-
Bird Watching Magazine Reader Holiday Day 1: 07/07/2011
I met with Geoff and Jenny, Roy and Lorraine & David and Linda on the Wednesday evening in the bar of the Bamburgh Castle Inn and, after introductions and drinks, we went upstairs to the conservatory for dinner. A steady stream of Gannets was heading north and I outlined the plan for the coming days;…
-
Farne Islands 04/07/2011
By Monday morning, our car could almost have driven itself to Seahouses 🙂 I collected John and Anthea from their holiday accommodation at St Cuthbert’s House and we had a tour of the North Northumberland coast before boarding Glad Tidings IV and sailing to Inner Farne. The tern colony was as wonderful as ever. I…
-
A gift from heaven
I’ve always known that I tend to be very lucky when out with clients but last week, when we welcomed our first ever clients from Cyprus, that luck took an unexpected form. I collected Jane, Aristos, Eva and Nassos from Newcastle and we headed coastwards in the blazing sunshine. Our birdwatching along Druridge Bay included what was,…
-
Familiarising
Last week saw a repeat of a familiarisation trip we led in late March 2010, as the ORCA wildlife officers, who will be on board the DFDS King Seaways over the summer months, had a couple of days with us to familiarise themselves with Northumberland and the wildlife and birdwatching opportunities that it has to offer.…
-
Variety Show
Yesterday we had an afternoon/evening safari around southeast Northumberland and Druridge Bay, an exciting prospect as these are producing some of our most memorable sightings. Around lunchtime I started to receive calls about Bottlenose Dolphins, 5 past Newbiggin and 20-40 E of St Mary’s. When I arrived at Church Point at 14:40, the dolphins had…
-
Landscape photography and birdwatching on the Northumberland coast
This has been one of our busiest weeks since we started NEWT, and I’ve only just got around to finding the time to sit in our office and blog about the last few days. Tuesday saw Mike, one of our returning clients, coming for his second day out with NEWT, including some photography tuition in the Northumberland Coast AONB…
-
Early to rise
4am, and the insistent ringing of the alarm prises me out of bed. Stagger down the stairs, get dressed, find binoculars/hat/gloves and head out into the chill early morning Southeast Northumberland air. The Dawn Chorus is in full flow; Blackbirds are leading the way, and dominating the soundscape around our house, Chiffchaffs are singing from the churchyard and…
-
The dawning of the “season”
After a cold, wet day surveying one of our inland tetrads for the Bird Atlas, we had a very early start on Sunday for our Dawn Chorus walk at Lee Moor Farm. Ian was, as always, an entertaining host for the event and we walked around the farm, enjoying the songs of Willow Warbler, Song…