Northern Experience Wildlife Tours

Tag: Little Egret

  • Stress reduction

    It wasn’t a relaxing afternoon for the birds in Budle Bay yesterday, as a juvenile Peregrine worked it’s way back and forth, causing havoc as it went through.  Further north, and looking towards Holy Island from the mainland, flocks of Wigeon and Pale-bellied Brent Geese were moving as the tide fell, and Redshank, Dunlin and Grey Plover all took advantage of the newly exposed mud.  A Common Buzzard perched in a  hawthorn hedge at the roadside flushed as we approached but then hovered lazily over the fields.

    Looking the opposite way, from Holy Island back towards the mainland, dark steel grey clouds on the horizon were outlined in gold by the setting sun, Bar-tailed Godwits were feeding along the water’s edge and a quite stunning aural backdrop was provided by Grey Seals.  As the sun slipped out of sight, Grey Herons became inky black silhouettes against the shimmering golden reflection of the sky and the air was filled first with the plaintive calls of Grey Plover and then with the high yapping of Pink-footed Geese.  Skein after skein rose from the dark backdrop of the clouds on the horizon, appearing like swarms of bees against the dying embers of the day’s light.  A Little Egret flapped by, a ghostly white heron vanishing into the night.  Then, a grand finale to the afternoon’s birdwatching as the sky darkened, revealing a stunning array of stars, and the dark shapes of more Pink-footed Geese passed overhead, briefly cloaking the pin-points of light.  Relaxing, sublime, awe-inspiring…

  • Busy birdwatching

    Even though we live in southeast Northumberland, we’ll never tire of getting out and about searching for new experiences for our clients.  Days out with clients are always exciting as well, because we never know exactly what we’ll see or what it will be doing.

    Last Thursday we had a Southeast Northumberland/Druridge Bay safari with clients from a fairly wide geographical area; Jeff and Jean from Huddersfield, Lawrie and Linda from Glasgow and Yvonne from southwest Northumberland.  Starting at Newbiggin we managed a brief view of a Mediterranean Gull on the beach, and a small flock of Sanderling.  These little grey, white and black ‘clockwork toys’ are always entertaining as they scurry back and forth along the water’s edge.  The River Wansbeck was our next destination.  As expected there was a good sized flock of Lapwing roosting and Cormorants and Herons were doing what they do; standing with their wings out and just sort of standing respectively.  All of a sudden a wave of panic spread through the Lapwings.  We all scanned backwards, forwards, skywards but couldn’t see any cause.  Perhaps it was just a false alarm?  The birds settled but were up again within a minute, gradually settling back down with a great deal of conversation between them all.  Greenshanks flew by calling and the Lapwings were becoming increasingly jittery.  Even birds from distant streams were high in the air, forming the quite tight flocks that indicate the presence of a predator, something that creates anticipation wherever we’re birdwatching.  Eventually we found a distant Peregrine, and a big female Sparrowhawk slid menacingly through the trees opposite our watchpoint.  One or both of them was presumably the cause for concern.  Even the Great Black-backed Gulls flushed and flew overhead, giving calls of consternation.

    Among the coastal waders, perhaps the best were three Common Snipe, unusually confiding and just a few metres away from us.  The fall of passerine migrants earlier in the week had left a few goodies behind.  Spotted and Pied Flycatchers were quite elusive, sallying forth and then back into cover, Willow Warblers and Chiffchaffs were picking their way through willows beside the path and, providing a visual feast to rival the gaudiest of birds from elsewhere in the world, six male Common Redstarts were along one short stretch of hedge.  There really is little to rival the beauty of these birds.

    At the conclusion of our journey up the coast a bird as lacking in colour as the Redstart is bathed in it was a final wonderful sighting.  As we watched two Grey Herons perched in trees overhanging the River Coquet, a Little Egret flew by before returning and perching high in the treetops in a spot where we could watch it through the ‘scope.  There can’t be many better places to be birdwatching than the Northumberland coast in September 🙂

  • Wildlife and birdwatching on the Northumberland coast 08/08/2010

    Sunday’s Northumberland coast safari started very close to home, with Germaine and Greg having stayed at The Swan on Saturday evening.  We started with our usual riverside walk, looking at an artificial holt and talking about the ecology of the Otter.  Our first really good sighting of the day was a Red Squirrel, which chattered angrily at a photographer who was sitting beneath the tree that it was descending.  Woodland birdwatching can be sometimes be very quiet, but with a large mixed flock of tits and Goldcrests, as well as Treecreepers and a very aggressive Nuthatch around the same glade there was plenty to see.  Out on to the coast south of Druridge Bay and, in the warm sunshine, our favourite Little Owl was posing for the camera.  The sunshine was also encouraging insect activity and we quickly added to the day list; Common Darter, Blue-tailed Damselfly, Common Blue Damselfly, Meadow Brown, Small Copper, Shaded Broad-bar, Lesser Marsh Grasshopper, Common Blue Butterfly, Green-veined and Small White were all found along one small stretch of footpath.  Grey Herons were stalking along the pond edges and one got into a gruesome wrestling match with a large Eel.  All of the ducks scattered, clearly there was something in the reeds that they were unhappy about, but what it was didn’t reveal itself.  Further north, we came across three Little Egrets (surely the next addition to Northumberland’s breeding birds – if they haven’t already…), a Common Lizard that was sunning itself and, thanks to Germaine’s sharp eyes, a pair of Roe Deer.  A really good day, with a real mixed bag of wildlife and clients who made it all the more enjoyable.  And to think…Sunday used to be homework-marking day 😉

  • Something for the weekend

    There are times in the winter when I’m mainly office-based and what I really look forward to, during what often seem like interminably long days, is the arrival of the Spring and increasing numbers of ‘client days’.

    On Tuesday morning I headed to Newbiggin to collect John and Christine, clients from last year’s Beginners Birdwatching ‘Seabirds and Waders’, who were back in Northumberland for a birdwatching morning in Druridge Bay.  The weather was erratic to say the least, with bright warm sunshine, a bitterly cold northeasterly wind, sleet and even snow it was a morning to be wrapped up warm.  The birding was as excellent as we would expect in mid-May; the morning’s highlights included a male Ruff in full breeding plumage, eight elegant beautiful Black-tailed Godwits, a pair of Garganey and some incredibly close views of Whitethroats as they warbled their scratchy song from hedgerows, trees and telegraph poles.

    This morning brought something completely different; a Lindisfarne Safari with our first Spanish clients.  Alfredo and Nieves had managed to get across from Ibiza, despite the disruption caused by the Icelandic volcano, and were looking forward to a day birdwatching on Holy Island and the north Northumberland coast.  The weather was changeable again but, as yesterday, we stayed dry.  A flock of 80 Ringed Plover on Holy Island were very vocal as they repeatedly flew overhead, 2 Little Egrets in Budle Bay flew by calling and a Little Gull and a White Wagtail at Monk’s House Pool were both nice surprise finds.  Eventually we found ourselves bathed in warm sunshine as pairs of Arctic Terns displayed high overhead against the azure sky and, looking inland, we could still see a lingering snowfield on the Cheviot.  Alfredo and Nieves both have a broad, and quite detailed knowledge of natural history, and Alfredo is a keen, and skilful, photographer.  I only have a very limited grasp of Spanish but through a combination of Spanish, English, Latin and a shared love of natural history and photography, any language barriers were easily transcended.

    We’ve got Northumberland birdwatching tours for the rest of the week and then on Saturday it’ll be time to chill out with a glass of wine, a BBQ and our National Moth Night event at Lee Moor Farm, near Alnwick.  All are welcome, so give us a call on 01670 827465 if you would like to come along for an evening of wildlife watching fun, suitable for young or old, beginner or expert.