Northern Experience Wildlife Tours

Tag: Birdwatching

  • Shining in the gloom

    The most memorable wildlife on a tour with clients can come in many forms; it may be the common, the uncommon, the localised, or just the way that it fits in its habitat, and the landscape and weather blend it in to the experience. I arrived at Hexham railway station to find Steve and Jill already…

  • Heading north…

    Living in southeast Northumberland, we’re spoiled by having easy access to some outstanding birdwatching areas.  Holy Island, which we still think is at its best during the winter, is just an hour north up the A1… I collected Keith and Mary on Saturday morning and we crossed the causeway onto the island for a day…

  • Stranded

    I love Holy Island, but it can be a bit crowded sometimes… I collected Mike and Maggie from St Cuthbert’s House on Tuesday morning and we began birdwatching our way north.  In the shadow of Bamburgh Castle we watched Bar-tailed Godwits, Knot, Turnstones, Purple Sandpipers, Eider and Gannets in a bitingly cold northwesterly wind.  We…

  • Feeding time

    I’ve never been good at sitting in the office and concentrating on one task for any length of time.  Having an office window that looks out over the 76ha of mixed woodland of Choppington Woods LNR is a real blessing, allowing me to mix work and birdwatching.  When I need to stretch my legs, a…

  • Talking birdwatching

    Woodcock are continuing to feature in our birdwatching at the moment.  Martin saw two more yesterday; one flying ahead of the car as he drove through Ashington and another one flying over our house, as Lee from G&S Organics was delivering our weekly groceries. Yesterday evening we were out and about again.  This time it…

  • Owling

    When Sarah arrived home from work at 19:30 yesterday, I suggested a spot of nocturnal motorised birdwatching. We headed north past Ellington and up to Widdrington before turning towards the coast and down through Druridge.  With the thermometer hitting -7C, the ungritted roads were a bit of a challenge.  Following some recent big counts of Woodcock it was…

  • Another big freeze

    It’s hard to believe that we posted on the blog back in January about the big freeze last winter and here we are again in a similar position already before the end of November (although at least at the moment it isn’t so prolonged). I went in to Newcastle last Wednesday for a seminar about…

  • Stormy weather

    November is generally a quiet month for NEWT; the half-term rush in late October has come and gone, thoughts are turning to Christmas…and the weather can be a bit suspect.  We had a Safari Day around Druridge Bay and Southeast Northumberland at the end of last week that could have succumbed to the elements but, as…

  • Kielder; birdwatching on the edge of Northumberland

    Thursday evening was the AGM of the Northumberland & Tyneside Bird Club, and the speaker following the AGM proceedings was our good friend Martin Davison.  Ornithologist is an often overused (and misused) word, but Martin is a real ornithologist, gathering data through hours and hours in the field and involved in several research projects.  His talk…

  • A flying birdwatching trip to Holland

    On Wednesday afternoon we set off from Royal Quays, out into the North Sea, onboard the MV King of Scandinavia as guests of DFDS.  The weather forecast was for it to be wet, although we did manage a couple of hours birdwatching from the observation lounge before the driving rain obliterated the view.  Gannets were diving into the…