wanderers are one of the great sights of pelagic seabirding in the North Sea at this time of the year. For one participant though the real excitement was the bird sitting beside the shearwaters; a Puffin 🙂 It’s a few weeks too late to see them at their breeding colonies, but I’d told Sam that we had a good chance of coming across one. Throughout the day we found a few more, as well as plenty of Fulmars, Kittiwakes, Guillemots and a few Razorbills. Perhaps the best entertainment of the day was provided by several feeding groups of Gannets, throwing fountains of water into the air as they hit the sea. There was clearly a lot of fish for them to eat, and it was real mystery to myself, Sarah, Andy and John that there were no cetaceans feeding in the same areas. Oh well, if they weren’t so mysterious it wouldn’t be such an adrenaline rush when we do find them I suppose. A lone Manx Shearwater avoided the boat, as they tend to do, and we headed northwards to the Farne Islands, hoping to see the White-tailed Eagle that has been there for the last week. We were in radio contact with other boats so we knew it had just killed a Shag and was eating it. As we neared the islands our one cetacean for the day appeared, a Harbour Porpoise just to one side of the wake of the boat. Just as we arrived, the eagle crept into a cleft between a grassy bank and some rocks so only one or two people managed to get a glimpse of it’s head as it dropped out of sight. Grey Seals were playing, splashing and racing around and we headed back into the harbour, after a marathon effort by our skipper and everyone on board. We’ve already set the date for the 2011 Whale and Dolphin Cruise – Saturday September 10th so put it in your diaries and give us a call on 01670 827465 to book your place.

Blue skies, calm sea, what more could you wish for?

13/09/2010
Life begins at 40

Friday was our long-awaited pelagic to the Farne Deeps. We’d originally planned the trip for August 12th, but the weather put paid to that 🙁 Rescheduling to September 3rd meant that four of the original participants had to withdraw because of other commitments, but we were able to fill those places and have a reserve list. Birdwatching from a boat in the North Sea, with the possibility of cetaceans as well, is always an enjoyable way to spend a day.

When I arrived at Royal Quays just after 7.30 I was surprised to see that nine of the other eleven participants were already there; obviously eager to join Northern Experience on our ‘voyage into the unknown’.

As we left the Tyne we soon began to began to find Guillemots, Razorbills and Puffins on the sea; all 3 species featuring regularly throughout the day. Gannets, Fulmars and Kittiwakes were all seen in good numbers (Kittiwakes in particular) and we continued to head north northeast, getting further offshore from the Northumberland coast.

I was watching the depth plotter carefully as we approached the edge of the deep water and, as I stepped out of the wheelhouse, thinking that things could get very interesting quite soon, almost collapsed as Allan shouted “Dolphin!”. Within a minute we’d got two stunning White-beaked Dolphins bow-riding. They stayed with us for 40 minutes, and during that time there were at least another three a little distance from the boat. I managed to get ‘a bit’ of video footage 🙂

As if all the excitement of having the dolphins around the boat wasn’t enough, Geoff Morgan spotted a Grey Phalarope (Red Phalarope for any readers in the US). After Geoff’s initial call it was 4 mins before the bird was relocated; sitting on the sea in front of the boat as we continued along with the dolphins. The phalarope, as well as an excellent bird to see in early September, was a milestone as it’s the 40th ‘seabird’ (defined as those covered by Peter Harrison’s excellent ‘Seabirds: an identification guide’) to be found on pelagic trips off Northumberland since the first NTBC organised trip in 1987.

As well as the birds mentioned previously we also found;

Manx Shearwater 4

Sooty Shearwater 4

Arctic Skua 4

Great Skua 9

Typically, the Manx Shearwaters and Arctic Skuas stayed well away from the boat but the Sooty Shearwaters and Great Skuas were much more obliging 🙂

By the end of the day, nearly everyone on board had enjoyed lifers; the White-beaked Dolphins were a much sought-after species for Joanne and the result of a lot of effort 🙂 With the battalion of long lenses on the boat, there’ll be plenty of good quality images for the White-beaked Dolphin identification catalogue that forms part of the Northeast Cetacean Project. We’ll be running at least two trips out to the Farne Deeps next year (date and cost tbc) so get in touch soon to register your interest. With only 12 places available they’ll fill quickly.

After the 10hr marathon of the Farne Deeps, our 8hr pelagic on Saturday was just like a pleasure cruise 🙂 Again we had good numbers of Kittiwake, Gannet and Fulmar, as well as some very obliging Sooty Shearwaters. With some of South Tyneside’s finest on board, I was half-hoping that one of them would point his camera at the sky and randomly photograph a Cape Gannet 🙂 Sadly, it wasn’t to be. Never mind, there’s always next week…and the week after…and next year.

06/09/2010
British Birdwatching Fair 2010

We’ve been away for a few days, as part of the Birdwatching Northumberland consortium at the British Birdwatching Fair 2010.

Thursday started very early for Martin, with a North Pennines Prestige Tour for clients who were staying at Wallfoot in Carlisle. Managing to avoid the worst of the weather, avian highlights included Merlin, Goldcrest, Nuthatch, Red Grouse, Black Grouse, Whinchat and Wheatear. The long drive down the M6 didn’t, unfortunately, miss the heavy rain. However, a late arrival at the White Lion in Whissendine, and a few beers in the bar with such luminaries as Ipin set Martin up nicely for an early start on Friday.

Sarah was at work (in her ‘proper’ job) so, apart from attending a couple of lectures, Martin was on the Birdwatching Northumberland stand for all of the first day.

Saturday we planned to work ‘split’ shifts, but with Martin again spending most of his time on the stand; apart from another couple of lectures and one or two chats with clients, colleagues, suppliers, competitors and collaborators (both old and new).

Another excellent curry at the White Lion, and a ‘few’ beers, on Sataurday night was followed by the dawning of the final day of Bird Fair 2010. One of us was a bit ‘under the weather’ but perked up in time to give his talk ‘The North Sea – a new birding frontier’ at 3.30pm. What could have been a bit of a graveyard shift managed to generate a lot of interest, with 134 bird fair attendees making their way to the lecture marquee to enjoy a brief history of the Northumberland pelagics. There were a few questions at the end of the lecture, then Martin was stopped and asked some more, for the next 10 minutes, as he headed back to the stand – where other people who had been in the lecture were waiting to ask more questions.

After three days at the Bird Fair we’d made a lot of new contacts, renewed some old acquaintances and we’ll shortly be entering exciting partnerships with some big names in the birding world. Just a few very busy weeks to come first…

A final night in the midlands was followed by the journey north on Monday, and then a Prestige Tour yesterday. Beginning with an actively feeding Dipper was a good start then, with a particular request for wading birds, it was good to strike a rich vein on the coast; Green and Common Sandpipers, Greenshank, Redshank, Spotted Redshank, Curlew, Whimbrel, Oystercatcher, Lapwing, Dunlin and Ruff. What seemed to go down better than all of the other birds though were the always impressive Grey Herons.

25/08/2010
Fin-tastic

We’re in one of our busier periods at the moment; two trips on Thursday, two on Friday and then we’ll be out again tomorrow.

Thursday’s two mini-safaris featured some of our old favourites; Little Owl is one of the best crowd-pleasers that there is, Dunlin, Greenshank, Common Sandpiper, Grey Heron and summer-plumaged Knot all went down very well and some attractive insects added a touch of glitter – Common Darter, Blue-tailed Damselfly, Small Copper, Red Admiral and Dark Green Fritillary are all easily overlooked (well maybe not Red Admiral), but quite stunning if you take the time to search for them and then look closely. After finishing Thursday’s first trip, and dropping Kevin, Angela and Georgia back at Newbiggin, I went back to the office, dealt with a few e-mails, packed the head torches and bat detectors ready for the evening and then headed back out for the day’s second tour of Druridge Bay and Southeast Northumberland. Then the heavens opened. With windscreen wipers barely able to provide a clear view, traffic was crawling. I was considering the unthinkable – cancelling a trip. The rain eased and I collected Andy and family. The trip list was very similar to the morning and then I thought it might be worthwhile to have a quick look at the sea.

Now, seawatching is an obsessive pastime but it isn’t for everyone; I’m certain that long periods staring at the sea, hoping that something exciting will appear, don’t make for good client experiences. So we don’t do it…very often. The sea had been flat calm during the day and there was only a gentle breeze. Ideal conditions for searching for cetaceans, in fact. The number of e-mails, texts and ‘phone calls I’d had during the week was the clincher. I knew that cetaceans sightings were increasing and viewing conditions were just right…surely the right time to take clients for a seawatch. Gannets were passing by and we all scanned the sea. Quickly I picked up 2 dolphins away to the south. Then another 2, then 3 including 2 calves. Through binoculars I had little doubt that these were White-beaked Dolphins. A quick look through the ‘scope revealed all of the relevant ID features; tall falcate dorsal fin, white flanks arcing up behind the dorsal to form a pale saddle. As everyone managed to see the dolphins, I scanned slowly to estimate how many dolphins there were. At least 25 individual animals were found, and the pod was spread out over at least 6 square miles of the North Sea! Another birder arrived and we managed to get him on to the dolphins as well. It’s almost impossible to describe just how extraordinary such a sighting is. Normally the best opportunities arise when you’re on an organised pelagic trip. We’ve got 4 more of these this year; and with only one place remaining on September 18th, two places on September 4th and four places on August 12th, get in touch now on 01670 827465 to join us and experience the best pelagic wildlife and birdwatching opportunities available on the east coast. August 12th will be a groundbreaking trip; we’re heading out to the Farne Deeps and reports from anglers and researchers suggest that the area could produce sightings of some spectacular wildlife. Minke Whale, White-beaked Dolphin, Common Dolphin and Killer Whale have all been found previously.

After the dolphins we had another of the species that always captivates our clients as a Barn Owl allowed a prolonged period of observation as it hunted along the coastal dunes. As darkness descended and we headed back to our starting point the raindrops began to speckle the windscreen of the Landy again.

The highlights of Friday’s first trip were Red Squirrel and Little Owl (for Kate and Lucy) and a very unexpected Green Sandpiper (for me).

The evening pelagic took place with some extraordinary glowering skies to the north. As the swell began to develop, we were treated to very close views of Gannet and Fulmar before returning to Royal Quays in the dark, but the abiding memory of the last week is the extraordinary spectacle of a little-known cetacean, hunting, leaping and playing in the seas off Northumberland.

07/08/2010