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Change of plan
Snow on Monday, glorious weather on Tuesday…and torrential rain on Wednesday 🙁 When I arrived to collect David and Janet for their Prestige Tour in the Cheviot Valleys we quickly decided to head towards the Northumberland coast instead as that would offer the chance of plenty of birdwatching with the prospect of being able to…
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Black Grouse Bonanza Day 1; Nothing to grouse about
As I drove to Peth Head Cottage on Thursday afternoon, the rain was hammering against the car windscreen. Friday’s forecast was good though so, after a meal at The Travellers Rest in Slaley, I reminded Derek and Deirdre that we would have an early start the next morning. 19/04/2013 05:00…the incessant ringing of the alarm…
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Arrivals
As I pulled into the car park at The Swan, Peter and Elizabeth were sitting in the bright sunshine. There was still a cold edge to the breeze though, and we set out to explore Druridge Bay, south east Northumberland and the Northumberland coast. Masses of frogspawn was evidence that our amphibians were getting on…
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In the grip of winter…in late March
Sunday saw the two of us heading southwest into the North Pennines to carry out some recce work for a press trip that Martin was leading. As soon as we were up above the level of the Tyne valley there was snow laying, which got deeper as we gained altitude. Lapwings, Curlew and Oystercatcher were…
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Sound
As I collected Jason and Jane for a bespoke day of birdwatching in the beautiful Cheviot valleys, the first few raindrops pattered against the windscreeen of the car. As we headed south from Melkington the rain stopped and visibility improved, so I was sure were in for an excellent day. The day featured all of…
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North Pennines – Busman’s Holiday
We’ve got a busy few weeks coming up, giving talks locally, exhibiting at the Scottish Bird Fair and delivering the bird identification training courses for the North Pennines WildWatch programme. Once that’s out of the way, we’ll be into our busy period for trips out with clients, and then delivering more training courses – this time on offshore…
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Roost
Friday was our fourth Druridge Bay/southeast Northumberland safari of the week, and it was a real pleasure to meet up with Lawrie and Linda, 2 of our returning clients from last year. We started with a specific request; Brown Hare. In the strong wind, persistent drizzle and biting cold they were keeping their heads down…all except…