Category: Otter

  • Planning; Bespoke Otter Safari 03/02/17

    In glorious sunshine I arrived in Longframlington to collect Lisa and Lucy ahead of a day searching for Otters, Red Squirrels and Kingfishers around Druridge Bay and the Northumberland coast.  I was greeted by Ridley, Lisa’s cockerpoo, and it was quickly decided that he would be joining us on the trip 🙂 Our first Otter…

  • Dusk; Bespoke Otter mini-Safari 27/12/16

    Our final trip of the year was a bespoke Otter mini-Safari around Druridge Bay and southeast Northumberland for Diane and Yvonne, who had booked following a recommendation from Claire 🙂 We met up in Newbiggin and set off on our search.  Our first site had plenty of birds but no Otters, so we headed on…

  • “…and a Common Seal in a dead tree”; Otter Safari 02/12/16

    From the Fascinating ‘Life on Earth’ back in the 1970’s, through to the jaw-dropping ‘Planet Earth II‘ that’s currently showing on the BBC (2 episodes to go, ‘Grasslands’ this evening and ‘Cities’ next Sunday!), I’ve always enjoyed David Attenborough’s programmes.  Recent series have included a section at the end of each programme, detailing the planning…

  • Strategy; Bespoke Otter mini-Safari 13/11/16

    Sunday was Claire and Sophie’s 2nd trip with NEWT, following a wildlife safari on the coast in 2014.  As we left Newbiggin the first scattered drops of rain hit the windscreen… Arriving at our first location, Claire asked if she’d remembered correctly how to search for Otters, and started scanning an area of water that…

  • Panic; Otter Safari 14/09/16

    We always try to provide a weather forecast a day or two before a trip; it helps people to decide what footwear would be appropriate for example.  Sunday’s update for everyone booked on yesterday’s Otter Safari was ‘Current weather forecast suggests dry and warm with only a very light NE breeze.’  By yesterday morning that…

  • Summer…; Otter Safari 25/07/16

    July is a month when most of my time is spent at sea, either carrying out transect surveys or leading pelagic trips, so an afternoon and evening looking for Otters brings some welcome variation… I collected Susan and Mike from Seaton Burn and then Frank, Gabrielle, Boudewijn and Odette from The Swan before heading to…

  • “I’ll believe Otters exist…”; Otter Safari 26/05/16

    “…when I actually see one”.  A remarkable number of NEWT’s clients seem to have had holidays on Mull/Shetland/Orkney/Skye searching for Otters (often on guided tours) without seeing one, and that revelation at the start of a tour always ramps the pressure up a bit… I arrived at Church Point in heavy mist and drizzle, and…

  • Welcome home to Northumberland; Bespoke Coast Safari 28/04/16

    As I arrived at Church Point to collect Tom and Sue, the weather was slightly breezy but dry.  The forecast suggested that it might be showery later during the afternoon and promised a bit of a contrast with Tom and Sue’s home country of Australia. Tom’s a Northumbrian so I was really looking forward to…

  • Hidden; Otter mini-Safari 09/04/2016

    The best thing about wildife, and at the same time occasionally the most frustrating thing, is that you can’t ever predict exactly what it’s going to do… I collected Jeff and Helen, and Kevin, from Church Point and we set off for an afternoon around Druridge Bay and southeast Northumberland.  The afternoon had an almost…

  • Patience; Otter Safari 07/04/16

    I collected Gwyn for a day searching for Otters around Druridge Bay and southeast Northumberland and we headed towards the coast… Our first site didn’t produce any Otter sightings, and there was nothing happening amongst the assembled Curlew, Redshank, Cormorant, Little Egret, Oystercatcher and Mallard to suggest that they were worried about any unseen predator…