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Summer birdwatching
As I collected Alison and David from The Swan for an afternoon and evening around Druridge Bay, southeast Northumberland and the Northumberland coast, the weather was continuing in the glorious vein that it had struck a few days previously. Mid-summer can be a quiet time, other than the obvious hustle and bustle of the Farne…
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Wildlife in the heat of the summer; Otter Safari 06/07/13
After an enjoyable few hours watching the British & Irish Lions demolition of Australia, I loaded up the car, collected our picnics from The Swan and headed north to collect Jacky and Marcus from their holiday accommodation at the stunning St Cuthbert’s House. A quick drive back down the coast and we collected Alice and…
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Watching the wildlife; Otter Safari 24/06/2013
Sunday morning, and the weather forecast of impending doom brought the not unexpected ‘phone call that saw clients transferring from Sunday’s to Monday’s Otter Safari. Monday afternoon, and the weather looked reasonable as I collected Ken and Rosemary from The Swan and then we drove to the coast and collected Paul, and Lisa and Steve,…
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Three stars
I collected Zoe, Richard, Ella, Luke and Charlie from Alnmouth and we started our evening mini-safari around the Northumberland coast and Druridge Bay. It wasn’t too long before we were watching one of the birds that never fails to grab the attention of our clients; a beautiful, ghostly pale, Barn Owl was quartering the vegetation…
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Waiting for the light
In an ideal world, a bespoke photography day with a client involves arriving at our chosen location, discussing techniques that will be required to achieve the desired image and then waiting for the perfect light to fall on the subject… I arrived at Church Point on Sunday afternoon to collect Gareth for his bespoke photography…
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Glorious
After the snow of last Monday, Tuesday brought two mini-safaris. The first was a recce trip for a TV production company, assisting with checking out potential filming locations on the Northumberland coast. The weather was glorious; beautiful blue sky, fluffy white clouds and a gentle breeze. The peace and tranquility captured what Northumberland is all…
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Creatures of the night
Even after 40+ years of wildlife-watching, there are still (in fact, quite often) occasions when I see something that’s really quite special. After an afternoon around Druridge Bay and Southeast Northumberland with Michael and Wendy, we were heading for one of NEWT’s favourite spots along the River Wansbeck. The afternoon had produced some excellent birdwatching,…
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Northumberland Winter Bird Race 2013
After a relaxing break over Christmas and New Year, last Saturday was one of the most eagerly anticipated events of the year; the Northumberland Winter Bird Race. A simple set of rules; start any time you like after midnight, teams of four (or three…or five…), three members of the team must positively identify a species…
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Winter birdwatching
With the cessation of the rain that plagued Sunday, Monday and Tuesday, Wednesday dawned cold and breezy; almost ideal for a day out on the birdwatching paradise that is the Northumberland Coast in the Winter. As I collected Ele and Lisa from their holiday cottage in the shadow of Bamburgh Castle, the icy northerly wind…
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Focusing on the coast
Having lived on, or near, the Northumberland coast for 15 years (apart from my 6 month sojourn to Texas and Arizona) it’s a location I return to time and again with my camera/binoculars/telescope/camcorder/sound recording gear (delete as applicable depending on my mood and/or aim for the day). The coast is my favorite location for one-to-one…