Northern Experience Wildlife Tours

Category: Northumberland Coast

Long, lazy swell

When I was on the coast just south of Cresswell on Friday evening, I didn’t hold out much hope for Saturday’s pelagic going ahead; a menacing sea, with waves forming towering peaks, didn’t look likely to abate.

However, the sea is often fickle and Saturday saw nothing more than a long, lazy swell as we set sail into the North Sea for a day of offshore birdwatching along the coastlines of Druridge Bay and southeast Northumberland. Conditions changed throughout the day with, at times, the sea as calm as a millpond. 3 ‘Blue’ Fulmars, 5 Great Skuas, a probable Pomarine Skua, 3 Arctic Skuas, 5 Sooty Shearwaters, 4 Red-throated Divers, 2 Manx Shearwaters, Teal, Puffins, Guillemots, Razorbills, Kittiwakes, Gannets, Mediterranean Gulls and Swallows! were all appreciated and a Grey Seal and 2 Harbour Porpoises added some mammalian interest.

19/09/2011
The whistling wind

Saturday’s Whale and Dolphin Cruise from Seahouses turned out to be an excellent few hours of birdwatching off the Northumberland coast.

As we left the harbour, the swell of the tide had the boat rocking gently up and down. A mile or so later and we were in what I think of as ‘proper’ pelagic conditions; choppy sea, lots of whitecaps, an eerie wind whistling around the boat…and birds everywhere. The atmosphere when the North Sea is like that is filled with anticipation. A Pomarine Skua, athletic, muscular and menacing harrassed Kittiwakes, our first Great Skua of the trip (the first of several) lumbered by, Arctic Skuas flew along the wave troughs and the fragile, delicate figure of a Long-tailed Skua headed north in the rapidly strengthening wind. Fulmars soared effortlessly by, small groups of Gannets, those masters of efficient flight, featured throughout the trip and Sooty Shearwaters, a real seawatcher’s bird, entertained as they circled the boat. Added to that there were Puffins, Guillemots, Razorbills, Manx Shearwaters and Herring, Great Black-backed, Lesser Black-backed and Black-headed Gulls and Arctic, Common, Sandwich and Roseate Terns. With so many whitecaps, and some ‘interesting’ swell, we weren’t fortunate enough find any cetaceans, but one participant summed up offshore wildlife so well “You’re on a boat, it’s an experience, enjoy it, you never know what you’ll see.”

13/09/2011
RIB-tickling

Tuesday’s weather forecast was indicating something quite remarkable; a spell of nice weather between showers that would coincide exactly with our evening trip on Ocean Explorer.

That’s just what we got and, after an afternoon of heavy rain, we boarded the RIB in excellent weather just after 6pm.

The excitement of a high-speed journey south along the Northumberland coast combined well with close observation of feeding flocks of Gannets, terns and gulls, including a breathtakingly beautiful adult Roseate Tern. A Harbour Porpoise surfaced twice just off Dunstanburgh Castle, which looked stunning from our offshore position, and at least 3 Pomarine Skuas were busy brutalising the terns. As planned, we finished our trip around the Farne Islands. As curious Grey Seals came to have a closer look at all on board, the menacing clouds to the west obscured the sunset but we were treated to a spectacular moonrise in compensation.

The short journey back to the harbour produced excellent views of 2 adult Harbour Porpoises and a calf; an excellent way to end our evening.

We’ve got another 3hr RIB trip on Thursday 25th August, so click here to book, or ‘phone 07908 119535 for more details. We’re waiting for your call, and looking forward to enjoying some of Northumberland’s wildlife with you.

18/08/2011
Cetacean season

As we approach July, there’s always a sense of anticipation when we’re close to the sea on a land-based trip, or at sea on one of our Northumberland Pelagics. Good seawatching conditions over the next few months will see us gazing towards the east when the opportunity arises. Seawatching may be one of the more specialised aspects of birdwatching, but it brings an element of unpredictability that can outweigh even our evening mammal trips.

After good cetacean sightings in February and March, while carrying out transect surveys for the Northeast Cetacean Project (NECP), I was excited to receive 2 reports of land-based observations on Sunday and Tuesday; a possible pod of 5 Orcas was seen heading south past Lynemouth on Sunday evening and then 4 White-beaked Dolphins were off the mouth of the River Wansbeck on Tuesday evening. The second of these species is the one that we’re most interested in, after all it is the primary focus for the NECP, however Sunday’s report set the pulse racing; almost mythical off the Northeast coast, maybe the ultimate apex predator, right at the top of the list of our ‘most-wanted’. Maybe this will be the year when we finally connect with it, and my dreams about our forthcoming Farne Deeps pelagics seem to involve something black and white 😉 We’ve still got spaces on those 2 trips so give us a call on 01670 827465 to book your place now.

30/06/2011
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…

29/05/2011
Those lazy, hazy days…of early spring

I’ve often said that what really makes our tours so enjoyable is our clients, and yesterday was no exception.

I collected Dave, Rachel, Emily and Thomas from their holiday cottage in Bamburgh and we drove down the Northumberland coast. The warm sunshine, and layer upon layer of birdsong, was more like late spring or early summer, and 8-year old Thomas was soon constantly attached to his camera viewfinder; a wildlife photographer of the future I think 🙂 Emily kept us all entertained with suggestions as to how native Northumbrians will evolve and why several common flowers should be renamed.

Our picnic spot, overlooking Druridge Bay, produced an interesting observation. As we watched a roosting flock of Turnstones, Oyestercatchers and Purple Sandpipers I could see a raft of birds well offshore. Closer inspection revealed nearly 100 tightly rafted Pink-footed Geese. Perhaps the mystery of where they roost when we can’t find them at their usual winter haunts is close to being solved? It’s going to make our winter roost counts for the IGC a bit difficult though 😉

As the red orb of the sun sank behind the slate grey clouds we settled into position by a coastal pool. 3 Roe Deer wandered through a nearby field, Common Pipistrelles hawked insects in front of us (described as “awesome” by Thomas), Mute Swans and Greylag Geese paddled serenely across the pool and the whole scene was given a surreal air with thick layers of mist hanging just above the water. Still my favourite time of day…and there really isn’t anything better than sharing it with our clients 🙂

20/04/2011
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
It’s Sunday, so it must be Lindisfarne

After enjoying an all too brief view of the ‘super Moon’ on Saturday as I drove eastwards across Northumberland on my way home from the North Pennines, we’d got something completely different in the booking diary for Sunday; guided birdwatching on the Holy Island of Lindisfarne. Having Sarah along as an additional guide was a real bonus as well.

Gillian and Roger are existing clients, and this time we’d got other members of the family along as well – Roddy, Lucy and Alec. We’ve done plenty of family trips with young children, but a request to see “Seals, Lions and Tigers” from a 2-year old was a new experience for us! We managed one of those three 😉

Black-tailed Godwit (a stunning bird, well on it’s way to breeding plumage), Pale-bellied and Dark-bellied Brent Geese, Oystercatchers, Bar-tailed Godwits, Red-breasted Mergansers and Long-tailed Ducks were all well appreciated. Gillian picked out a tiny dark dot, high overhead, as a Skylark sang his evocative melody, and Roger spotted a Goldcrest, with a very very gold crest, as we ascended The Heugh. 18 Whooper Swans flew over the island, accompanied by a single Bewick’s Swan. With that species so scarce in Northumberland during the winter, we wondered if it was the same bird that we first found, a few miles down the coast, in late December. All too soon, it was time to return the family to the starting point of the tour and make our way down the Northumberland coast, along Druridge Bay and back to the office.

21/03/2011
Findings

On our photography tours I carry my camera with me, particularly when delivering photography tuition, but on our other trips I don’t; our clients deserve, and receive, my full attention. When I’m out on my own I don’t always carry a camera either – sometimes it would just be inconvenient (scrambling up trees, crags and dunes isn’t always compatible with having a heavy camera bag on your back). Occasionally, though, there are times when a camera would come in quite handy. These are nearly always stunning sunsets, and a quick shot with my Blackberry records the scene…and is then forgotten about 😉 I was downloading the images from the Outdoor Leisure Show yesterday when I realised that there were a few sunset shots sitting on the memory card;

First at the end of a stunning day birdwatching on the Northumberland coast in February ’10

And then a couple of images from May last year, after our clients had been safely returned to their b&b, showing how light (or the camera’s perception of it) changes so quickly; these two images were taken only a minute apart.

04/03/2011
Appreciating what we have

During the winter months, our mini-safaris are concentrated on the coast and we always keep a close eye on the weather. Sometimes that doesn’t work out though, as the Northumberland coast frequently seems to have it’s own microclimate that doesn’t match either the forecast, or the weather, a few miles inland.

When I arrived at the mainland end of the Holy Island causeway to collect Sharon and Andrew, I was surprised to discover that it was a sublimely beautiful morning. A bitingly cold wind was scything across Fenham Flats but the forecast rain was nowhere to be seen.

Curlew and Bar-tailed Godwit were beside the causeway, and flocks of smaller waders were wheeling around in the air near the island. Winter wildfowl are a feature of the Northumberland coast and, with drakes in near full breeding-dress, Teal and Wigeon are particularly breathtaking. Pale-bellied Brent Geese were alongside Dark-bellied Brent Geese, allowing an easy comparison, Lapwings were gloriously iridescent in the bright sunlight and a Peregrine caused panic before beating a path towards the mainland. 12 Common Seals were an unexpected bonus and a covey of Grey Partridges scurried across a field as we walked by. Common Buzzards were perched on hedgerows and the number of Kestrels we found was astonishing; at least 8 birds in just a few miles of birdwatching on the coast.

After just over 3 hours of birdwatching in near-perfect conditions it was time to return to our starting point and then onwards; Sharon and Andrew heading back across to Holy Island and me heading to Rothbury to Chair a meeting between Northumberland Tourism, Northumberland County Council and the Chairs of Northumberland’s Tourism Associations. The stunning morning really emphasised in my mind the importance of the meeting in the afternoon; Northumberland has some outstanding birdwatching, wildlife and photography opportunities during the winter (and throughout the rest of the year as well) so we need to make sure that we keep shouting as loudly as we can about them.

21/02/2011