Northern Experience Wildlife Tours

Tag: Gannet

Bow-riding beauties; NEWT’s North Sea Pelagic 13/08/16

Saturday was the first of our 10hr ‘Northumberland Ultimate Pelagic‘ trips this year, and I arrrived at Royal Quays to find eight, out of 12, clients already there and looking forward to the day out in Northumberland’s deep offshore waters. With everyone on board we set sail out of the Tyne in a fairly stiff breeze and on choppy water. An Arctic Skua was harrassing Kittiwakes, Fulmars and Gannets soared past on stiff outstretched wings, a flock of Knot flew by and, probably the most unexpected sighting of the day, a Common Swift was heading landwards from around 6 miles offshore. Puffins and Guillemots were sitting quietly on the sea and, as we headed further out, the breeze died away and we were on calm water when we found the first White-beaked Dolphins of the day. These 12 animals spent a little time bow-riding before peeling off and heading back to resume feeding. A few minutes later and a distant dolphin was breaching ahead of us. As we reached that spot, we suddenly had 10 White-beaked Dolphins bow-riding and at least another ten following close behind and alongside us 🙂

We’ve got a limited number of places still available on our 10hr sailings on Friday September 2nd, Saturday September 10th and Saturday September 24th. Give us a call on 01670 827465 to book your place before they’re all filled!

16/08/2016
Dodging the showers; Lindisfarne Safari 09/08/16

The unpredictability of the weather in northern England is one of the reasons I love living here. Early August and you just don’t know whether there’ll be clear skies and sunshine, or something akin to the depths of the autumn…

I arrived at Kingston Park and met up with Chris (for his third trip with NEWT), Diane and Robin and we headed up the A1 to Berwick where we collected Gill (for her second trip with NEWT in a week). Our first destination was the Holy Island causeway, where we found a Common Seal, Little Egret, Dunlin, Redshank, Curlew, Sanderling, Ringed Plover, a distant dense flock of Golden Plover and a few Whimbrel (including one bird that was obligingly standing next to a Curlew). A sudden increase in wind strength heralded the arrival of the first rain shower of the day, and a noticeable drop in temperature. Thinking that the poor weather was going to move through earlier than forecast I decided to switch around the plan for the rest of the day and we headed down the coast where we watched Sandwich Terns, Gannets and masses of gulls feeding as Fulmars soared past us on stiff wings, effortless in the breeze. Rafts of Eider were just beyond the breaking surf as a female Goosander sat preening on the edge of a rockpool and Knot and Turnstone rummaged in the seaweed exposed on the falling tide. Back to scanning the mudflats and Grey Plover joined the days wader list and Grey Seals called mournfully from exposed sandbanks before we crossed over onto Holy Island with the weather showing signs of improvement. An adult Mediterranean Gull was an unexpected find in the car park and we set off to walk around the bits of the island that weren’t busy with visitors…

Grey Herons, Little Grebes and Moorhen were around the edges of the Lough as a Reed Warbler delivered it’s rhythmic chuntering song from a hidden perch in the reeds and the rest of our walk produced Stonechat, Meadow Pipit, a juvenile Kestrel, Cinnabar moth caterpillars and, probably the bird of the day, a Short-eared Owl quartering the dunes and fields with impressively slow deep wingbeats 🙂

10/08/2016
Sunset spectacular; NEWT’s North Sea Pelagic 29/07/16

If there’s anything that’s even less predictable than wildlife on our 4hr evening pelagics, it’s the weather/sky/sea state. One minute it can be flat calm, the next there’s a rolling swell, one minute it’s overcast, the next the clouds disperse and the sun breaks through…

Our 9th evening pelagic for 2016 set sail on Friday and we started to notice the swell while we were still in the river. Once we were out of the shelter of the piers there was a long rolling swell as we headed north. The usual suspects passed by; Puffin, Guillemot, Gannet, Herring Gull, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Kittiwake, Manx Shearwater and Fulmar. As we headed closer inshore ready for the journey south, the swell subsided and the sea took on a glassy sheen as the sunset started to develop…

02/08/2016
Storming; NEWT’s North Sea Pelagic 22/07/16

After our successful search for White-beaked Dolphins on Wednesday, we sailed at 18:00 on Friday for our 7th 4hr evening pelagic this year.

As we sailed past North Shields the heavens opened and as we left the shelter of the piers, the surface of the sea looked to be boiling as the rain hammered down. That was round about the point where I checked my mobile for any recent dolphin reports…and there was a text message to say that there had been 6-8 White-beaked Dolphins just off Seaton Sluice for the last hour and they were heading south, inshore of the yellow buoy off St Mary’s Island 🙂 I went across to that side of the boat, indicated the area we needed to be watching…and up they popped 🙂 For the next hour we watched up to 20 dolphins as they fed, breached, tail-slapped and did all the stuff that makes dolphins so fantastic to watch, then we left them behind and headed up to Blyth where we found another 4! Gannets, Puffins, Razorbills, Guillemots. Kittiwakes and Fulmars provided a supporting cast and a stunning sunset brought the curtain down on the evening 🙂

25/07/2016
Brief encounter; NEWT’s North Sea Pelagic 20/07/16

After a couple of cancelled sailings, with weather conditions that we felt would just be uncomfortable for everyone, we set sail on our 6th 4hr pelagic this year on Wednesday evening.

As we headed north, small rafts of Puffin were seen regularly, Razorbill, Guillemot, Kittiwake, Fulmar and Gannet provided a supporting cast and with a boat full of clients all scanning the sea, in good visibility, I was feeling confident…

The call from Tim “dolphins!” had everyone suddenly very animated…and there they were; 4 White-beaked Dolphins, including a very small calf 🙂 One of the adults came across us close to the bow, and then they quietly slipped away from view after five minutes or so. Encounters with dolphins are always exciting, but your truly learnt a very painful lesson; even when you’ve photographed hundreds of dolphins and seabirds from moving boats, in everything from flat calm with glorious light, through to challenging swell and heavily overcast…it counts for nothing if you’ve managed to leave the house without any memory cards in your camera 🙁 After the dolphin encounter, one of our clients was kind enough to lend me a memory card so I’ve got lots of images from the second half of the evening!

25/07/2016
Whistling; NEWT’s North Sea Pelagic 11/07/16

Monday was our 5th evening pelagic and we boarded JFK Two at Royal Quays with Common Terns flying back to their nests and a chilly breeze stiffening the flags on the boats moored in the marina.

Herring and Lesser Black-backed Gulls soon formed a stalking party just behind us and Gannet, Kittiwake, Guillemot, Razorbill, Puffin, Fulmar, Manx Shearwater and Common Scoter were all seen, as well as a couple of Curlew. Away to the west of us the weather over Northumberland looked poor, and on the eastern horizon we could see rain. The dark, brooding waves lapped against the side of the boat and, as we made our way back down the coast, breaks in the leaden grey cloud brought another spectacular sunset 🙂

13/07/2016
Contrast; NEWT’s North Sea Pelagic 08/07/16

No two days are ever the same – that’s pretty much the only thing that’s guaranteed where wildlife is concerned..

We set sail from Royal Quays for our fourth evening pelagic this year and although we had blue skies and sunshine, in sharp contrast to Wednesday’s trip, the sea was a bit choppier with a stiff westerly wind keeping us close to the sheltering effect of the land. Gannets, Guillemots and Puffins are regular at this time of the year, and we weren’t too far from the Tyne when the Herring Gulls started following us. With barely any effort they hang in the air just behind the boat, obliging subjects for any photographers on board. This time they were joined by a Kittiwake; delicate and incredibly agile, it twisted and turned around the rear deck providing a bit more of a challenge for the lenses that were pointed in its direction.

As we made our way back down the coast, the setting sun provided an impressive backdrop for St Mary’s lighthouse. Despite all of the whales, dolphins and seabirds we’ve found over the last few years, the thing that still seems to be commented on more than anything else, is just how incredible the views of the sunset are from a boat in the North Sea 🙂

11/07/2016
Hide and Seek; NEWT’s North Sea Pelagic 06/07/16

Our third evening pelagic for 2016 sailed from Royal Quays under an unremarkable grey sky and with good visibility and a calm sea.

Three hours later, and after Common Scoter, Gannet, Puffin, Razorbill, Guillemot, Fulmar and Kittiwake had kept everyone occupied, we were heading south towards the marina. The ‘ping’ of a text message arriving on my mobile distracted me from my focus on the water close to the shore…

‘bottlenose dolphins going south past Seaton Sluice, heading towards St Mary’s, swimming slowly along the tide line’.

A quick ‘phone call brought more information ’10-15mins ago they were right where you are now’…and then they surfaced 🙂

08/07/2016
Storm watching; NEWT’s North Sea Pelagic 01/07/16

Friday was our second North Sea pelagic trip for 2016 and as we sailed from Royal Quays the sky looked a bit dark away to the north…

By the time we were off Whitley Bay we were under blue skies and sunshine while away to the west of us Northumberland was being battered by storms of hail and rain. Suddenly the wind picked up and the sea became a mass of foaming white horses and the first drops of rain hit the boat. With the wind whistling around the boat we soon picked up an entourage of Herring and Lesser Black-backed Gulls. Gulls may not be everyone’s cup of tea, but against a dark grey sky there’s no denying they’re quite impressive birds. Just a few metres above the deck they seemed to be sheltering in the lee of the wheelhouse as we headed into the wind. Gannets flew by and a flock of Common Scoter, looking to be just perfectly placed in the dark weather conditions, overtook us and headed north. Fulmars flew effortlessly just a few centimetres above the waves while Puffin and Guillemot made flight look like a much more laboured undertaking and away to the east a double rainbow had formed. As conditions settled back down we found a small group of Gannets diving into the water and it was time to head back to port.

05/07/2016
Rolling; NEWT’s North Sea Pelagic 29/06/16

Wednesday was the first of this years NEWT North Sea Pelagic trips and the weather forecast looked good…

Allan had been out with a party of anglers all day, and the sea was still pretty calm when he sailed back to Royal Quays before the start of our trip. I’d been seawatching during the morning, watching what was only the third record of a live, offshore, Sperm Whale for Northumberland, and there were lots of Gannets feeding, so clearly lots of food available which is always a good sign 🙂 The sea is a fickle mistress though and , driven by a stiff breeze that had picked up just as we sailed, the long rolling swell from the north slowed our progress. Gannets, Puffins, Guillemots, Razorbills, Fulmars and Kittiwakes passed by, a Grey Seal poked it’s head out of the water near St Mary’s and a flock of Common Scoter were characteristic even at a distance. With the swell building further we headed to the relative calm of Newbiggin Bay and our sailing back down the coast was close to shore where, sheltered from the breeze and with the tide pushing us from behind, it was like a different world 🙂

05/07/2016