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After a morning working in the office, I packed the Landrover and drove to Newbiggin by the Sea to collect Mary, Peter and Mark. Although an Otter Safari, other wildlife and birdwatching are always a feature and, in the blustery southeasterly winds an adult Mediterranean Gull was floating above the car park so we watched it and discussed separation from Black-headed Gull. Up the coast and the search for Otters began in earnest (although an egg-laying Garden Tiger moth was a spectacular diversion by the side of the path). We didn’t have to wait long; I was just describing where to watch for them, when a sudden panicked movement of Gadwall caught my eye. I focused on the spot where they had previously been sitting…and the tell-tale fleeting glimpse of a sleek dark back sliding beneath the surface wasn’t long in coming. After what seemed like an age it surfaced and began swimming and feeding close to the bankside. Eventually it was just a few metres from us, being watched by eight people and a dog. It was a bit of a no-brainer to predict the appearance of the otter’s two siblings…and within seconds there they were. For over an hour we watched them all, including the young male Otter stalking a Gadwall (which did manage to flee at such a rate that the Otter lost interest). As the rain began to intensify we checked the other coastal pools before heading back down the coast to Newbiggin by the Sea. And the good news is that the level of water in CresswellPond is falling…

Prime target for today’s Druridge Bay mini-safari was to see Otters. Walking along the River Wansbeck, the air was shimmering in the heat and we enjoyed good views of ducks, geese and herons. Swallows and martins were swooping around the treetops and drinking from the river and Chaffinches, Wrens, Blackcaps and Whitethroats were all engaging in some midday serenading. As we drove up the coast an adult Mediterranean Gull kept pace with us for over a minute. Bloody Cranesbill, Viper’s Bugloss and Common Spotted Orchid added a splash of colour to the verdant grassland and we settled at our picnic spot. Common Terns and two incredibly vocal Sandwich Terns were close by as myself, Martin and Jill scanned the pond. Chance dictated that the direction I was facing saw the appearance of our target; a rounded head bobbed into view, then the dark, sinuous shape of a diving otter. It gradually worked it’s way across the pool, then back again, repeatedly rolling on it’s back to enjoy a healthy lunch of fresh fish. Eventually, it moved out of view and we all left with memories of this stunning predator. Birdwatching, botany and elusive mammals; that’s why I love Northumberland so much – there’s something for all natural history interests.

It was still daylight as we settled into position; both of us standing with our backs against tree trunks to minimise the obvious human silhouette. Blackbirds were alarming frantically; probably the first stirrings of the Tawny Owl, that was soon hooting mournfully from the branches directly above our heads, had triggered their agitation. A Nuthatch suddenly began trilling nearby, the first one we’d heard in this particular piece of woodland. Crows and Rooks cawed as daylight faded and the woodland was lit by the eerie light of the moon, filtered through a thin layer of cloud. The eyes start to play tricks on the mind at this time of day – was that a movement in the undergrowth? is that shape a tree stump or something much more interesting? Then it happened; a flash of white in the gloom. Then nothing…no, wait, there it was again – this time appearing from behind a tree trunk on a bend in the track through the wood. Sprinting up the track straight towards us; not the Fox that we’ve seen on all our previous visits to this site, but a Badger cub. Hurtling at breakneck speed. What’s it doing? That question was soon answered…it was coming to investigate me. For 10 seconds I was within inches of the cub as it sniffed my legs. Not sure whether it was going to bite me or scent mark my feet, I moved my head fractionally because it was so close that I couldn’t see it. Then it was off, back down the track. The movement had revealed my identity. I should probably be offended that it didn’t seem too concerned by my scent…something gleefully pointed out by Sarah, who’d had a grandstand view of the proceedings from 10 feet away.

This morning we had a mini-safari to Kielder. Our clients were local and had received Northern Experience Gift Vouchers from their daughter, with the main aim of the trip being to reveal some of the hidden gems for birdwatching in Northumberland’s biggest forest. Although it was warm and sunny near the coast, as we headed inland it started to cloud over. There are a lot of rivers and streams throughout the border forests and we were soon watching a male Grey Wagtail as he bobbed his tail up and down from his vantage point on a mid-stream rock. Oystercatchers angrily chased Crows around the fields and a pair of Siskins were resplendent in their striking black and yellow plumage. We settled to watch over the forest from a vantage point and sure enough, as the sun began to break through the clouds, Common Buzzards began soaring with the lift provided by thermals. One strayed over the territory of a pair of crows and soon found these angry black birds snapping at his tail feathers. Other buzzards began rising and one was in view for a few minutes as it hovered repeatedly over an area of clearfell. A Sparrowhawk flew by and, all around us, Coal Tits, Goldcrests, Blackbirds, Song Thrushes, Chaffinches and Willow Warblers were singing. A Little Grebe was chased by a female Mallard and responded by swimming across the reservoir and singing. A pair of Oystercatchers were tending a nest, and Mallard ducklings skittered in and out of the vegetation by the water’s edge. As we headed back towards Bellingham I pulled over at the side of the road, where there was just a large enough gap between the trees to afford a view of the river. Swallows, Sand Martins, House Martins and Pied Wagtails all hunted the abundant flies just above the water and a pair of Mandarins with a duckling swam by.

And no, the other sort of thermals weren’t necessary; Spring has come to the forest.

Having left home early on Friday morning, and spent 3 days working on the Outdoor Northumberland stand at the Ordnance Survey Outdoor Show, I returned to Northumberland late Sunday evening.

I spent yesterday helping to lead a nature tourism workshop in Teesside. As well as visiting a few small nature reserves that I wasn’t familiar with, we had a walk around the new RSPB reserve at Saltholme. That’s a site I did already know, having visited regularly since the mid-90’s. Highlight of the day for me though was the Teesmouth NNR. Dunes, grassland and the estuary mouth, all set against a background of heavy industry and the infamous ‘ghost ships’. Three Little Egrets and four Avocets around Greatham Creek gave the area a slightly more southerly feel than Northumberland.

As luck would have it, the current fine weather has coincided with the advent of BST. We went for a walk around Choppington Woods this evening. Chiffchaffs were singing, woodpeckers were drumming, Siskins were song-flighting and it was so warm and bright that we didn’t need hats, coats or gloves – at 7pm!

So, Birmingham (to talk about Northumberland), Teesside (to talk about nature tourism) and Choppington Woods (talking about Red Squirrels with one of the local dog walkers). There’s nowhere quite like home.

At least 4 pairs of Blackbirds visit our garden during the breeding season, even though none of them are actually nesting in the garden. Currently they’re all busy collecting any dry grasses and other vegetation in order to construct their nests. When the seasonal urge is upon them, they seem to lose any grip on reality (assuming that they have one in the first place that is). This morning, one particularly over-enthusiastic female blackbird was in our allotment trying to remove a branch that must have been several times her own bodyweight, never mind long enough to grace the nest of a buzzard. Nearly five minutes elapsed before she accepted the inevitable, flew onto our extension roof and took a beakful of moss instead. Jackdaws and rooks all seem to be flying around carrying sticks. Sarah grew up in a house with nesting jackdaws and recalls the time she was off school and one fell down the chimney and made an eerie, child-terrifying, scraping sound behind the fire. Woodpigeons and collared doves are spending more and more time in last year’s nest tree; a tree which has hosted woodpigeon, collared dove, blackbird, song thrush, greenfinch, goldfinch, chaffinch as well as robin, dunnock and wren in it’s lower recesses. How soon until we see the first of this year’s additions?

On a beautiful sunny Saturday at the end of February the place I would prefer to be is out in the field, enjoying Northumberland’s wildlife; perhaps watching displaying Goshawks or photographing snowdrops or even searching for stoats in their superb winter ermine.

However, something very close to my heart saw me spending the whole day sitting in a school hall in Ashington. Today was ‘Wansbeck-You Decide’ Grand Voting Day. The principle is simple; ideas for community projects were submitted to a scrutiny panel and, of the 120+ applicants, 37 were shortlisted for the final stage of voting. Each applicant then had 3 minutes to present their idea and the other shortlisted applicants gave each project a score between 1 and 9. With £60k to distribute, the projects with the highest scores would be funded until, eventually, there was no money left in the pot. I submitted an application on behalf of The Friends of Choppington Community Woods, it was shortlisted and, just after 10:30 this morning, I stood in front of a hall full of people and told them what we could achieve for our local community with £10k…another 30 presentations followed mine, then an hour for lunch, then the announcements. The funded projects were read out in the order that they had been presented…and the second name on the list was The Friends of Choppington Community Woods 🙂 The creation of a wildflower meadow, boardwalk, pond-dipping area, information packs for local schools, panoramic viewpoint and some sensible woodland management will all help our community be safer, stronger and greener (which were the criteria for the project applicants). I’m over the moon about this.

Looking out of my office window, my voluntary sector and private sector lives sit close beside each other. Long may it remain that way.

I’ve had a lot of involvement with community groups in the area where we live and this week I’ve had the chance to help make a difference both as owner and senior guide of Northern Experience Wildlife Tours and as Chair of The Friends of Choppington Community Woods. Both organisations have been partners in a week of activities based in Choppington Woods. Litter-picking, path marking, bird-box building, creative natural art and a nature walk have all featured in the last three days. Members of the community who wanted to help have come along and an impressive list of organisations have been involved; Wansbeck District Council (and their Play Ranger Team), Northumberland County Council, Groundwork Northumberland, Wansbeck Works, Choppington Welfare, the Healthy Living Centre and the Northumberland Wildlife Trust. The organisations that have provided the manpower to carry out the ‘make-over’ tasks deserve special mention; Air Cadets, Army Cadets and the Northumberland Fire & Rescue Service Community Safety Academy have all worked tirelessly to make the woods a better place for the local community (and anyone else who wants to visit them as well). I can’t really talk about the activities week without mentioning Fiona Wardlaw from Wansbeck District Council. Fiona’s project management has managed to bring together so many diverse groups that “The Friends of…” will be eternally grateful for the way in which the profile of ‘our’ woods has been raised. Thank you.

As Chair of FOCCW I’m busy with grant applications that, if successful, will enable us to make further improvements; habitat management, multi-user paths, a panoramic viewpoint, education packs for local schools and a boardwalk with a safe, secure pond-dipping area are all part of our vision for the reserve. And that’s what I do in my spare time…

I had a day at home today. The Landrover was in the garage having some minor work done so I had the opportunity to test my culinary skills (and the slow-cook function on our new cooker). Once the casserole was prepared, and started on the long journey to the plate, I decided that to make the most of the sunny weather I should set my camera up on the patio and capture the comings and goings at our feeding station. Blue Tits, Great Tits, Robins, Chaffinches and Bullfinches all performed admirably (I’m sure they were bemused as to why the man who usually just walks up to the feeders to fill them was sitting in a deckchair fully camouflaged…). Then, the moment I’d been waiting for, a Willow Tit; now scarce or absent throughout much of Britain, the best place I’ve found to watch them is my own garden. But I’ve never managed to capture an image of one before now. So scarce that a good friend of mine had seen nearly 400 different species of bird in Britain before he saw his first Willow Tit. Not only are they scarce they’re a real ID problem as well because of the very, very similar Marsh Tit. There isn’t a 100% foolproof way to separate these two species although there are some very good differentiating marks which, when combined in one bird, lead you to the correct identification. Ironically Marsh Tit is absent from our garden list but Willow Tit can be seen without having to wait more than about 5 minutes…which really makes me wonder about the field guide suggestion that Willow Tit is an infrequent visitor to feeding stations. Perhaps the authors were just looking in the wrong place?

Looking out of the office window I could see 6 bulky birds at the top of the Ash tree. They may have been silhouettes but they were clearly something out of the ordinary. Raising my binoculars (as crucial to my office desk as the stapler, calculator, in-tray…maybe even as important as my PC) the tell-tale mix of yellow-green females and red males with black wings and crossed mandibles gave the game away immediately; Crossbills. Wanderers from the conifer forests where they breed (sometimes during the winter when food is plentiful), and use those remarkable beaks to extract conifer seeds from cones, they have fascinating vocalisations, suggesting several different species that unfortunately look very similar. DNA studies seem to show that speciation occurred recently enough that the different species have near-identical genetic material as well. Enough to occupy most birders/ornithologists for a lifetime of study; that these birds graced my garden allowed me to think about ID, sonograms, speciation, irruption, conifer forests and how thoroughly amazing wildlife can be seen all around us.