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Druridge Bay bespoke birdwatching 27/05/21
I arrived at Church Point to meet up with Sandra and Francis, and we set off for a day around Druridge Bay and southeast Northumberland, an alternative to the bespoke Farne Islands safari originally planned (a long time ago…) but currently not possible for circumstances that are beyond our control, and bafflingly inexplicable… Starting with…
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Anticipation; Otter mini-Safari 19/05/21
At this time of year our new ‘mini-Safari only’ approach means a late(ish) start so I can spend time earlier in the day doing other business jobs, and cooking. As I get older I’m getting better at timing things so I made a tartiflette, and a tomato and aubergine curry, and still had time to…
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Otter Safari 15/05/21
The last 14 months has been a strange time of arranging, postponing, rearranging, postponing, so it was a relief to finally be heading to Newbiggin to collect Mel, George, Betsy and Ernest for a few hours around southeast Northumberland and Druridge Bay. Starting with clear blue skies we watched mallards, gadwall, Canada geese, mute swans,…
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Wading through the sublime light; Druridge Bay mini-Safari 20/08/2020
I arrived to meet Paul and Helen ahead of a few hours around Druridge Bay and we set off to walk south along the coast… A mixed wader/gull/tern roost produced Lapwing, Golden Plover, Dunlin, Knot, Ruff, Black-tailed Godwit, Little Ringed Plover, Common Redshank, Spotted Redshank, Sandwich Tern and Common, Black-headed, Herring and Great Black-backed Gull…
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Druridge Bay mini-Safari 12/08/2020
With COVID19 having brought about some changes to how we deliver our mini-Safaris, I arrived at Druridge Bay to collect John and Jo for NEWT’s first land-based tour since February… Our tour model for the last 12 years has been built around the use of the NEWTmobile (initially our Land Rover Defender, and more recently…
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Druridge Bay Safari 25/07/19
On a warm muggy afternoon I collected Julie & Paul and Geoff and Minouche ahead of an afternoon and evening around Druridge Bay and southeast Northumberland… Late July is often a time to watch waders, and after a riverside walk that produced good views of a Dipper we started working our way through the coastal…
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Under the moonlight; Otter mini-Safari 15/07/19
Arriving in Newbiggin to collect Dave and Dawn ahead of an evening around Druridge Bay and southeast Northumberland exploring NEWT’s favourite Otter sites I smiled when Dave said “We have no idea what the plan is or what’s happening. Our daughter just told us to be here to meet you”… We started with our usual…
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Dipping, owling and haring; Bespoke Druridge Bay Safari 04/07/19
Thursday’s bespoke Druridge Bay Safari for Keith and Jean was forecast to be dry…so it was unexpected when the first drops of rain started hitting the car windscreen as we headed south from Outchester… With fish taking flies from the surface of the River Blyth a Dipper flew past as Song Thrushes, Chaffinches and Chiffchaffs…
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Gloom; Druridge Bay mini-Safari 23/06/19
The NEWT team had been out for a walk yesterday afternoon, in bright, hot sunshine but by the time I arrived in Newbiggin to collect Gordon, Judy and Mike, for an evening exploring Druridge Bay and southeast Northumberland, it was a few degrees cooler and no longer sunny… We started with a riverside walk and…
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A punny evening on the coast; Otter mini-Safari 30/05/19
I collected Lucy, William, David, Bella and Maia from Wallington and we headed eastwards to Druridge Bay and southeast Northumberland for an evening searching NEWT’s favourite Otter sites… A very obliging Dipper was perched on a mid-stream branch at our first stop with the songs of Chiffchaff, Robin, Chaffinch and Song Thrush adding to the…