Tag: Knot

  • Feeding time; Otter Safari 29/12/2015

    Yesterday saw returning clients, as Jayne and Andy joined us for an Otter Safari.  Their previous day with NEWT, back in September 2010, proved memorable as we found a White-winged Black Tern at Cresswell. Under blue skies and sunshine, in stark contrast to recent days, we headed for Druridge Bay and southeast Northumberland.  Arriving at…

  • Searching; Lindisfarne Safari 14/09/2015

    When we’re heading to the coast, and a generally easterly wind is accompanied by mist and drizzle, my pulse starts racing… I collected Clare and Peter from The Swan and we headed north to collect Phil and Susan from the Lindisfarne Hotel.  Holy Island can be a migrant hotspot, and the number of Song Thrushes…

  • Eight year itch; Otter Safari 18/07/2015

    It’s always a pleasure when clients who haven’t met before get on so well with each other.  Of course they always have a shared interest in wildlife, and other shared interests feature regularly (camping, walking and cycling in particular), and long quests in search of an elusive species soon become a talking point… I arrived…

  • The Island; Lindisfarne Safari 12/10/2014

    After a break from work and blogging, and our first proper holiday in quite a while, I got back into the swing of things on Sunday with a visit to probably my favourite mid-October location… Crossing the causeway to Holy Island is always accompanied by a sense of anticipation, and when I collected Graham and…

  • Sealed; Bespoke North Northumberland Coast Safari 22/08/2014

    After some poor sea conditions recently, things looked more promising for Friday’s trip; a seal cruise around the Farne Islands, followed by a few hours of birdwatching along the North Northumberland coast.  A change is as good as a rest, and the North Northumberland coast is quite a change from the sand dunes and coastal…

  • Wading through coastal flocks; Druridge Bay mini-Safari 21/08/2014

    Changeable, that’s the thing I love about Northumberland’s weather.  Thursday’s mini-Safari in managed to feature bright sunshine, strong winds and torrential rain – all in just a few hours. I collected Diana and Aveen from Alnmouth and we headed down the coast towards Druridge Bay.  Starting with a brief seawatch, we found Eider and Common…

  • The magic of dusk; Otter Safari 20/08/2014

    After four consecutive successful Otter Safaris since mid-July, I was fairly sure that dusk would be the best time to search for them, and the afternoon could be spent enjoying some excellent birdwatching with the added possibility of stumbling across an Otter in broad daylight… I arrived in Craster to collect Dave and Naomi and…

  • Lifers; Druridge Bay birdwatching 13/08/2014

    It isn’t unusual for our clients to see species for the first time on one of our tours, but it’s much less usual for me to see something new… I collected Chris from home in Gosforth and we headed out towards the coast and Druridge Bay.  It’s always a great pleasure to have Chris out…

  • Twitching; Druridge Bay 29/07/2014

    I collected Stephen from home in North Shields and we headed north to Druridge Bay for an afternoon and evening of birdwatching.  Late July can produce some very good birds, and this was to be no exception… Mediterranean Gull is a bit of a southeast Northumberland speciality, and the ghostly white adult drifting across the…

  • Birdwatching in an iconic landscape; Lindisfarne 23/09/2013

    After two long hard days offshore (8hr pelagic on Saturday – blog post coming soon! – and 14hr offshore on Sunday for a North East Cetacean Project transect survey) today brought some light relief from the rolling swell of the North Sea as I headed north to Seahouses to collect Phil and Ann (who had…