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Breezy Black Grouse; North Pennines Bespoke Birdwatching 25/04/17
Tuesday was my third consecutive 03:30 alarm call and, bleary eyed, I cleared the snow off the car ahead of a trip to the North Pennines with one specific aim – to watch Black Grouse lekking… I collected Sylvia and Stephen from Corbridge and we headed westwards. The first rays of sunlight illuminated the tops…
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Springtime in the hills 🙂 North Pennines Bespoke Birdwatching 24/04/17
This morning was another early start, and I crawled out of bed at 03:30 as the alarm disrupted my sleep… I collected Daniel and Nigel from Ponteland and we headed towards the North Pennines. Curlew and Lapwing were displaying over the fells, but in the icy cold stiff breeze, Red Grouse and Black Grouse were…
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Serenade; North Pennines Bespoke Photography 23/04/17
Yesterday was an early start for David, who was the runner up in the junior category of last year’s North East Wildlife Photography competition, and his parents Helen and John. We’ve sponsored the junior category since the inception of the competition and, for some reason, the winners of the prize that we offer usually choose…
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Game on; North Pennines Safari 19/04/17
I collected Steph from her home in Gateshead, for the first of four North Pennines trips I’m guiding over the next week, and we headed westwards… A Greyhen, hunkered down against the wind and rain in roadside vegetation, was fairly obliging as Snipe, Curlew and Lapwing displayed overhead and a Blackcock sat motionless in a…
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Choppy; Otter Safari 14/04/17
Friday was Adrian and Ruth’s 2nd day out with NEWT, after Monday’s Cheviots Valleys/Druridge Bespoke tour, and I arrrived at Church Point to collect them, as well as Sandra and Paco, and Rachel and Andy. A torrential downpour passed mercifully quickly and we were on our way for an afternoon and evening around Druridge Bay…
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Searching; Otter Safari 18/10/16
A day around Druridge Bay and southeast Northumberland was in store as I arrived at Church Point to collect Sam, Luke, Perdi and Georgina. Ghostly white Mediterranean Gulls were drifting through the assembled cloud of Black-headed Gulls as we prepared to head a few miles inland, and a Swallow over the caravan park was an…