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Hazy, lazy afternoon; North Pennines Safari 17/05/18
I collected James and Emma from Hexham and we headed into the North Pennines for a day searching for the flora and fauna of the hills and moorland… We were soon watching our first Black Grouse of the day, which remarkably also proved to be our only Black Grouse of the day, as Common Snipe…
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Breezy Black Grouse; North Pennines Bespoke Birdwatching 25/04/17
Tuesday was my third consecutive 03:30 alarm call and, bleary eyed, I cleared the snow off the car ahead of a trip to the North Pennines with one specific aim – to watch Black Grouse lekking… I collected Sylvia and Stephen from Corbridge and we headed westwards. The first rays of sunlight illuminated the tops…
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Springtime in the hills 🙂 North Pennines Bespoke Birdwatching 24/04/17
This morning was another early start, and I crawled out of bed at 03:30 as the alarm disrupted my sleep… I collected Daniel and Nigel from Ponteland and we headed towards the North Pennines. Curlew and Lapwing were displaying over the fells, but in the icy cold stiff breeze, Red Grouse and Black Grouse were…
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Serenade; North Pennines Bespoke Photography 23/04/17
Yesterday was an early start for David, who was the runner up in the junior category of last year’s North East Wildlife Photography competition, and his parents Helen and John. We’ve sponsored the junior category since the inception of the competition and, for some reason, the winners of the prize that we offer usually choose…
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Game on; North Pennines Safari 19/04/17
I collected Steph from her home in Gateshead, for the first of four North Pennines trips I’m guiding over the next week, and we headed westwards… A Greyhen, hunkered down against the wind and rain in roadside vegetation, was fairly obliging as Snipe, Curlew and Lapwing displayed overhead and a Blackcock sat motionless in a…
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Wilderness; North Pennines Safari 15/09/2015
Little sign of human habitation, miles and miles of rolling hills, heather moorland and the occasional small stream and isolated lough for additional interest. A day in the North Pennines is an intriguingly different prospect after a couple of days on the coast… I collected Clare and Peter from The Swan and we headed southwest…
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Wind tunnel; North Pennines Safari 06/06/2015
When I arrived at Waren Mill to collect Kevin and Chris, things weren’t looking promising for our planned Farne Islands Safari. We drove down to the sea at Bamburgh and a quick look told me all I needed to know; there really was no chance of boats sailing out of Seahouses with the frothy white…
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The Lek; Bespoke North Pennines Safari 26/04/2015
Sunday 03:00 and the insistent beeping of the alarm tells me that it’s time to be up and out, to collect Sam and Brian. Two cancelled Kielder trips, due to ‘adverse’ weather conditions, led them to suggest that we switch our attentions back to the North Pennines, where we’d had a successful early start just…
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Midsummer moorland meanderings, another alliteration; North Pennines 27/06/2014
I collected Peter for his third day out with NEWT and we headed southwest towards the big hills of the North Pennines. Midsummer on the moors is a very different prospect to the spring and early summer. Common Snipe, Curlew, Redshank, Lapwing, Oystercatcher and Golden Plover are all still there, but occasional calls are the…
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Moorland meanderings; North Pennines Safari 27/05/2014
Northumberland may be a coastal county, but heading inland you soon encounter some big impressive landscapes. I collected Gordon and Mandy, who were last out with us on a Druridge Bay trip in June last year, and we headed through the foothills of the Cheviots, down to the Tyne valley and then up into the…