Northern Experience Wildlife Tours

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  • It’s good to be back

    After a planned break from days out with clients, and regular exercise and ice-pack treatment for my knee, we had a mini-Safari on Wednesday afternoon.  Southeast Northumberland is our local patch, so I was getting back into the swing of things with something comfortingly familiar.

    I collected Alastair and Zoe from Church Point and we set out on an exploration of the River Wansbeck.  Stunning Red-breasted Mergansers and Goldeneye, and subtly attractive Little Grebes (amazing how many people still think of them as Dabchicks – a far nicer name!),  were diving along the edge of the river.  A handsome drake Goosander flew upstream and the first of the afternoon’s 4 Sparrowhawks drifted high overhead.  A flock of Long-tailed Tits, those noisy endearing pink and white fluffballs, made their way in procession from one side of the river to the other and Mallards began dropping out of the sky and following each other through the vegetation, quacking noisily.  As daylight faded a flock of Teal drifted backwards and forwards between a reedbed and open water, roosting Pheasants (my vote for most underrated bird in Britain) flushed from a Hawthorn hedge as we made our way back to the car in the dark, and it was time to return Zoe and Alastair to Newbiggin.

  • Taking stock

    I’ve spent most of the last 10 days in near confinement to the house, and the chance to deal with lots of things that don’t always get enough time when I’m fit and active.

    The reason for my confinement was a knee injury that I suffered back in March 2011 while we were offshore, carrying out a transect survey as part of the Northeast Cetacean Project.  I was the only surveyor standing up, as I was trying to photograph a Common Dolphin that had just passed across the bow, when we hit an unexpectedly large wave.  That collision was followed quickly by one between my knee and the back of the seat in front of me 🙁  Lots of pain initially but it quickly eased, and I put all the subsequent twinges down to the inevitable consequences of getting older.  Then, earlier this year, a client who just happens to be a nurse noticed that I was limping slightly and asked if I had any other symptoms…so, in late July I found myself having x-rays and an MRI scan, and trying to find a 2-week slot without any bookings so that I could have surgery.  Now I’ve got a knee that’s pain-free and has a greater range of movement than I’ve enjoyed for nearly 2 years 🙂

    I’m not renowned for being a good patient/invalid (as Sarah would attest), but my lay-off has let me focus on a number of things that have kept me from becoming too crotchety about having to stay in the house; last week we had our Grading Visit for the Green Tourism Business Scheme, so as soon as that was over we started looking at the suggestions made by the assessor.  We’re involved in several conservation organisations/projects and it’s really important to us that the environmental impact of our business is minimised as far as possible.  Thursday evening saw me in our office, with ice-pack on my knee, in a conference call about the Northeast Cetacean Project.

    As it’s December, Gift Vouchers have been prominent, and we’ve got a special offer until December 17th – Gift Vouchers at our standard trip price (without a charge for the Gift Card and postage).  I’ve used my ‘free’ time to make a few changes to the website; I’ve added next year’s Pelagic trips to our online shop, changed some of our site content, including adding our Green Policy and Responsible Visitor Charter and tidied up the layout of the Pelagics page so that trip reports are all listed together, and next year’s trips are all listed together.

    Just 4 more days and I should be able to drive again 🙂

  • Winter Wonderland 28/11/11-01/12/11

    Last week was our Winter Wonderland birdwatching holiday, although as I arrived at Saughy Rigg I wondered if Windy Wonderland would be a better name for it 😉

    The original itinerary involved the Solway coast on Tuesday and the North Pennines on Wednesday, but a quick discussion with our guests on arrival meant that our coastal day was switched to Northumberland to avoid the poor weather in the west.

    The plan worked well, at least until mid-afternoon when the weather caught up with us and we had a couple of hours of dodging the showers.  The waders and wildfowl that winter here featured throughout the day and Greylag, Pink-footed, Pale-bellied Brent, Barnacle and Eurasian White-fronted Geese were all enjoying the mild weather on the Northumberland coast.  3 splendid drake Goosanders  were blown across Druridge Pools before battling their way back against the wind, and a Roe Deer was grazing in the gap between 2 reed beds.  As so often seems to happen, some of the best wildlife of the day saved its appearance until the light began to fade.  First a Short-eared Owl, with a strikingly white face, quartering backwards and forwards along the margins of a field, then 2 Water Rails, those small, secretive denizens of the reeds, stepped gingerly into view; prodding and poking and squealing like piglets as they vanished back into the gloom.  Then, as flocks of geese descended to roost, a Bittern flew from the reeds and headed south.

    Wednesday brought another breezy morning, and we headed into the hills.  Remarkable numbers of Red Grouse chuckled at us as we watched from the comfort of the car, and 7 Black Grouse were the first of no less than 75 that we found during the day.  The weather closed in all around us and, after a quick check of a lough wher Teal, Wigeon and Lapwing were roosting and Goldeneye were feeding, we finished the day at one of our favourite evening venues.  An unidentified raptor flew low across the heather moorland and out of sight over a ridge, Red Grouse burst from cover before settling again a short distance away and a lone Short-eared Owl battled into a brutal headwind as the evening faded to darkness.

    Winter Wonderland is one (in fact, two) of the holidays on our itinerary for 2012, so give us a call on 01670 827465 for more details or to book your place.

  • Marine Conservation Zones

    Last week I had an interesting day in Peterborough, meeting with Natural England and stakeholders from all of the Marine Conservation Zone Projects.  We were there to discuss the protocols that Natural England will use to assess the recommendations from the regional projects, but it was clear that there is great concern across all sectors about how decisions will be made on the designations.

    In total there are 127 rMCZ’s (recommended Marine Conservation Zones) and it’s certain that not all will be designated initially.  The Wildlife Trusts have a Marine Conservation Zones page on their website, and we’d urge everyone reading our blog to take a look at that page and write to Richard Benyon MP, Parliament Under-Secretary for Natural Environment and Fisheries, to add your voice to the call for all 127 rMCZ’s to be designated so that we have an ecologically-coherent network of MCZ’s.  Only that way will we be conserving the marine environment for future generations, for our fishing industry and for the wildlife that depends on a clean, healthy marine environment.  We’ve linked to this video before, but it really does give an example of the beauty that exists offshore from Northumberland.  It was a great privilege, and a quite moving experience, to take this video.  Lots of our clients enjoyed superb views of White-beaked Dolphins this year, and we want future generations to enjoy these experiences as well.

  • Red Squirrels

    Now, we’ve never made a secret of our love for Red Squirrels; we regularly take clients to see and/or photograph them and we have them as a garden visitor.

    Northumberland's iconic mammal

    Red Squirrel conservation is a bit of a thorny issue though, particularly as control of Grey Squirrel numbers, especially in and around areas where Red Squirrels still have healthy populations, is an important part of it.

    I went last week to a meeting of Northern Red Squirrels (NRS) (I’m currently Chair of one of the NRS member organisations), and there was an excellent presentation from Red Squirrels Northern England (RSNE).  It was refreshing to see a project which is realistic about the size of the task facing it, realistic about what it’s proposed outcomes should be and aware of the issues, and potential pitfalls, that surround all of that.

    It was encouraging to see just how many local ‘Red Squirrel’ groups there are, and good to see that they’re all communicating with one another.  With good lines of communication between NRS and RSNE, the battle to conserve the Red Squirrel population of Northumberland and the other Northern England counties is one that can surely be won.

    Please, please, please…if you have any sightings of either Red or Grey Squirrels in Northumberland, Cumbria, Merseyside, Lancashire, north-west Durham or the Yorkshire Dales, then submit them via the sightings page of the RSNE website.  A good evidence base makes it much more likely that conservation measures can be targeted appropriately and we’ll see a successful outcome to the project.

  • Saying goodbye to a faithful friend

    We know it’s inanimate (although it may not have always seemed that way) but it’s difficult not to be sentimental about the departure of a long-serving member of the NEWT team; our beloved Land Rover Defender 110, the vehicle that we launched NEWT with back in 2008, has gone to a new home.  It served us incredibly well for three and a half years but it was ageing, increasingly expensive to run, not the most economical vehicle when it came to fuel consumption and a whole raft of changes in vehicle licencing regulations meant that it was time to put it out to grass.  At least we know it’s gone to a good home 🙂

    We started using the Landy’s replacement earlier this year – a Ford Galaxy Titanium X – and the positive comments we’re received from every client who has been in the new vehicle have reassured us that we made the right decision; a higher than normal viewpoint, electric windows, air con, leather upholstery, excellent fuel economy have all added up to birdwatching transport in luxury.  It’s so quiet though, particularly compared to the Landy, that I sometimes have to rev the engine just to convince myself it’s running 😉

  • Northern England Raptor Conference 2012

    Yesterday was the annual conference of the Northern England Raptor Forum; this year organised by the Durham Bird Club and the Durham Upland Bird Study Group.  As we drove south, the lovely late-autumn sunshine at home was replaced by cold, gloomy fog to the south of the Tyne, and we arrived at the Gala Theatre in Durham ready for the conference.

    Birdwatching in our uplands is something that we really enjoy, and the raptor conference is always an opportunity to get inspiration for our field studies, consider new ideas and techniques, and do the odd bit of networking 😉

    There was a good line-up of presenters this year, covering a wide range of topics, probably the best set of talks at any of the raptor conferences we’ve attended since 2006; ‘Changing raptor populations and the role of the RBBP’,  ‘Eagle research and conservation around the world’, ‘The national Hen Harrier Winter Roost Survey’, ‘The implications of climate change for the uplands’, ‘The work of the Northern England Raptor Forum’, ‘Monitoring raptor populations with the nest record scheme’, ‘The challenges of monitoring Short-eared Owls’ and, the concluding presentation of the conference, ‘Skydancer, a new start for Hen Harriers in Cumbria and Northumberland’.

    The final talk was always likely to prove the most contentious.  We’ve been involved in Hen Harrier conservation for a few years now, and know the extraordinary issues involved with trying to conserve the species as a breeding bird in England.  During the North Tynedale nest  monitoring between 2006-2008 there were lots of discussions about community engagement and how important that would be to Hen Harrier conservation, and it’s great to see a project that is going to tackle that part of the issue.  It won’t be the whole answer to the problem, but it’s a part of it and we hope that the purposeful birdwatchers of the Northern England uplands will be optimistic and support the project in any way they can.  We wish Amanda, Blanaid and all of the team involved in ‘Skydancer’ every success with the project 🙂

  • Whalefest (2)

    After spending the weekend exhibiting at Whalefest we were left with more than a few thoughts, ideas, and plans for the future;

    Brighton is a long way from home 🙂  The drive back on Sunday evening was easier than the drive there on Friday afternoon, but didn’t seem that far!

    There are a lot of charities/volunteer-led organisations in the marine sector and NEWT are proud to be involved in research projects and other activities with several of them.  The Northeast Cetacean Project is about to enter an important expansion phase, and will become a major driving force for marine conservation in the North Sea.  It was heartening to hear about all of the research and community engagement stuff that’s either going on or is in the pipeline for the near future as well.  One burning question though, is why was one marine conservation organisation giving away helium-filled balloons?

    There was only one way to follow Whalefest, so Martin spent Tuesday on the PV St Oswald.  Conditions weren’t exactly conducive to cetacean surveying; 5-6′ of swell, plenty of whitecaps, and misty drizzle, made it more of a physical challenge than usual, so it became more of a ‘pleasure’ cruise 😉  There were a couple of avian highlights, though.  A small group of Little Auks flew by and the tricoloured upperparts of a juvenile Sabine’s Gull shone out in the gloom as it passed close by the bow.

    It’s good to be home 🙂

  • Autumn colours

    Yesterday was a twice-postponed bespoke photography trip to look at the techniques involved in capturing autumn colours at their finest.  I collected Norman from his home in Throckley and we headed towards the Northumberland coast.

    Landscape photography tuition is something I really enjoy delivering.  Just a few simple camera settings can make a huge difference, although not as big a difference as some nice light…

    Autumn colour is a transient, and unpredictable, thing but we managed to get lots of trees in oranges, reds and yellows for Norman to try out a range of new techniques.  At our first site, we enjoyed views of a Red Squirrel, and a young Common Buzzard, as we searched for the best viewpoint along the river, and for a brief spell there was enough sunlight to lift the colours from pastel shades of the riverbank.  As we neared the finish of our day, at Howick Gardens, a thick blanket of cloud cover put paid to thoughts of a glorious sunset.  Redwings called as they passed overhead on their way to roost, and we headed off ourselves as daylight faded.

  • Magic moments

    They happen all the time when we’re out with clients; unexpected, breathtaking, spectacular.  All part of that ‘every day is different’ thing that comes with being a wildlife guide 🙂

    On Saturday, at the end of a day of good autumn birdwatching around Druridge Bay and southeast Northumberland, I was privileged to share an extraordinary moment with Richard, Hazel and Ruth.

    It started with the familiar call of distant Pink-footed Geese.  The weather had begun to deteriorate, dark clouds covering much of the sky, and heavy rain falling, but with the sun still managing to burst through in places.  Then it all came together; birds, weather, light, as skein after skein of geese headed north to roost, framed by a double rainbow 🙂