Northern Experience Wildlife Tours

Category: Photography

  • I prefer snow…

    We set off for Holy Island this morning with a clear objective in mind for the journey – photograph a Little Owl.  Many years ago one of my fellow photography students produced a series of excellent images of Tawny Owls and explained his technique for finding the birds.  Needless to say, the hard work was done in the dark.  Finding Little Owls in daylight isn’t uncommon although I’ve realised in the last couple of weeks that, especially when all the trees are bare of leaves, it’s easier to find them at night.  We stopped off at one of the sites I’ve been watching regularly and there, in beautiful light for photography, was a Little Owl.  Sarah has been developing (no pun intended) as a photographer, so I manouvered the Landrover into position as she took the shot…with my new D300s.

    Who are you looking at?
    Who are you looking at?

    The highlight of the remainder of the journey north was a large flock of Linnets, with a few Brambling mixed in, swirling backwards and forwards as a male Merlin darted across the field they were in.  A covey of Grey Partridges sat tight just long enough for Sarah to fire the shutter again.

    Partridges...nowhere near a Pear tree
    Partridges…nowhere near a Pear tree

    As we neared Holy Island the rain began, and by the start time for our walk it was icy and heavy.  Not the highlight of the day.

    Well, with today’s images processed and added to our ‘Northumberland in the Winter’ presentation we’re on our way out now to entertain a group of holidaymakers who may need cheering up 🙂

  • Snow on the sand

    I’m lucky enough to not suffer from SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder).  In fact I look forward to the winter months – I’m a bit dysfunctional in very hot weather (that’s one of the reasons I live in the north of England, and why I enjoy winter holidays in northwest Scotland so much).

    Our very wintry Lindisfarne Safari on Monday was just about my ideal day out; bitterly cold, inspirational winter light, hardly another person to be seen anywhere and plenty of wildlife.

    That inspiration manifested itself in a repeat visit to the Lindisfarne NNR yesterday.  I had two goals in mind; photograph Pale-bellied Brent Geese, and capture an image of Bamburgh Castle as the light faded.

    The geese were some distance away, due to the state of the tide, but I managed to capture the distant birds in the shadow of Lindisfarne Castle, and a small group as they flew along the tideline.

    Lindisfarne Castle and Pale-bellied Brent Geese
    Lindisfarne Castle and Pale-bellied Brent Geese
    Pale-bellied Brent Geese (Branta bernicla hrota) (c)Martin Kitching/Northern Experience Images
    Pale-bellied Brent Geese

    The light was fading rapidly so I drove to Bamburgh, along roads that resembled a ski run, and made my way down to the beach.  Frozen rock-pools and a beach dusted with snow aren’t a frequent occurence so it was an unusual opportunity to photograph the castle in these conditions.  The big, thick gloves that were keeping my hands nice and toasty were too bulky to let me operate the camera so I had to suffer for the image.  And it was suffering; just a few seconds with my gloves off and my hands were protesting at the cold.

    Bamburgh Castle in the snow 22/12/09
    Bamburgh Castle in the snow 22/12/09
    The Moon, high over Bamburgh 22/12/09
    The Moon, high over Bamburgh 22/12/09

    20 miles back down the road, with gloves on and the car heater on full, my fingers began to warm through…so I decided to extend the journey home and check some of our favourite owl sites, even though that would require some very, very careful driving.  A Barn Owl perched on a stack of hay bales was justification enough for that decision and two Little Owls, perched in trees just a hundred metres apart were the icing on the cake.

  • An icy grip

    I’m resolute in my belief that the winter is an excellent time to visit Northumberland.  It’s relaxing and quiet (not that it’s ever really anything else), there’s a lot of wildlife (ditto) and we often get stunning weather that showcases our remarkable landscape at it’s best.

    Today was a day when everything came together just the way you hope.  As I drove up the A1 Kestrels, Common Buzzards and Roe Deer were all in roadside fields and Redwings and Fieldfares were hedge-hopping from one side of the road to the other.

    I collected Tracey, Guy and Connor (and Ghillie – their collie dog) just after lunch, from their holiday cottage near Belford, and we headed to Holy Island.  The sea by the ends of the causeway was frozen and a sprinkling of snow covered the dunes.  As we crossed towards the island a Merlin flushed from a roadside post and we stopped to admire the beautiful diffused light that illuminated the mudflats.  Our walk on the island was on ground frozen solid, and covered with ice and snow.  The wind was bitingly cold but Grey Seals, Meadow Pipits, Shags, Curlews, Eiders, Red-breasted Mergansers,  Pale-Bellied Brent Geese and flocks of Teal heading towards the mainland all diverted the attention.  As we headed back to the mainland a handsome male Stonechat played hide-and-seek with us along the edge of the causeway, but persistence paid off and Tracey and Guy managed some good shots.  I love having keen photographers on our safaris – especially ones who really appreciate the quality of light that we enjoy up here – so we made several stops as the changing light produced a series of photo opportunities.  I can only hope that we get similar conditions for our first Beginners Photography workshop in January.  The rising tide and fluffy pink clouds of the late afternoon combined with Bamburgh Castle in the snow to offer more memorable images, while we were watching Oystercatchers, Turnstones, Redshanks and a Ringed Plover on the frozen beach.  The route back was made easier by being in a Landrover, and the steady journey allowed us to pick out Brown Hares in the snow-covered fields – seven in total, standing sentinel-like as we approached.  Once I was back on the ice-free A1 and travelling south it was like a different world  to the one I’d been in for the last few hours.  Environmental escapism at it’s best.

  • Preparing…

    Weather forecasts are a bit of an obsession with most birdwatchers.  This winter I’ve got it even worse than usual because I’m co-ordinating a series of offshore surveys.  Finding 10 days with ‘suitable’ conditions before the end of January is going to depend on checking the forecasts for 5-7 days ahead…and trusting those forecasts.  Currently I check four different websites each morning, and if all four are predicting the same weather then I tend towards believing them…as long as they agree with the forecast on the BBC news…and on Radio 5 Live as well.  Would you be surprised to learn that a consistent forecast is a rare occurence?  So, I may have my survey team somewhere out on the North Sea next Tuesday and Wednesday…or I might be sitting at home and enjoying some proper wintry weather.

    One consistent forecast is that we’re going to get snow tomorrow.  Preparations here have included filling all of our bird feeders and the squirrel feeder.  I’ve scheduled a few hours of photography into my diary as well, to try and take advantage of the conditions.  Scotland Gate looks at it’s best in the snow.  Concentrating on getting the best images that I can, of the birds that visit our garden, will be an interesting exercise as I’ve got a new camera to play with.  Boys and their toys 🙂

  • Natural therapy

    This morning dawned clear and bright and my original plan had been to take the camera and head up the coast to shoot some of our stunning landscapes at sunrise and then use the available light and switch to a 500mm lens for some wildlife shots.  As it was I reluctantly decided against that option, mainly because I’ve got 6 stitches in my back and I’m going out as photographer on a survey boat tomorrow so didn’t want to put that in jeopardy (although let’s be honest – it’s a pelagic trip, so it would take a lot to keep me on dry land).  A couple more days will see the wound healing nicely and the forecast wintry weather should bring more photo opportunities next week.  I’m giving a lecture on December 27th so I’ve set myself the task of shooting at least 50% of the images for that in the next two weeks.  Hopefully starting with White-beaked Dolphin tomorrow.

    This afternoon I left the office and went for a walk around Choppington Woods, describing the reserve, it’s management and our plans for the future with the man who has the unenviable task of trying to do something similar with a somewhat less attractive bit of woodland elsewhere in southeast Northumberland.  As we stood on the boardwalk a Moorhen swam by and a flock of Siskins landed in the top of a bare Larch.  Always enjoyable to watch, they swirled around like a swarm of bees.  Redwings called overhead as they began dropping into the dense hawthorns where they roost and a Blackbird burst from a hedge in alarm as we startled it.  And there it was, the disappointment of the morning washed away by just getting outside and enjoying our local woodland.  Some of our clients have commented how incredibly relaxing they find our tours.  Perhaps there’s an escape for all of us (even if only briefly) from this modern, stressful world that we inhabit?

  • Going Wild and Taking Stock

    Yesterday saw me doing a lot of travelling in some pretty dire weather (although thankfully not as awful as the events in Cumbria). First was a long journey up to Perth to attend the Wild Scotland annual conference. Luckily I was able to travel up to the conference with someone who was travelling even further to get there. The presentations on Scottish Wildcats, Deer-watching and a Tourism Survey in Scotland were all very interesting, but personally I thought the best part of the day was when the delegates were separated out into focus groups. Now, this isn’t usually something I would find too thrilling but, with wildlife tourism being a fairly well developed industry in Scotland it was an opportunity to hear the thoughts of the people that are at the sharp-end of it. The networking opportunities presented by attending the conference were a real bonus as well, and our ongoing planning for 2010 has been informed (for the better, we hope!) by some of the discussions I was involved in.

    After Perth we had to negotiate the frustration that is the A720 at rush-hour…

    Eventually, and just in the nick of time, we arrived at The Maltings theatre in Berwick for a presentation by Laurie Campbell, entitled ‘Taking Stock’. It was enthralling to sit and listen to a professional wildlife photographer describing how certain images were obtained…while projected on to the screen were some mouth-watering examples of his art. A very nice glass of red wine during the interval (ok, it was a plastic tumbler but that’s the only way they’ll allow you to take liquids back into the auditorium) was enjoyed while chatting with several friends, mainly wildlife and birdwatching photographers from various areas of Northumberland and the Borders.

    I like days where everything is thought-provoking and inspirational.

  • A first for Northern Experience

    A client from Hong Kong! We had the pleasure of welcoming an excellent bird photographer from Hong Kong onto one of our safaris this week. She has a strong interest in seabirds but the strong westerly winds made seawatching an unlikely prospect and we concentrated on the tidal mudflats of the River Wansbeck and the pools of Druridge Bay. Excellent views of terns and waders were had throughout the afternoon/evening, and there were several entertaining discussions about the similarities/differences between the birds recorded in Hong Kong and Northumberland. A Brown Hare in the fields at Druridge Pools was a popular sighting and a bat that flew past us a couple of times was feasting on the swarms of moths and other flying insects.