Northern Experience Wildlife Tours

Tag: Kittiwake

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
“I’m really scared of birds”; Farne Islands Safari 30/06/16

In late June, a big part of the Farne Islands experience is the aerial bombardment you’re subjected to as Arctic Terns defend their eggs and chicks…

I collected John from Bedlington, Colin and Martin from Morpeth and then Sue from Old Swarland (for her 4th trip with NEWT). A breezy but warm morning brought Curlew, Yellowhammer, Grey Seal, Shelduck and a Brown Hare running though short vegetation right on the shoreline. After lunch overlooking the Farne Islands we boarded the St Cuthbert and headed out of Seahouses Harbour. We were soon being passed by Puffins, Guillemots, Razorbills and Gannets and soon the unmistakeable sound, and smell, of the seabird colony reached the boat. Landing on Inner Farne brought the expected mob of angry terns and we watched the tiny beak of an Arctic Tern chick as it chipped way at the eggshell surrounding it. Fulmars arced along the cliff tops, Kittiwakes were hanging on the strong breeze just a few metres away from us, Sandwich and Common Terns flew by without molesting us and Puffins peeked from their burrows. As we walked through the courtyard a lady walked by in the other direction; head down, hood pulled up and explaining to her friends how she’s really scared of birds. Inner Farne probably wasn’t the best choice of visitor attraction then…

05/07/2016
Never trust a weather forecast; Farne Islands Safari 15/06/16

With a Farne Islands Safari on Wedneday, I’d been keeping an even closer eye than usual on the weather forecast and particularly the forecast sea state and swell height. 1m waves, strong NE winds and heavy rain wasn’t the most promising of forecasts…

I collected Paul and Rose from the Dunstanburgh Castle Hotel and we headed north of Seahouses for a few hours birdwatching before our sailing across to the Farnes. A singing Reed Bunting was eventually located, and finally came out obligingly into the open, as Meadow Pipits displayed overhead and Sand Martins hawked back and forth low over the water. Gulls aren’t everybody’s cup of tea, but Black-headed, Common, Lesser Black-backed and Herring all lined up obligingly next to each other for a mini-ID masterclass. A Shoveler escorted her ten ducklings across the pool as Coots fed young, Moorhens crept around in bankside rushes, Lapwing roosted in nearby fields and a Skylark, just a tiny dark speck against the clouds overhead, sounded inconceivably loud at the height it had reached.

Sitting and eating lunch overlooking the islands, the one thing that was really obvious was that the sea was calm, it wasn’t really windy and it wasn’t raining – so much for those forecasts then 🙂 We boarded Glad Tidings VII and headed towards the inner group of islands. Puffins, Guillemots and Razorbills were all heading back to their nests with food, Grey Seals were lazing around on the rocks and the sound, and smell, of the islands intensified. The onomatopaeic calls of Kittiwake echoed off the cliffs and a leucistic Guillemot caught my eye as it sat on the rocks amongst all of it’s regular-coloured relatives.

Once we landed on Inner Farne, the Puffins took centre stage. We watched as they headed back towards their burrows, only to be harried by Black-headed Gulls. One Puffin dropped it’s load of small fish right next to us, it’s wingbeats whirring audibly just over our heads as it tried to evade it’s pursuers. Large, ungainly, and very, very fluffy Shag chicks had grown to big to be contained in their nests and the grumpy moaning of the assembled auks added to the wall of sound. Sandwich, Common and Arctic Terns were all tending eggs or chicks, with the Arctic Terns being as feisty as ever, and a couple of them taking a particular dislike to Rose’s hat! As we walked back down the jetty to sail back to the mainland, Rose’s sharp eyes spotted one of those birds that are so cryptic in some habitats as a Ringed Plover dashed around between pebbles and rocks on the shore line.

16/06/2016
Dolphins; Farne Islands Bespoke Photography 07/06/16

Tuesday was a trip I’d been looking forward to for a long time, a bespoke photography trip to the Farne Islands, for the parents of one of our Seal Safari clients from back in 2009.

I arrived in Seahouse to collect Jill, Pete, Liz and Bernie and we had a couple of hours on the coast before heading back to the harbour and boarding Glad Tidings. We were only just out of the harbour when the skipper slowed the boat almost to a halt…as a group of 5 Bottlenose Dolphins passed across our bow 🙂 We watched as they had a quick fly-by of another boat that was leaving the harbour and then they were gone.

As lines of Puffin, Razorbill and Guillemot passed by, there was a notable change in the weather. Blue skies and sunshine were replaced by cloud and falling temperatures, and a heavy mist was shrouding the islands. The Farne Islands are a surreal place as it is, but when some of the islands were just dark shapes in the mist they took on a whole different persona. The loud cries of Kittiwake echoed around the gullies, Sandwich, Common and Arctic Tern were all incubating eggs or chicks, a handsome male Red-breasted Merganser was sitting on the water just off the Inner Farne jetty and the whirling parade of Puffins carrying fish back to their nests was the focus of everyone’s attention, although female Common Eider sitting motionless on nests with small ducklings were greatly appreciated too.

With the first rain drops beginning to spatter on the car windscreen just after we returned to dry land we headed along the coast so I could reveal some of the better spots for wildife photography; what’s there? what time of day? what time of year? Then it was time to head back to Seahouses. Are the Farnes the best wildlife experience you can enjoy in England? Britain? the world? Possibly…

09/06/2016
Seawatching; Druridge Bay mini-safari 16/07/2015

Thursday’s second mini-safari was around NEWT’s local patch of Druridge Bay and southeast Northumberland.

I arrived at Church Point to collect Mike, and we started with a scan of the sea in search of White-beaked Dolphin. It was a bit on the choppy side for observing cetaceans, but there was an obvious movement of seabirds heading north. Mike soon picked up two birds away to the south, and we watched as these adult Pomarine Skuas passed close by the point. Fulmars, Kittiwakes, Gannets, Great Skua and 200 Manx Shearwaters passed by in just over 90 minutes and three Arctic Skuas were harrassing terns in the bay. Common Scoter were also heading north and what had started as a search for Otters, with a scan of the sea for dolphins, had morphed into a fantastic seawatch with an accompaniment of summer-plumaged Turnstone and Golden Plover 🙂

20/07/2015
Out of the gloom; NEWT’s North Sea Pelagic 13/07/2015

Our fourth North Sea Pelagic for 2015 had a reasonable weather forecast – overcast, but should have been otherwise ok…

Quite good visibility meant we were soon watching Manx Shearwater, Kittiwake, Gannet, Fulmar, Guillemot, Puffin and Razorbill…then the rain started. Sailing through what appeared to be low, and very wet, cloud we came out of the other side of it and continued north. Then ahead of us, we could see weather that we really didn’t want to be sailing into. We decided to turn back south and have a slow journey close inshore as the almost obligatory flock of Common Scoter flew by. I suggested an area to Allan that I thought would hold White-beaked Dolphins towards dusk…and there they were 🙂

17/07/2015
Bait ball; NEWT’s North Sea Pelagic 03/07/2015

Our second North Sea Pelagic of 2015 was accompanied by the usual cast of Fulmar, Kittiwake,Gannet, Guillemot, Razorbill and Puffin, and we sailed north a few miles from the shore. Passing Newbiggin, Bruce spotted a whale heading north, and I managed a brief sighting of it although it was travelling north rapidly and lost in the swell. We were just about to turn south again when there was a moment of pelagic magic 🙂 Allan and Jimmy spotted a distant fin to the north, and there was a growing flock of Gannet, Kittiwake and Fulmar in the area where the fin had been spotted. Then a Minke Whale surfaced amongst the birds 🙂 Once I was sure that everyone had seen the whale I started a 360 degree scan – past experience suggests that good feeding often attracts multiple Minkes…and it was soon clear that there were two whales to the north of us and a third to the south 🙂

17/07/2015
Calm; NEWT’s North Sea Pelagic 29/06/2013

Our 2015 North Sea Pelagic season got underway at the end of June, with Kittiwakes, Fulmars and Gannets galore, Guillemots, Razorbills and plenty of Puffins on the sea and a dense flock of Common Scoter towards the end of the evening. Despite sightings of Bottlenose Dolphin, White-beaked Dolphin and Minke Whale in the days leading up to the sailing, they weren’t hanging around any of their usual haunts. Perhaps our second evening pelagic of 2015 would bring better luck…

17/07/2015
Birds in Flight; Bespoke Photography 19/06/15

Our Bespoke Photography ‘Birds in Flight’ workshop was a day out for Max and Nigel – Max’s prize for winning the ‘Young Person’s’ category at last years North East Wildlife Photography Awards.
We met up at Newbiggin and drove up the coast to Seahouses. Before sailing across to the islands, we had a session covering ‘birds in flight’ techniques and camera settings, with Kittiwakes and Fulmars as the guinea pigs for Max to practice various techniques. In a stiff breeze, the birds were proving quite challenging – passing a few feet above our heads into the breeze and then racing back with the wind at their tails 🙂 Once on St Cuthbert II we were soon surrounded by an almost limitless supply of photographic subjects; Grey Seal, Shag, Cormorant, Razorbill, Guillemot, Gannet, Puffin, Kittiwake, Fulmar, Common, Arctic and Sandwich Terns and, the most surprising sight of the day, a Rock Pipit dripping with water and holding a small fish! It was a great day out with two talented photographers, and I’m hoping to see more of Max’s images displayed at the wildlife photography awards evening on July 9th 🙂

26/06/2015