Northern Experience Wildlife Tours

Category: Northumberland

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
It’s ‘otter in August…

We’re just about at the point where our 3hr evening safaris will be starting before 6pm; early August and the evenings are drawing in already! Guided birdwatching, and a search for one of our favourite predators, always has an exciting atmosphere when it happens as darkness approaches.

On my way to collect Niki and Haydn from Warkworth, I stopped off for a few minutes beside the River Coquet – corvids and pigeons were swirling in the breeze, giving an autumnal feel to the evening.

With clients safely in our vehicle, we headed down the coast through the post-industrial landscape of Druridge Bay and the (only just) industrial heartland of southeast Northumberland. East Chevington was our first stop, producing sightings of 2 very obliging Common Snipe in the roost of Lapwings. A flock of Curlew heading south were travelling with 2 Whimbrel and a Bar-tailed Godwit and the 2 juvenile Marsh Harriers were much appreciated as they quartered the reedbeds, flushing Mallard, Gadwall and Teal.

We continued our journey through southeast Northumberland and, as the first drops of rain began to pepper the surface of the water, an obvious edginess among a flock of Gadwall heralded the arrival of the star of the show; gliding along, sleek, dark and menacing, the Otter showed well, although briefly, as it headed across the open water and into the reeds opposite. Then it was time for us to do the same, and depart into the deepening gloom of the evening.

15/08/2011
Dodging the showers

Things weren’t looking too promising as I headed up the A697 to collect Ian and Barbara from their holiday accommodation at The Coach House; rain, mist and fog were all conspiring to reduce visibility. Once we were on our way towards Holy Island things improved though, and our walk on the island was in reasonable weather. Plenty of Curlew and Bar-tailed Godwits were along the water’s edge and little parties of Guillemot and Red-breasted Merganser were spotted on the relatively calm sea. Back on the mainland, things took a turn for the worse and the rain hammered down, making the mudflats seem to be boiling. The numbers of Curlew grew and grew, all demonstrating just how vigorous their feeding technique is. As everything began to disappear into the rain, the eerie calls of Grey Seals came echoing across the mud. Eider, Common Scoter, Puffin, Shag, Cormorant, Guillemot and Razorbill were all on the sea in the shadow of Bamburgh Castle, Turnstones were doing just what their name suggests, 2 Little Egrets were in Budle Bay and 3 Common Buzzards were soaring around as the sun finally began to beat down on the northern edge of the Cheviots as we returned to Crookham at the end of a day of changeable weather, and good birdwatching.

12/08/2011
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.

11/08/2011
A tale of 3 pelagics

After our stunning pelagic on Friday, we had 3 more evening trips in 5 days, all concentrating on the southeast Northumberland coast.

Saturday was a massive contrast with Friday; only 2 brief White-beaked Dolphins, but Gannets and Fulmars were in great abundance and 3 Great Skuas, 2 Manx Shearwaters and 5 Sooty Shearwaters added to the birdwatching interest.

Monday was the day that the weather forecast was really, really wrong. Just 20 minutes out of the Tyne, the heavens opened and most on board headed for the shelter of the wheelhouse. With the North Sea appearing to be coming to the boil, fortune favoured the brave, and the 2 participants who stayed on deck with me during the deluge were the only ones lucky enough to see the White-beaked Dolphin that surfaced just a few metres away from us. Manx Shearwaters, Arctic Skuas and lots of Gannets provided entertainment once the rain had ceased, but the dolphins remained elusive.

That brings us to yesterday evening. A very calm sea and cetacean reports from earlier in the day (12 unidentified dolphins south past Tynemouth at 06:30, porpoises just off Cullercoats from the SarahJFK and 2 White-beaked Dolphins in Newbiggin Bay at 17:15 all seemed to bode well). We’d just passed between the Tyne piers and started to head north when we came across 8 White-beaked Dolphins and 3 Harbour Porpoises! After enjoying several views of them, I explained to all on board that it isn’t usually that easy and we continued north. Arctic Skuas were seen as we passed St Mary’s Island but the real entertainment began when Andy spotted a distant fin north of Blyth. After a wait of several minutes the dolphins began to surface in ever-increasing numbers, eventually we were surrounded by over 30 animals bow-riding, breaching and milling about. As the dolphins began to drift away, presumably to feed once they’d finished playing with our boat, we continued north into Newbiggin Bay. Our return journey produced more dolphin sightings, including one animal repeatedly ‘spyhopping’, and some incredible views of animals swimming slowly around the boat. The only downside (if there really was a downside) was the murky, overcast conditions made it seem like dusk almost from the moment we set sail. We can choose times/dates appropriate to what our clients want to see, we can use our knowledge and fieldcraft to maximise the chances of encountering any desired species…but we can’t control the weather. Wouldn’t it be a dull life if we could though?

04/08/2011
White night

After a couple of poor-weather weekends, the elements relented and we headed out from Royal Quays on the SarahJFK for a 4hr evening pelagic in the North Sea off southeast Northumberland. Pomarine Skua, Manx Shearwater, Common Scoters and a summer-plumaged Red-throated Diver were the birdwatching highlights, but were eclipsed by what Stephen described as “the greatest wildlife experience of my life”. We’ve got a busy programme of offshore wildlife trips over the coming months, and here a few images that show why they’re so popular;

30/07/2011
Conserving the marine environment

Last week I had a 2 day visit to my home town of Kingston upon Hull, to attend the Netgain large group meeting. Although I’m a member of the North East Regional Hub to represent the views of wildlife tourism, and the Northeast Cetacean Project, I’ve developed an increasing amount of empathy with the commercial fishermen involved in the process, and I know from speaking to other conservation focussed hub members that they feel the same, and that the view of hub members is that all sectors have worked well together to try and reach a concensus about the location of rMCZ’s (recommended Marine Conservation Zones) and RA’s (Reference Areas). It’s been occasionally tetchy, often contentious, but at the end of the day we all need the North Sea to be healthy enough to deliver what each sector needs. It’s as simple as that.

Now we’re well into our pelagic season, and we’ve already had excellent views of White-beaked Dolphins on our RIB trip to the Farne Deeps. If that isn’t worth conserving, I don’t know what is 🙂

29/07/2011
Seabird Spectacular

Our Seabird Spectacular package holiday managed to coincide with some increasingly heavy seas and strong northerly winds. Getting on a boat would have been somewhat inadvisable , but we still managed to get good views of all the target species for the holiday, including Roseate Tern, Little Tern and Puffin. Perhaps we should have renamed the holiday Mammal Magic as Noctule, Pipistrelle, Red Fox, Rabbit, Grey Seal, Weasel, Stoat, and Otter were all seen during the 2 days 🙂 With excellent accommodation and food at The Swan throughout the holiday, it was a great way to spend a weekend in late July. We’ll be running Seabird Spectacular again in 2012 (11th-14th June) so give us a call now on 01670 827465 for more details or to book your place.

29/07/2011
Burning desire

Tuesday, and I’m sitting with Matt and Becky, waiting in anticipation as dusk approaches. An orange/yellow glow rimming the horizon and the pallid, diffuse nature of the clouds covering the rest of the sky enhancing the impression that a thousand fires were burning in the distance. Through the flames, dark ashes danced across our field of view; Tufted Ducks, Mallards and Coots skittering across the water. Against the smoke, more dark soot tossed on the strong northerly breeze, this time Noctule Bats and Pipistrelles.

Then a burst of excitement as a whirling dervish appears, chasing ducks and geese; the Otter porpoising with serious intent, hitting the water with a splash like the crackle of a burning log. Then the flames die and we’re left with the last few pops of the dying embers.

29/07/2011
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.

29/07/2011