Northern Experience Wildlife Tours

Tag: Common Buzzard

  • 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 there, and a few minutes later Catherine arrived on the train from Windermere (via a few changes!).  We headed northwest along the North Tyne valley for a day birdwatching around Kielder and the borders and, just before Bellingham we left the road and headed along the forest tracks.  A fine drizzle was falling as we found our first Crossbills of the day.  By the time we returned to the C200 (and civilisation!) 2 hours later, we’d had lots of sightings of small groups and family parties.  Perching on the tops of small spruce trees, flying over and giving that distinctive ‘chip, chip’ call, Crossbills are always a delight to watch.  The stunning luminosity of the males carmine red rump is incredibly striking, particularly in the gloom and drizzle of the border forests when everything else seems to be monochrome.  Kestrels and Common Buzzards were soaring around, Curlews and Lapwings were sitting in fields between the sheep, Skylarks and Meadow Pipits flushed from the track sides and Siskins almost rivalled the Crossbills with some stunning adult males demonstrating how a quite common bird can still take your breath away when you look closely at it.

    By early afternoon the cloud level had dropped to somewhere below the altitude we were at and, as we crossed a remote moorland road with the icy cold wind whistling  eerily around us, driving waves of rain horizontally across the fells, Steve spotted a grouse at the roadside.  From our position I couldn’t see the bird, but Catherine, sitting in the back of the car, was able to photograph what I assumed would be a Red Grouse.  Then it flew…revealing the white wing-bars of an adult Blackcock!  That’s a species we’ve watched and photographed with clients in the North Pennines, but not one that we’ve ever recorded on a Kielder Safari.  Important lesson, that one; expect the unexpected 🙂

    One of our commonest species provided one of the highlights of the day;  hundreds of male Chaffinches were swarming around feeding stations and, at one point, we had 3 sitting on the roof of the car, 2 on the wing mirrors and 2 in the boot!  With Blue, Great and Coal Tits, Greenfinches, more Siskins, Great Spotted Woodpecker and Nuthatches the feeders were a blur of activity.

    As we headed back down the valley at the end of the day, a flock of Redwings and Fieldfares flew from a nearby field and filled the air above us, a pair of Mandarins flew upriver, calling, and we left Kielder behind to return to the bustling metropolis of Hexham 🙂

  • Raptors, raptors everywhere

    Standing on the Heugh on Holy Island with Jill and Steve, we’re all scanning towards Guile Point.  Cormorants, Shags, Red-breasted Mergansers and Eider are all bobbing about on the water, Pale-bellied and Dark-bellied Brent Geese, Bar-tailed Godwits, Grey Plover, Curlew and Oystercatchers are flying by, Common and Grey Seals are splashing in the surf as the tide falls…and I’m focused on the sea with one species in mind.  Then 2 distant white dots, gradually narrowing the gap toward us, and I know I’ve achieved that primary target.  Soon, I’ve got 2 very happy clients watching an immaculate drake Long-tailed Duck.  Outrageously attractive, he waved that eponymous tail in the air before taking off and vanishing out of sight around the headland.

    At the other end of the day we watched a flock of 20 Slavonian Grebes and a similar number of Common Scoter, another 6 Long-tailed Ducks, an elusive Black-throated Diver and 3 equally elusive Red-throated Divers and 2 Harbour Porpoises as the light faded to the point where even the impressive assembly of optical equipment wasn’t offering an advantage any more.

    Sandwiched in between though, was a veritable feast of raptors;  we’d already had a couple of Common Buzzards (and I’d had 2 on the drive to Hauxley before collecting Jill and Steve), 2 Sparrowhawks and several Kestrels by lunchtime, but the best was yet to come.  First a Merlin perched on a post in front of us for 10 minutes, then we found 2 Peregrines sitting on boulders at low tide.  Soon a wave of panic spread through the assembled waders, and the Barnacle, Greylag, Pink-footed and White-fronted Geese, as the 2 Peregrines swooped back and forth.  Then, our second Merlin of the day began harrassing one of the Peregrines. As chaos raged across the mudflats, one of the Peregrines made a kill; an unfortunate Redshank.  It took it’s prize to a rock and began plucking it…and 2 more Peregrines arrived!  All 3 tussled over the spoils of the hunt, before 2 of them conceded and sat a little distance away.  A dry, cold wintry day and spectacular drama played out by some excellent wildlife.  The Northumberland coast in the winter – there’s nothing better 🙂

  • 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.

  • Raptorfest

    We don’t usually do North Pennines trips in September; by this time of the year we’re focused closely on the coast, and our inland visits tend to be limited to our own photography projects.  However, when we had a ‘phone call on Monday “we’re stopping in Allendale, what can you do for us this week?”, it seemed logical to head into the bleak open expanse of southwest Northumberland and Upper Teesdale.

    I collected Jan and Pete from their holiday cottage and we headed cross country as I explained that birdwatching in the North Pennines tends to be about quality rather than quantity…

    Sure enough, the mouth-watering quality of birdwatching on the moors was soon evident.  After lots of obligingly photogenic Red Grouse we went through a remarkable period of raptor sightings.  Kestrels and Common Buzzards were followed by a Peregrine harassing a Carrion Crow, a Common Buzzard somehow getting embroiled in that same dispute, a Merlin that raced across the fell behind the intriguing 3-way dogfight, more Kestrels and Common Buzzards, and a Sparrowhawk that had caught a Lapwing (which broke free and flew off, with the Sparrowhawk in pursuit).

    Then we had a quantity of quality, as our afternoon and evening produced no less than 73 Black Grouse! 54 Blackcocks and 19 Greyhens was an extraordinary total for one trip and we enjoyed the sight of the cryptically patterned Greyhens, the iridescent blue of the adult Blackcocks and we picked out a few young birds amongst the groups as well.

    Rounded off with a carmine pink sky just after sunset, we’ll have to think about adding some autumn North Pennines trips into our schedule for 2012 🙂

  • Heron aid

    Our 3rd Druridge Bay/southeast Northumberland trip in 5 days began with an old friend as our regular Little Owl sat sleepily in the sunshine, only opening an eye to check who we were before nodding off again.  Further north, we watched a flock of 59 Pink-footed Geese as they headed south high overhead.  3 Grey Herons flew south past us, then north over Warkworth before heading south again.  Incredibly. later in the afternoon, the same 3 herons flew south overhead at East Chevington, followed soon after by another 4, and we found another 3 sitting in a recently mown field near Hauxley.  East Chevington also produced a good flock of Lapwing, with several Ruff scattered amongst them, and Cresswell held a flock of Dunlin with a Little Stint.

    As sunset approached we settled to the waiting game of quiet observation by a small pool.  Tawny Owls called nearby, a Buzzard was perched obligingly in the open, a Sparrowhawk was hedge-hopping to see what it could scare up for dinner, Jackdaws and Rooks were gathering noisily before going to roost and there was a notable level of panic and a high level of alertness in the assembled ducks.  The cause of the panic didn’t show itself though, and we walked back to the car with Common Pipistrelles flying just above our heads before I returned Tamasin and Daniel to Newbiggin.

  • Patience pays off

    Finding Red Squirrels on a Bank Holiday Monday had the potential to be a tricky task.  With a good weather forecast, all of our local woodlands were likely to be filled with visitors.  I headed up to Alnwick, to collect Tracy, Graham, Eleanor and Joe, before the rush started, and Sarah set off at the same time on a related mission…

    By the time I arrived at our favourite squirrel site, with a car-load of clients, feeders had been checked and strategic areas baited.  Jays, Great Tits and Woodpigeons were all in the trees around us, and Eleanor soon picked out the sound of a Red Squirrel in the canopy high overhead.  We waited, patiently and quietly, and then Joe spotted movement along a branch and a Red Squirrel ran down the trunk of a nearby tree and tucked in to the provided feast.

    After our woodland excursion a couple of hours of birdwatching in southeast Northumberland and Druridge Bay produced good sightings of Grey Heron, Little Grebe, Kestrel, Common Buzzard, Stock Dove and a juvenile Mediterranean Gull in amongst a mass of Black-headed Gulls from a landfill site.

    Wildlife doesn’t perform to order, but when you’ve spent some time concentrating, listening and focusing on every sound and every movement there’s a good feeling when that effort is rewarded 🙂

  • Go(at) on, make my day

    Yesterday saw something we haven’t done before; a mid-August Kielder Safari.

    Andrew, Nick (on his 3rd trip with NEWT), Stephen and Georgina all arrived at our starting point within minutes of each other.  Under a deep blue sky, with some big fluffy white clouds, conditions looked perfect and we set off for the western reaches of Northumberland.

    Common Buzzards were seen en route, a good sign that conditions were right for raptors.  The thing that makes our Kielder Safaris so special is the access we’ve been granted by the Forestry Commission, allowing us to take our clients on a drive along remote tracks that are not open to vehicle access by the general public.  With so little disturbance, the wildlife along the tracks is often very approachable.  A family party of Common Crossbills perched obligingly in trees just ahead of us, and kept flying down to the track to eat grit, Siskins, Chaffinches and a Spotted Flycatcher were all watched as they went about their business close by and a Sparrowhawk twisted, turned and swooped through the trees just a few metres away, hot on the tail of a flock of Siskins and Chaffinches.  Perhaps one of the most extraordinary moments of the trip was something I’ve never seen before, in over 40 years of birdwatching;  as we watched a juvenile Common Buzzard soaring above a remote steep-sided valley, Andrew noticed a second bird further along the valley.  The juvenile flew in that direction and the second bird, an adult buzzard, flew up towards it, rolled on it’s back in mid-air and passed prey up to the juvenile.  I’ve seen that happen so many times as courtship behaviour in all of our harrier species, but I’ve never seen a food pass between Common Buzzards, and to see it executed so gracefully by this broad-winged raptor was breathtaking.  We continued on our way with Wheatear, Stonechat, Kestrel, Raven, Pochard, Tufted Duck and Mandarin all joining the day list.

    Perhaps the best of the day though came near the end; as we drove across the Forest Drive, a large mammal crossed the track ahead of us.  Looking like a dark Roe Deer on steroids, the nanny Wild Goat was soon followed by a billy goat and 2 kids.  We’ve seen Wild Goats with clients on our trips before, but never at such close quarters.

    We’ll be visiting Kielder again on 31st August and 2nd September, so give us a call on 07908 119535 to find out how you can share the experience of the border forests, and the unknown quantity of those remote tracks, with us.

  • Dodging the showers

    Things weren’t looking too promising as I headed up the A697 to collect Ian and Barbara from their holiday accommodation at The Coach House; rain, mist and fog were all conspiring to reduce visibility.  Once we were on our way towards Holy Island things improved though, and our walk on the island was in reasonable weather.  Plenty of Curlew and Bar-tailed Godwits were along the water’s edge and little parties of Guillemot and Red-breasted Merganser were spotted on the relatively calm sea.  Back on the mainland, things took a turn for the worse and the rain hammered down, making the mudflats seem to be boiling.  The numbers of Curlew grew and grew, all demonstrating just how vigorous their feeding technique is.  As everything began to disappear into the rain, the eerie calls of Grey Seals came echoing across the mud.  Eider, Common Scoter, Puffin, Shag, Cormorant, Guillemot and Razorbill  were all on the sea in the shadow of Bamburgh Castle, Turnstones were doing just what their name suggests, 2 Little Egrets were in Budle Bay and 3 Common Buzzards were soaring around as the sun finally began to beat down on the northern edge of the Cheviots as we returned to Crookham at the end of a day of changeable weather, and good birdwatching.

  • 4 out of 5

    A lot of enquiries that we receive are along the lines of “we’d like to see a…”.  Naturally, we do our best to oblige (and, far more often than not, successfully).

    Paul and Louise had a list of 5; Grey Seal, Puffin, Badger, Otter  and Kingfisher.  The first 2 were straightforward; a trip around the Farne Islands on Glad Tidings V produced plenty of each.  We headed south towards Druridge Bay and enjoyed close views of a huge bull seal, as he hunted fish in the Coquet estuary.  Our one Otter sighting of the day came at the NWT reserve of East Chevington; a young kit feeding in the North pool.  With lots of terns, cormorants, geese and 3 Marsh Harriers and a Common Buzzard, there was plenty to see.  Kingfisher, however, eluded us.  They’ve been quite scarce this year, in fact, during 2011, I’ve seen more of each of the other 4 targets for this trip than I have Kingfishers.

    As the sun headed down towards the horizon, our favourite Badger sett once again produced the goods as a Badger passed within a few metres of us, completely unconcerned, before vanishing up an adjacent hillside to continue foraging.

  • Exposure compensation

    When we’re on a trip with a specific target, we usually find what we’re looking for.  Sometimes, we don’t though…and sometimes we find something that we hadn’t even considered as a possibility.

    I collected Gary and Stephanie from Seahouses and we headed south towards Druridge Bay and southeast Northumberland.  ‘Red Squirrel and raptors’ was the aim of this photography/birdwatching trip.  Our first raptor of the day was a Common Buzzard, although it was soaring too high in the morning heat to allow Gary any realistic chance of locking onto it with his camera.

    For once, we didn’t have any luck with the squirrels.  I’d checked and replenished our feeding site a couple of hours earlier but, although there was evidence that food had been taken in the 2 hours prior to us arriving, the squirrels stayed high in the canopy and out of sight.

    Heading inland, through some of our favourite Northumberland countryside, a distant speck over a plantation caught my eye.  The speck had that almost undefinable ‘something’ about it that set my pulse racing.  I knew what it was, and it was all I could do to not yell the name loudly enough to deafen my clients.  Lazily drifting like an oversized gull, carrying what seemed an impossibly large (and recently decapitated) fish, the Osprey eventually passed overhead 🙂

    Dropping back to the coast, we stopped for lunch just south of Cresswell…and watched a Minke Whale lunge-feeding offshore.

    Rare birds, scarce mammals.  All part of what makes Northumberland so very, very good 🙂