Tag: Mallard

  • Delightful drizzle; Otter mini-Safari 01/04/2024

    I ‘phoned Helen on Monday morning to check that everything was still ok for the evenings excursion searching for Otters. It was raining quite hard, and visibility wasn’t great, but with her brother and sister visiting, to celebrate her 60th birthday, Monday was the only realistic option… Luckily it wasn’t windy, as that’s the weather…

  • Punk’s not dead; Otter mini-Safari 22/01/22

    Yesterday was our first mini-Safari this year, after filling the first three weeks of the year with stargazing events and all of the planning for other projects we’re going to be involved in this year, so it was great to meet up with Clare and Lisa, then Monica and Michael, for a few hours around…

  • Back on track and tracking the storm; Druridge Bay mini-Safari 04/07/21

    With so many postponed trips last year, it’s been great to get out again and start meeting clients who we’ve been chatting to via email for a long time 🙂 I arrived in Druridge Bay and met up with Phil, then Melanie, then Marjorie and Ollie for an evening searching for otters and other wildlife.…

  • Wading through the sublime light; Druridge Bay mini-Safari 20/08/2020

    I arrived to meet Paul and Helen ahead of a few hours around Druridge Bay and we set off to walk south along the coast… A mixed wader/gull/tern roost produced Lapwing, Golden Plover, Dunlin, Knot, Ruff, Black-tailed Godwit, Little Ringed Plover, Common Redshank, Spotted Redshank, Sandwich Tern and Common, Black-headed, Herring and Great Black-backed Gull…

  • Bespoke Otter Safari 07/02/20

    As I collected Amy and James from Warkworth, ahead of a day around Druridge Bay and southeast Northumberland, the forecast for the morning was good, but there was a chance it would start to deteriorate during the afternoon… With only a gentle breeze every area of water we looked at was close to mirror-calm. Mallard,…

  • Vital signs; Otter mini-Safari 12/01/20

    A dual purpose title for today’s blog… I collected Fara, Andrew and Nicola & Graeme and Jen from Newbiggin and we set off to explore Druridge Bay and southeast Northumberland on a Sunday morning that was thankfully lacking the stiff breeze that has characterised the winter so far… Water that was almost mirror-calm was patterned…

  • Halcyon days; Otter Safari 19/12/19

    After a couple of weeks where we didn’t have any scheduled trips it was a nice change of scenery to have a day out around Druridge Bay and southeast Northumberland and I collected Kev from Woodhorn as the rain started to fall… Mid-morning produced a trio of great birds. A 1st winter Glaucous Gull had…

  • Wind-blasted; Bespoke Lindisfarne Safari 05/11/19

    I collected Sue for her 10th NEWT safari and we headed north in weather that didn’t seem to be quite certain of what it was… Along the causeway, with the tide only just receding from the road, Curlews, Knot, Bar-tailed Godwits, Grey Plovers, Redshanks and Oystercatchers were probing the freshly exposed mud as Pale-Bellied Brent…

  • Murmuration; Bespoke Druridge Bay Safari 21/10/19

    Late October and big flocks of stuff are starting to feature more and more prominently… I collected Caroline, Ian and Ted from Embleton and we headed down the coast towards NEWT’s local patch, Druridge Bay and southeast Northumberland. Little Grebes were diving in calm water as Cormorants sat on long dead branches and a Kingfisher…

  • Quick start; Otter Safari 20/08/19

    I collected Jo from Newbiggin for her 2nd day out with NEWT and we set off for an afternoon and evening around Druridge Bay and southeast Northumberland searching for Otters… As we set off I decided to change the order that we’d visit our usual sites…and it paid off almost immediately with an Otter cub…