Today was the first of two Prestige Tours organised as a 40th birthday surprise. With our destination being the North Pennines, the tour where we cross the border from Northumberland into Upper Teesdale, the mist, drizzle and general murk first thing this morning didn’t look too promising. Sometimes, though, the less promising days prove to be the really memorable ones…
Checking one of our favourite Black Grouse sites there were no birds in the field close to the road. However, after watching that site for the last two years I guessed that the birds were probably at a lek site away across the moor. Sure enough, we soon found three birds sitting around, another two flew in a few seconds later and then the lek started. The cold wind and icy rain was barely noticeable as the birds postured around the clumps of rush. More sightings of Black Grouse followed, including birds at two sites where I hadn’t seen them before; one of them producing excellent views of a Blackcock sitting near the road, and a rather more shy and retiring Greyhen. Across in Upper Teesdale the views of Blackcock got even better, and were accompanied by drumming Snipe and displaying Curlew.
The walk to Cauldron Snout can seem bleak and devoid of wildlife but it is there; watching from amongst the heather were Red Grouse, some more Red Grouse, stunning Golden Plover and even more Red Grouse. Meadow Pipits flitted back and forth, Snipe were calling, Curlew were singing their eerie song over the moorland and Lapwings demonstrated that their display flight and calls both defy belief.
One of the best days we’ve had in two years of NEWT.
After a Druridge mini-safari on Tuesday, which included a visit to the Common Crane near Eshott, yesterday was something completely different with a Kielder Safari.
After collecting Ruth and Diana from Stannington we took the scenic route up through Knowesgate to Bellingham, in the wilds of west Northumberland. That’s the point where we deviate from the public roads and follow a track that’s off-limits to the public. Along the way we saw a few Buzzards, but a superb male Goshawk, and an incredibly skittish Red Fox, were the highlights of the drive through the forest. Around the reservoir there were Crossbills and Siskins everywhere. Lunch just over the border in Scotland was followed by more birdwatching and the spectacle of a Common Buzzard catching, dismembering and consuming a vole. With lots of other buzzards up in the air whenever the sun came out, there was plenty to see. A stunning drake Mandarin brought a splash of garish colour to the afternoon and a long-distance ‘scope view of last year’s Osprey nest revealed a small white blob – probably the head of one of the pair that have returned to the site. As we headed back towards civilisation a large flock of Fieldfares and Redwings near Bellingham was a reminder that the winter is only just behind us.
I spent the last three days guiding a familiarisation trip around the northeast, showcasing the landscape, wildlife and birdwatching of Northumberland, the North Pennines and Tees Valley for two wildlife officers and the development manager from ORCA (Organisation Cetacea).
My main input was to the 2nd and 3rd days, as I had another booking for the 1st day so only joined the group late in the afternoon on a rather wet Northumberland coast.
Day 2 dawned bright and dry at home but, as I passed Morpeth, it looked wet and misty ahead. The main road to Rothbury had been closed by flooding so a detour via the moors and past Cragside was necessary. We met up with Gill Thompson, the Northumberland National Park ecologist, and parked at Lordenshaws for a walk up Simonside. It was cold, snowy and exhilarating and we walked up to the start of the ridge. Meadow Pipits, Skylarks and Red Grouse were all seen as we climbed.
Steph, Kathryn and Martin on the ridge above Lordenshaws
Returning to the car we set off to drive across to Otterburn, round the base of Simonside. That ran into a slight problem as, although we were fine in the Landy, Gill’s car couldn’t get through one of the floods we encountered. I continued with the girls and Gill backtracked to Rothbury to find an open route to Otterburn. After an excellent lunch at Otterburn Mill we headed towards Kielder Water and Forest Park. A drive along a forest road that isn’t publically accessible produced excellent views of Roe Deer and Common Buzzard…in increasingly heavy snowfall. At the Kielder Castle visitor centre there was excellent information provided about Ospreys, Goshawks, Tawny Owls, Red Squirrels and Hen Harriers. We also visited the two wildlife hides at Bakethin and Leaplish. Crossbills were calling in the tree tops, Goldeneye were displaying on the reservoir and the feeding station was a hive of activity, with Chaffinches, Coal Tits and an elusive Treecreeper. As we returned to the dam wall and waved goodbye to Shona, it was time to head to Hadrian’s Wall. Gill provided an excellent description of the wall, it’s history and the geology of the area while we were at Steel Rigg. Then, after a long day out it was time to travel the short distance to Saughy Rigg Farm; our accommodation for the night and also where were having dinner, hosted by the Kielder Partnership. The welcome, accommodation, evening meal and breakfast at Saughy Rigg were as outstanding as ever and it was good to chat to Sian and Shaun (who were both students at Haydon Bridge High School when I was teaching there).
Yesterday was our North Pennines day. I went out for a walk at 6am, and it was a beautiful Spring morning; Curlews were displaying and the early rays of sunlight were highlighting the contours and crevices of the landscape at their very best. After a breakfast that would set anyone up for being stranded in the middle of nowhere, Black Grouse was clearly high on the wanted list and I’d devised a route that would take in my top 2 sites for this handsome bird. The first obstacle was a vintage Triumph, completely blocking the road with it’s front wheels in a ditch where it had hit a patch of black ice. We manouvered our cars (Stephen had been away at a meeting the day before so was now travelling behind us) and a van to safety, in case the Triumph started sliding once it was back on the road. Thankfully that was accomplished without any problems and we continued. We would have checked one Black Grouse site and then re-traced our route, but that patch of black ice on a sharp downhill bend led to a change of plan and we took the road from Allendale to Carrshield instead…
As we crossed the moor there was a thin layer of snow on the road, but there were tyre tracks coming from the other direction so we continued. Stephen was following our tracks and then, at the high point of the road, the Landy skidded on some hidden ice, juddered and stopped. Snow was drifting in faster than we could shovel it away and we couldn’t get any traction to free us from the drift. Other vehicles from either direction were getting into difficulty in less snow than we had and…to cut a long story short…the entire incident involved two Landrovers, a family estate car and a snow plough all stuck fast, a team of drivers busy shovelling snow, two snapped tow ropes and Steph and Kathryn using the supplies (and flasks of boiling water) from the back of our Landy to provide coffee and hot chocolate to keep everyone warm. (Note to self; keep two shovels in the Landy in future!).
Once we we free from the drift, and checked that everyone else was able to continue, we headed on and found two excellent Blackcocks by the side of the road. Across to Langdon Beck and our (delayed) rendezvous with Shane Harris from the North Pennines AONB Partnership. As we re-structured the schedule Shane said “can anyone hear hissing?”. Yes, after all the effort we’d put into trying to get some traction with our offside front tyre…it was punctured. Just a minor inconvenience really so, with the spare wheel on, we had lunch at the Bowlees visitor centre (where the weather was positively summery), walked along the river at Low Force and then drove all the way down the Tees Valley to visit RSPB Saltholme. Finally, I dropped the girls at Royal Quays, ready for their first sailing this afternoon.
As Stephen put it at the end of the trip “A real Northern Experience!”.
I’ve always thought it slightly ironic that the Outdoor Show involves lots of outdoor professionals spending 3 full days cooped up in an exhibition hall in Birmingham, as detached from the outdoors as you can be. So, last Thursday I drove down to the NEC with Graham and we helped Jude from Northumberland Tourism to finish setting up the Outdoor Northumberland stand, prior to the arrival of all the other staff. Then we had 3 long, intense days of promoting Northumberland to all of the visitors who came along to our stand. Compared with 2009 the show itself wasn’t as impressive so it will be interesting to see if the change of venue for 2011 reinvigorates things. As far as the Outdoor Northumberland stand goes, I think we made some real improvements since last year and, hopefully, that will turn into more people choosing to visit our county. Having excellent locations for a range of activities that includes walking, cycling, MTB, watersports, rock climbing, equestrian, wildlife and birdwatching, Northumberland has so much to offer if what you want involves the great outdoors. (I just realised that the last sentence reads like an advert…). With our stand staff coming from several organisations and businesses the social side of the trip was good as well; I don’t think any of us were aware that Northumberland had produced so many accomplished belly dancers…
Finally, the three of us who had been first to the stand were the only ones remaining and we packed up and headed north, reaching our home county just shy of Monday morning. As I stepped out on to our drive, an Oystercatcher was calling loudly behind St Pauls’ Church. It felt good to be home.
After a few hours sleep I was up and about, catching up on some paperwork, before collecting one of the participants for a 3 day familiarisation trip that we’re guiding. I can’t help thinking that promoting the outdoors actually outdoors will be so much better than promoting the outdoors indoors 🙂
I had not planned to have a birding weekend this weekend – with fine weather forecast and no appointments that would take me out of the house for more than an hour or so, this is the first weekend this year that I have been able to get into the garden, and it needs a lot of tidying up. Although some would say that the “wild” effect was good, there is wild and there is wild! Following an early(ish) morning run by the River Wansbeck, where Jays were active in the overhead canopy, Moorhen and Mallard were on the river and the sound of a Mute Swan in flight just over our heads alerted us to its presence, it was back home for more physical effort in the garden. It was clear that the garden was already a hive of activity. Blackbirds have been busy gathering nesting material, Dunnocks are dancing for their lives (which could keep me entertained all morning) and the air was filled with the sound of Robins and Great Tits. I am having a rest from the garden now, but the birds are still active, now that they can get back onto the feeders without me in the way!
Between the slow times of the winter (filled this year by the Northeast Cetacean Project) and the start of our busy season comes a week that is exhausting but enjoyable.
Sarah was away on Sunday so I took myself off for a walk in Harwood. Lots of Siskins and Crossbills were calling throughout the entire 10 miles, and I managed to capture some images. The howling wind made my other intention, recording their calls, a bit trickier. A couple of Common Buzzards were braving the breeze, and a female Goshawk appeared and disappeared before I could get the camera on to her. I’m not sure whether carrying a dSLR, 500mm lens and heavy tripod around 10 miles of, partially snow-covered, forest tracks is an indication of dedication or insanity. Whichever, it was certainly good exercise.
Tuesday was an extraordinary day; first the Hadrian’s Wall Trade Fair and Tynedale Tourism Day, then I drove to Matfen Hall for an Outdoor Show training session and from there up to the Gun Inn at Ridsdale for a pre-breeding season Hen Harrier volunteer meeting. Wednesday was the tourism fair in Berwick, organised by the NNTA, and yesterday I attended the Sustainable Tourism Conference at the Rivergreen Centre in Durham.
Now, at the end of the week, it’s the Alnwick Tourism Fair, followed by a SENTA member event at The Old Ship in Newbiggin.
The last six days have seen a rush of activity on the Northeast Cetacean Project; with the weather and sea conditions working to our advantage we completed three survey days this week. Time back onshore has been spent compiling a detailed database of cetacean sightings, preparing for the forthcoming tourist season, consulting on an important familiarisation visit and leading a southeast Northumberland birdwatching Safari Day on Wednesday.
The focus for the Safari Day was bird song and calls, so we concentrated on three of our local riverside woodlands. The warm sunny weather encouraged a lot of birds to be very vocal, particularly up to mid-morning. Bird songs and calls are something that can take a long time to get to grips with but, once you do, it makes a big difference to your birdwatching. You’ll know the birds are there before you see them, and vocalisations are a valuable identification tool as well. That was the rationale behind our Beginners Birdwatching ‘Bird Song’ course and, with bookings taken already, we’re looking forward to helping more of our clients to develop those skills.
For the first time this year we’re putting out the moth trap. It’s warm, cloudy and dry outside so hopefully we’ll have a good catch. With a bit of luck it’ll be cool enough in the morning that any moths we trap will be fairly inactive and they can be photographed, identified and released into the shrubbery with the minimum of fuss. With a good weather forecast for tomorrow, a day of photography could be on the cards.
On Saturday we led a wildlife walk on Holy Island. Grim, murky drizzle on the way north looked less than promising but, as we approached Beal, the weather improved and stayed fine throughout the walk. Possibly the highlight of the day was all of the birds on the Rocket field flushing as two Peregrines flew menacingly above the pools. The journey home produced our rarest sighting of the day, at least in a Northumberland context, when we watched 3 Bewick’s Swans in a field south of Alnmouth.
Sunday really was a case of something completely different, as I headed out to the Farne Deeps for the latest Northeast Cetacean Project survey. The project, which is been run by Northern Experience and Marinelife with our funding partners; Natural England and the Northumberland and Tyneside Bird Club, has several strands, with the surveys backed up by postcards that we’re distributing to local charter boats and marinas so they can submit their sightings, an analysis of all the records and reports we can find for the last 7 years and, coming soon, a website that will allow online submission of whale and dolphin sightings off Northumberland. Meanwhile, back on the boat…my survey team on Sunday was made up of Alan Tilmouth and Ross Ahmed who were part of the team on our surveys back in December, Tim Sexton who was on our blizzard-hit survey two weeks ago and Dan ‘Punkbirder‘ Brown. Highlights were a Common Dolphin and a small group of Little Auks.
Yesterday saw the Landy having it’s 6-monthly safety test. Unsurprisingly, with the work put in by Sandy to keep the mechanical bits working smoothly, and the electrical work that Darren has done to ensure that when you flick a switch what happens is what should happen, it passed again. Peace of mind for our clients, and the NEWT Landy will keep rolling around Northumberland, delivering them to top-quality birdwatching and wildlife experiences.
Now it’s Tuesday and I’ve got 50 miles of offshore survey ahead of me. Bring it on!
Today dawned bright and clear; very cold but just the sort of day to spend birdwatching in southeast Northumberland. After a breakfast of porridge I was warmed through and ready for the day ahead. I collected Keith and Chris from Morpeth and took them on what appeared to be a magical mystery tour as we searched for Little Owls and Waxwings before reaching the coast at Newbiggin. 20 minutes later we were on our way towards Druridge Bay, with two clients who now had the knowledge of how to identify Mediterranean Gulls, and had put this into practice on at least two birds.
Wildfowl are still the major attraction in the bay, and the bright sunlight really showed Teal, Wigeon, Goldeneye, Shelduck, Gadwall, Red-breasted Merganser and even the humble Mallard in their best light. Big flocks of Pink-footed and Greylag Geese featured throughout the day and binocular-filling views of Skylarks and Twite went down very well. A Little Owl watched us intently from high in a tree and a Common Buzzard was soaring over East Chevington. Eventually we located a big flock of Pink-footed Geese on the ground and we searched through them for Bean Geese. No luck, but just as we turned our attention to a flock of Greylags, Keith spotted a white blur and we watched the tail of a Stoat vanishing into some long grass. Nothing ventured, nothing gained, so I started squeaking and kept going for a couple of minutes until the ermine predator came to see what was in distress. It showed incredibly well, first poking its nose through the grass before reappearing behind a fence and fixing us with a Little Owl-esque stare. As it slipped out of sight again I looked up…and there was a Bittern overhead. Another stunning end to another stunning day 🙂
Over the last few days there has been a distinct change; now, when I open our patio door, I can hear Song Thrush, Greenfinch, Chaffinch and Robin all singing. Last Saturday, even in the bitter cold and howling gale that was battering the Northumberland coast, our Druridge Bay Safari was enriched with birdsong.
Opportunities to get out and really take it all in have been limited. I spent two full days last week getting my Outdoor First Aid certification. While I was still teaching I had some First Aid training, but that was a picnic compared to an intensive two days where the trainers spend most of their time during casualty scenarios doing everything they can to get inside your head and see how you perform with your stress levels heading heavenwards. It was curiously enjoyable though, and of course my wish is that I don’t need to put any of it into practice before I’m due to renew my certification in three years time.
Another project which has kept me in the house has been choosing and processing the images that will grace the Birdwatching Northumberland stand at the British Bird Fair. Finally we selected seven images of species that typify Northumberland birdwatching; inland, coastal and covering different times of the year. And the species we chose? Well, you’ll just have to come along and see us at Rutland Water between 20th and 22nd August.
Now it’s another stunning Northumberland morning; clear blue skies, a gentle breeze, cold enough to freeze the wotsits off a brass monkey…and I’m heading out for a day of birdwatching with clients.
