Northern Experience Wildlife Tours

Category: Northumberland

  • Time flies…

    Yesterday was split between the office and a very entertaining business meeting at the Black Olive Cafe at Lee Moor Farm.  An exciting new product will be the eventual outcome of the discussions started yesterday, but a more immediate agreement was to hold a New Year’s Eve walk around Lee Moor.

    The drive up the A1 was stunning; clean, crisp air, blue skies and a distant view of The Cheviot covered in snow.  Days like this are still, for me, amongst the best that Northumberland has and make winter birdwatching so enjoyable.  Kestrels were hovering along the roadside, Common Buzzards were soaring and Roe Deer were venturing out from plantation edges.  The journey back home was equally stunning; as light levels fell, but the air was still clean and bright, the aforementioned Buzzards were perched in bare trees almost directly below where they’d been soaring a few hours earlier.  Rooks and Jackdaws were sitting around in that sinister way that they have and Blackbirds continually flirted with danger as they crossed the A1 at windscreeen height.

    Then, back at the office, my task was to deal with the latest batch of Gift Voucher orders.  Each order is packaged with a greetings card with artwork by an excellent local artist, and we always try to speak to each person who has placed an order as well.  It makes December one of our busiest times of the year.  It’s hard to believe that it’s over 2 years since I left teaching, and rapidly approaching 2 years since we led our first NEWT Safari.

  • Out with the old…

    OK, it isn’t 2010 just yet but the NEWT website has been replaced by a new(er) one.

    The only big cosmetic change is the blog.  We’ve opted for a contemporary look, and it adds a lot of functionality that we didn’t have access to previously.  Embedding images and video clips is just one of those functions, so we’re going to make the most of that whenever the opportunity arises.

    Much of the last few weeks has been spent at my desk, writing content for the website and checking links etc whenever Daniel has uploaded a new set of changes. 

    The NEWT office window bird
    The NEWT office window bird

    This means that most of my birdwatching has been focussed on one small section of southeast Northumberland; our back garden with it’s apple and ash trees, tangles of bramble, ‘wild’ allotment and ever-growing selection of bird feeders.  Jays, Great Spotted Woodpeckers, Bullfinches, Willow Tits, Redwings and Fieldfares have all visited in the last few days and the cold spell we’re in currently is accelerating the bird visits to the garden.  I still keep having this dream about Siberian Accentor…

  • A harrowing story…

    of suffering and depravation. That’s the ongoing tale of heroics, kelp crisps and seal milk over on the Farne Islands blog. I’ve always been impressed by the majesty of the North Sea, particularly when it’s crashing against the east coast in the early winter. It can’t be much fun for the lads out on the Farnes though, with food supplies almost exhausted and beer just a distant memory…

    I was once asked to list my top 5 birdwatching experiences and the Farne Islands are right near the top of that list. The islands feature regularly on the NEWT itinerary; between April-October we run Seal Safaris, from May-July we include landing trips, and in November and December we have our exclusive ‘Tystie Trek’ and ‘Seal and Seaduck Special’ cruises.

    A seabird colony at the height of the breeding season is a thing of great wonder. One of our trips this year was for a journalist from Coast magazine, who we took across to the islands to give her the experience of our beginners birdwatching courses and we arranged an interview with the Head Warden, David Steel, for her as well. At this time of year the birds (well most of them anyway) may be gone but the seals are there. There can’t be many creatures more resilient…but the Farne islands wardens are giving it a go.

  • Desolate

    The wind is whipping around my ears, bitingly cold. A real multi-sensory experience, with an eerie whistling as it carves through the dark towers of a nearby stand of pines. Against the inky blackness of the night sky a myriad of stars are twinkling and the moonlight is diffused through a thin halo of cloud. Birdwatching in the dark is an endeavour of surprises. The thin, high calls of Redwings carry on the wind; stragglers from the daylight feeding foray into the hinterland of Blyth and Newbiggin, the coastal towns of southeast Northumberland. Immersion in the darkness is always an exciting experience. Stripped of much of the visual world around us, other senses come to prominence; the scent of leaf-mould and fungi, the quavering hoots and sharp ‘kewicks’ of Tawny Owls, barking Foxes and rustling rodents, the tactile sensation of twigs and branches brushing against your face as you pick your way down a familiar footpath. Without the visual clues that usually lead you down the route, it’s like a whole new world waiting to be explored.

  • Shifting sands

    The sharp wind, and even sharper pellets of icy rain were stinging the backs of our necks as we walked along the beach from Cresswell to East Chevington yesterday. Once every month, between September and April, we walk this section of the Northumberland coast. Purposeful birdwatching; the waders and wildfowl that we encounter are logged a part of the WeBS (Wetland Bird Survey) totals. The beach is an extraordinary landscape, rarely the same from one month to the next. Yesterday was a first for us, after several years of walking this stretch; the sand was so high at one point that we could see inland, over the top of the dunes. It opened up a whole new view. Some months the sand is so low that almost the entire journey is over exposed rocks, sometimes there are no rocks, sometimes the sand is very level, sometimes it’s steeply shelving, sometimes there are tank blocks visible like a row of sinister teeth. When you combine that with the variability of the sea, it’s almost a different walk each month. The only downside is that nice sunny mornings mean that there is a lot of disturbance, and wader numbers are low. Sanderling is the species most affected. These cute white waders, playing ‘chicken’ with the edge of the surf, with their clockwork toy leg action are sometimes present in good numbers and sometimes not so. Yesterday was a poor day, with only three of them along the 3.2 miles of our count area. One was colour-ringed though, so we have a good chance of being able to find out where it was ringed, and where it’s been seen since then. Maybe it’ll still be there next month. who knows? That’s one of the joys of survey work.

  • North of England Raptor Conference 2009

    Yesterday was the North of England Raptor Conference 2009. This year it was organised by the two study groups based in the Peak District, and was held at the Agricultural Business Centre in Bakewell. The distance from the northeast had clearly discouraged most of the Northumberland raptor workers who normally attend. For us it was less of a problem though; Sarah’s parents live in Derbyshire so we were able to combine attending the conference with visiting them. As an aspect of birdwatching raptors aren’t everyone’s cup of tea, but they can be a fascinating part of an overall approach to the hobby, and a number of species lend themselves well to amateur study.

    The first speaker was Bill Heinrich, talking about the work done by The Peregrine Fund with Peregrine, California Condor, Aplomado Falcon and Gyrfalcon. Some novel approaches to dealing with conservation problems caused by hunting were described, and it did raise the question of why we can’t adopt a process of engagement to deal with some of the problems we face in Britain.

    A description of a survey of Merlin numbers followed, and this is particularly pertinent to Northumberland as some detailed work on the species has been carried out in our home county.

    Next came Ian Newton. As the author of ‘The Sparrowhawk’, one of the best monographs we’ve ever read, we were both looking forward to hearing him speak again. As he was talking about the subject of that monograph, and the species of raptor that breeds closer to our office than any other, it was all the more fascinating. It’s a real gift to make scientific study interesting and understandable, but Professor Newton does that very well. Lots of ideas for studying our local Sparrowhawks occured to both of us during the talk, so some of the long dark winter nights will be taken up with planning that study.

    The morning’s proceedings were drawn to a close by the estate manager for the National Trust in the Peak District, outlining the challenges that our upland areas face.

    After lunch came a talk that we were both eagerly anticipating; Steve Roberts describing how to find, identify and study Honey Buzzards. To describe it as entertaining doesn’t really do justice to Steve’s approach to public-speaking.

    Then it was the turn of Terry Pickford, with a talk entitled ‘Ground-nesting Peregrines in the Forest of Bowland’. What we actually got was a talk that concentrated almost exclusively on Hen Harriers. We understand Terry’s passion for Hen Harriers completely, but giving an unpublicised presentation on the scheduled topic for the next speaker, we both found rather offensive and distasteful.

    The scheduled speaker from the RSPB had been unable to attend so a last-minute stand-in had the unenviable task of talking about ‘The Hen Harrier in 2009’. It was refreshing to hear a level-headed summary of the events of this year and we applaud the speaker for his openness and honesty in the face of some self-important heckling from one or two members of the audience.

    Anthony Messenger was the next speaker, describing nearly 20 years of studying Hobbies in South Derbyshire. This was another talk that stimulated many ideas, particularly as the species occurs in small numbers in Northumberland during the breeding season.

    The final speaker was Andrew Dixon, talking about Saker Falcon conservation and sustainability in Mongolia. Martin had been looking forward to this one as he taught with Andy’s wife Nicola in the early part of this decade. Like Bill Heinrich’s talk, this was another description of a ‘different’ approach to raptor conservation. Food for thought…

    The conference ended with a short Q&A session, but you could probably have an all-day Q&A on Hen Harriers alone.

    As the conference closed and delegates departed, we were fortunate to have an opportunity to chat with Steve Roberts and Andy Dixon about our own Honey Buzzard studies in Northumberland. Proven breeding remains an elusive goal…but we’ll get there.

  • Call of the wild geese

    The last two days have featured a lot of geese. On Saturday we led a ‘drop-in’ birdwatching session in Budle Bay, for the Northumberland Coast AONB. Starting at 10:30, it was cold and breezy but the air was filled with Pink-footed, Greylag and Barnacle Geese for much of the day. The people who came along had varying interests and questions; some just wanted to know what “all of those geese” were, some were keen to learn the difference between Black-tailed and Bar-tailed Godwits…and one was interested in identifying sub-adult gulls! We were able to oblige on all counts, and really enjoyed a day of engaging the interested, the not-so-interested and the much-more-interested than they were before.

    This weekend was also the start of the Icelandic Goose Census for this winter. Pink-footed Geese are counted at core sites in October and November, Greylags in November and December. Our site is one of few that have both species in important numbers so we get to survey in all three months – and it can be very, very cold at dawn in mid-December! We have to arrive early so that we can sneak into position before it starts to get light. The site has been heavily disturbed for the last two winters and the geese have been erratic in using it as a roost. The journey to the site yesterday morning was enlivened by the creatures that use man-made roads for hunting, feeding and as a route from A to B; rabbits, hares, frogs, rats, a hedgehog, two barn owls and a long-eared owl were all along the 15 min journey from home. There was no sound when we arrived, and it was too dark to see. Would the geese be there, or would we have to spend another winter trying to track them down? As the grey light of dawn began to cast a faint glow over the pool it was obvious that they were there. Over 3000 Pink-footed Geese, 250+ Greylags and we snuck in, counted and snuck out without the birds flushing. Back at the car we were able to watch as they began to depart for their daytime feeding areas. Big flocks of geese are one of the great spectacles of the natural world. Birdwatching is like that; so many stunning sights and sounds that you can have an excellent day out at any time of the year. Big winter flocks, whether they be of geese, starlings, corvids, finches, waders or ducks are right near the top of our list of things that can change perception of what birdwatching is all about.

  • Things that go Squeak in the Night

    A second new event launch in two days was yesterday evening’s activity. Martin went along to The Swan at Choppington mid-afternoon to set out all the cables and extension leads to enable us to run a moth trap amngst the bushes around the pub lawn. As Martin and Chris were setting it out, the heaven’s opened and they both received a good soaking.

    By 6.30 the clouds had all cleared and the evening promised good weather. Sparkling wine on arrival for our guests was followed by an explanation of moth-trapping (and a beauty parade of Thursday night’s catch – most of which were very active after warming up following day in our fridge). A short Landrover journey took us to the path we were going to walk and, after a brief history of Choppington Woods, we set off along a birdwatching route that we could probably lead blindfolded. A Jay flew across our path and a flock of 42 Swallows swirled overhead. As dusk descended, the first bat of the evening appeared; a Common Pipistrelle that everyone managed to see as it flew in and out of the trees. Back to The Swan, and a meal of the usual excellent standard was followed by a moth-trapping session. Although windy and cold, we still managed to catch a few moths, including the first Small Fan-foot for Choppington Woods. Into the pub again, and everyone was ready for dessert. Our next ‘Things that go Squeak in the Night’ is on Thursday 17th September and there are still places available. With the earlier sunset we’ll have by then, there’s always the possibility of seeing foxes and hearing owls before we retire to the warmth and comfort of The Swan.

  • The future naturalists

    In the late nineties and early noughties, when I was a committee member of the Northumberland & Tyneside Bird Club, the issue of the ‘next generation’ of birdwatchers, and the recruitment of new members, was often discussed. Like many organisations, the average age of the club’s membership was increasing by one every year (which isn’t that surprising; you would need an awful lot of new, young members to affect that particular statistic). Committee attitudes varied from genuinely concerned through not thinking there was an issue to, and I still find this one hard to believe. not wanting new, inexperienced, birdwatchers to join at all.

    We frequently hear wildlife ‘celebrities’ bemoaning the fact that young people aren’t interested in wildlife. Are they right in that assumption? I had chance to consider this last week – August is a busy time for family bookings for NEWT (not surprisingly) and we had an Otter mini-Safari, with a family who had sons aged 12 and 15, and a Druridge Bay mini-Safari, where the family had a 9-year old son and 6-year old and 2 year-old daughters. Both trips were very succesful; Otters performing right in front of us on the first one and a wide range of spiders, wasps, bees, moths, butterflies and damselflies on the second….and all of the children were enthusiastic. On Thursday evening, we helped to lead a Bat Walk in Choppington Woods. The walk was fully booked, with 16 participants, and this was mainly families. Despite having to wait for the first bats to appear, enthusiasm levels stayed high and eventually we had them hunting close to us. Two of the children managed to locate a slight gap in the trees and discovered that this was where the bats were hunting. With a bat detector, and the keen eyesight of the young, they were enthralled for nearly 2 hours. There is a generation of young naturalists out there; we just need to work out how to engage, encourage and support them.

  • A lazy Saturday morning?

    With the continuing excellent weather the Buddleia in our shrubbery is plastered with butterflies, bees and hoverflies. Ten Peacocks and four Painted Ladies are busy consuming as much nectar as they can, so we’ll be out there shortly with our cameras. Then it’s a day in the middle of the countryside for us; pre-walking routes for the Kielder Walking Festival, Northumberland National Park Walkfest and a couple of one-off trips for clients.

    The thing about wildlife is that, wherever you go, there’ll always be something to look at. Perhaps we’ll find a pond and search for Dragons and Damsels? maybe a birdwatching gem will lie along one of our routes? turning a stone or log may reveal reptiles, amphibians…or worms and beetles. Every day is a voyage of discovery.