Northern Experience Wildlife Tours

Tag: moorhen

  • Spring arrivals; Druridge Bay Safari 30/04/2015

    It’s been a cold windy spring, and a few of our summer visitors seemed a bit tardy; we found our first Sand Martin and Chiffchaff later than we would have expected, but the day has been coming when things would start to happen…

    I collected Jan and Peter from Church Point and we set out to spend the day exploring Druridge Bay.  It was, unsurprisingly, cold and very windy again but that didn’t impact on our day birdwatching.  Skylarks soared and sang, Marsh Harriers drifted over reedbeds and fields close to the coast and an impressive range of waders performed obligingly; Oystercatcher, Curlew, Ringed Plover, Avocet, Turnstone, Dunlin, Sanderling and Black-tailed Godwit – the latter three species resplendent in breeding plumage – demonstrated why this is such a popular group of species with birdwatchers.  The godwit in particular stood out; clothed in chestnut and a vision of elegance to rival the Little Egret that was stalking along the water’s edge nearby.  Moorhen and Coot crept furtively along the edge of reedbeds, Stonechat and Meadow Pipit flicked their tails nervously at the tops of bushes in the dunes and an eye-catching fly-catching adult Little Gull was easily picked out from amongst Black-headed Gulls.  Seawatching over lunchtime is a regular feature of our Druridge Bay trips and Eider, Gannet, Manx Shearwater and Common Guillemot could all be seen offshore as Fulmars soared and arced along the clifftops a few metres way from us. Wheatears and a Whinchat flitted from tussock to tussock, strikingly beautiful as they always are at this time of the year, and then a sign that the summer is nearly here; hundreds of Sand Martins were flycatching above every pool on the coast as a group of six House Martins flew in, battling against the strengthening breeze with the imperative to head north driving them on.  Then, a Swift, and another, then six more.  Eight of these scythe-winged masters of the air flew by us, rocking from side-to-side into the wind as they headed to join the feast above the water.

    I love those days when we concentrate on looking for a single species, but a day birdwatching with clients and just enjoying, and marvelling, at everything that comes along is pretty much as good as it gets for a birdwatching guide 🙂 As Jan and Peter headed across to Bellingham, and I took the shorter journey back to the office, I was wondering if perhaps the summer weather was on the way…

  • On silent wings; Northumberland coast 26/04/2014

    There are some species that are favourites with particular clients, there are others that may be fairly common but still have good wildlife experience appeal, and then there are a select few that have everybody watching their every move…

    I arrived at Church Point and quickly located Carol, Dave, Megan and Emily.  Our carload was soon complete with the arrival of Mr and Mrs Robertson and we headed north along the Northumberland coast.  Our aim for the afternoon was to visit several Otter sites, in the hope of catching sight of the elusive sinuous predator.  Cold and windy isn’t an ideal weather condition for the search and it turned out that the closest we came (probably) was a sudden panic and ducks heading purposefully away from a reedbed, and an unseen menace.  Throughout the afternoon and evening there was plenty of avian interest; male Ruff, part way to breeding plumage, Grey Herons, stalking menacingly along the waters edge, Little Grebes, diving before surfacing with tiny fish, the cartoon-like Goosanders and Red-breasted Mergansers, noisy Greylag and Canada Geese and delicate, dainty Avocets, suddenly transformed into a furious vision of Hell when a female Marsh Harrier drifted foolishly over their pond.  As dark descended, Moorhens were making their way along the river side and Emily demonstrated remarkable hearing, picking out the squeaking of a shrew in the bankside vegetation. Eerie mammalian screeching from the woodland on the other side of the river was probably an altercation between Red Foxes as the last remnants of daylight gave way to the dark.

    The moment that had everyone’s attention focused came at sunset, in beautiful light.  We were almost back at the car when I spotted a familiar shape hovering above the dunes.  It dipped out of sight, before lifting from the grasses and heading towards us.  It dipped again, then perched on a fencepost before resuming the hunt.  Subtly coloured with mesmerising black eyes that are quite unforgettable the ‘Ghost Owl’, ‘Death Owl’, ‘Hushwing’ or simply Barn Owl has a rich folklore and really is one of those select few species that you’ll never tire of watching 🙂

  • A trip with extra added bite; Otter Safari 02/04/2014

    After a remarkably mild winter, Wednesday brought some weather with a bit of bite, the sort of day where you really need the wildlife to be performing at it’s best to take your mind off the conditions…

    I collected Katherine and Brenda from Church Point for an afternoon/evening Otter Safari, and we headed north up the coast through Druridge Bay.  Our first stop was looking very promising; Goosanders, Grey Herons, Avocets, Wigeon, Teal, Pintail, Mallard, Curlew, Lapwing, Dunlin, Bar-tailed Godwit, Redshank, Common Snipe, Turnstone…and a noticeable lack of birds in one corner of the pond 🙂 Always the first sign we look for when searching for Otters, so I was confident that there was one moving around close by.  It was looking so promising that I thought we should stay put and have lunch where we were.  I went back to the car to fetch our soup and sandwiches and when I got back to the hide, less than 5mins later, I was greeted with “You’re not going to believe it, but there’s an Otter just over there.”  Sure enough, Brenda’s directions had me looking in exactly the spot where it next surfaced 🙂  After a few minutes it went out of sight, before reappearing 30mins later, spreading panic amongst the ducks that were roosting at the water’s edge.  Then, as mysteriously as it first appeared, it dived and didn’t resurface where it could be seen.

    We headed on up the coast in conditions that were becoming less entertaining, with a brutal southeasterly wind that seemed to drive the cold and damp through every layer of clothing that could be mustered.  Noisy Black-headed Gulls were dive-bombing Canada Geese, Little Grebes were just being their cute selves, Sand Martins swirled back and forth over the River Aln, Coot and Moorhen busied themselves around the reedbeds and Greenfinch, Chaffinch, Blackbird, Mistle Thrush, Woodpigeon, Collared Dove and Wren were all singing.

    Probably a more wintry day than any day out we had during the winter, enriched by the sleek, sinuous menace of the Otter 🙂

  • Now you see them, now you don’t; mini-safari 22/03/2014

    To many people, the natural world around them is a bit of a mystery.  I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve been in a hide, people have come in, gazed quizzically out of the shutters, very quietly said “there’s nothing here” and left…oblivious to all of the wildlife that was actually there 🙂  Sometimes though, there’s a lot of wildlife that even we haven’t noticed…

    I arrived at Church Point and collected Jillian and Clive & Lucie and Anna, and we set off on an exploration of the Northumberland Coast from Druridge Bay to Alnmouth.  A stiff breeze was ruffling the water’s surface as Cormorants roosted, with that look of prehistoric menace that they do so well, Little Grebes dived and Wigeon grazed.  Curlew flew by and, as several noisy pairs of Canada Geese and Greylag Geese honked in alarm at an unseen danger, I was wondering where the bigger goose flocks were.  We hadn’t heard them, there hadn’t been any distant skeins breaking the skyline, nothing in fact to suggest there were any other geese around.  Then, we had help from the heavens above…as the RAF Sea King helicopter flew over from the south.  Suddenly, the sky was filled with nearly one thousand agitated, yapping, Pink-footed Geese.  They’d presumably been feeding just out of view behind a hedge, quietly getting on with the serious business of feeding up ready for the journey back north that they’ll soon be undertaking.  As the helicopter disappeared to the north the geese settled back down, and again they were very unobtrusive.

    Our dusk destination was a little stretch of river that we’ve visited regularly in recent weeks.  Moorhens were patrolling the reed edges, a Grey Heron flew across the river and perched in a tree, before  flying westwards towards the sunset behind another heron, Sea Trout were swirling, leaping, and sipping hapless insects from the surface and the only thing missing from the idyllic setting was our favourite predator…

  • A trio of Grebes and a splash in the gloom

    Tuesday and Wednesday were mini-safaris for one family, but different participants each day; Sue, Phil, Sandra and Inez on Tuesday and Sue (again), Jacqui, Paul and Hannah on Wednesday.

    Both days featured lots of waders and wildfowl; Redshank, Common Snipe, Curlew, Lapwing, Dunlin, Bar-tailed Godwit, Goldeneye, Pintail, Tufted Duck, Gadwall, Mallard, Teal, Wigeon and Red-breasted Merganser were all very obliging, with the ducks particularly stunning, and the Goldeneye engaging in their quite captivating display.  Moorhens picking scraps off a skeleton at the edge of Cresswell Pond were described as ‘totally gross’ by Inez, and it isn’t easy to argue with that summation 🙂

    Although the two days were similar, there were some notable differences; Tuesday produced Slavonian and Red-necked Grebes, alongside the Little Grebes that we saw on both days, and Wednesday featured Water Rail and Roe Deer.  Wednesday also produced a very brief Otter encounter, as a dark shape rolled at the surface in the deepening gloom, crossed the river and rolled again as the local Mallards stared in terror into the darkness.

  • Wild Geese and small predators; Druridge Bay 20/09/2013

    After a damp morning around Druridge Bay on Thursday, Friday looked much more promising.  I collected Simeon and Kathy from their holiday accommodation in Warkworth and we set off down the coast for an afternoon around Druridge Bay and southeast Northumberland.  Late summer/early autumn trips often feature plenty of waders and wildfowl and this was no exception.  Common Snipe were playing ‘hard-to-spot’ as they slept in sparse clumps of reed, Dunlin, Ruff, Ringed Plover, Black-tailed Godwit, Lapwing and Golden Plover were all either roosting or sticking their beaks into the mud and a lone Greenshank was sitting on the periphery of a big flock of Lapwing.  On slow deep wingbeats a Sparrowhawk flew low across the water towards us, pulling sharply up and over us at the last minute.  Over a coastal reedbed a juvenile Marsh Harrier drifted lazily along, swooping down towards the water and scattering the Mallard and Teal that had been dozing contentedly there.

    Mid-afternoon we were treated to the spectacle of the sky filled with skein after skein of geese; mainly Pink-footed, but with small groups of Greylag and Canada interspersed amongst the yapping flocks of one our favourite Icelandic winter visitors.  Our next magic moment came courtesy of a mustelid.  Not the Otter that we were searching for, but instead the beautiful little predator that has featured on so many of our trips in the last few weeks.  For several minutes we watched as a Stoat ran backward and forwards along the water’s edge, perched on rocks, had a good look at a Moorhen and finally bounded away through the poolside vegetation.  Another small predator provided the next wildlife experience.  Lapwing, Golden Plover, Ruff, Black-tailed Godwits, Dunlin, Teal, Mallard, Gadwall and Starling all took to the air; had they spotted an Otter lurking in the reeds?  maybe a Fox?  No, what was coming was the Grim Reaper on tiny pointed wings.  A Merlin was suddenly amongst the scattered birds in the air.  Twisting and turning, the tiny falcon had singled out a Dunlin from the multitude of possible targets in front of it.  The chase was on and could be easily followed by watching the path carved through the tightly bunched Lapwings that had taken to the air in alarm.  As the Dunlin made a final bid for freedom, the Merlin gave up the chase and settled, out of sight, in a hawthorn bush in the dunes.  It didn’t have long to catch it’s breath before it was disturbed by a dog walker and flew into a dune slack away from disturbance.  Simeon’s comment after this life and death chase echoed those of many of our clients previously “it’s gripping, but I was really willing the Dunlin to get away”.

    As the evening progressed and the Sun dropped below the western horizon, geese began arriving to roost, bats were flitting back and forth across our field of view and, as the light finally faded to black and we headed back to Warkworth, a Barn Owl flew low over the car.

  • Performer

    There are times when we’re out with clients and encounter a species that’s really unexpected, other times a bird or animal will do something really impressive and sometimes, just sometimes, it’s the often overlooked ‘little brown jobs’ that are the stars of the show.

    I collected Stephen from home in North Shields and headed north to collect Gordon and Mandy, and Susan for her second day out with me.  In weather that didn’t seem sure what it was going to do, we were soon watching a stunning Yellow Wagtail.  As House Martins, Sand Martins, Swallows and Swifts hawked insects just over our heads a singing Sedge Warbler was located at the top of a dead tree, and one of his near neighbours was busy answering the challenge laid down.  For over an hour everything we watched was accompanied by the frenetic warbling of this little bundle of energy; first he perched half way up a reedbed, then hopped higher to take a position on reeds that were so thin they swayed under his weight before beginning a series of song-flights, culminating in a dive into deep cover…then he started the whole process again.  Often we see Sedge Warblers as they flit from one reedbed to another, but this bird was going flat out – either trying to attract a mate, or warning his neighbours that the reedbed and its immediate surroundings was his domain.  Little Grebes, Coots, Moorhens, Mallards, Tufted Ducks and Greylag Geese were all staring nervously at one edge of the reeds, but the cause of their concern didn’t reveal itself.

    Down the coast in Druridge Bay there was a good assortment of Little Gulls, deftly dip-feeding and taking insects from the water’s surface, a Great Crested Grebe sailed serenely by, Tree Sparrows were picking insects from the shoreline vegetation and Fulmars were soaring effortlessly along the cliff edges.

    Just an excellent day birdwatching with lovely clients for company 🙂

  • Arrivals

    As I pulled into the car park at The Swan, Peter and Elizabeth were sitting in the bright sunshine.  There was still a cold edge to the breeze though, and we set out to explore Druridge Bay, south east Northumberland and the Northumberland coast.

    Masses of frogspawn was evidence that our amphibians were getting on with business as usual, regardless of the weather, and a newt rose to the surface of a small pond to take a gulp of air before sinking out of sight back into the murky depths.  Chaffinches, Robins, Song Thrushes and Blackbirds were singing, and a Chiffchaff was a welcome sound – we’d normally expect to start hearing them in mid-March, but this was our first this year.  A flock of Redwings were blown by like scraps of paper on the strengthening breeze and, just south of Cresswell, Fulmars glided effortlessly by, riding the updraft of the wind seemingly perilously close to the cliffs.

    Another amphibian joined the day list, as a Common Toad walked along the path towards us, realised we were there, then retreated to the edge of the path and tucked all of it’s legs in so that it resembled a stone and waited for us to pass by.  A Greylag Goose was incubating and I mentioned that the same site usually held a pair of Mute Swans…and one appeared, but we didn’t see where from.  The mystery was solved a few minutes later as it’s mate walked out of a reedbed, straight over the incubating Greylag and paddled across the water.  Incredibly the Greylag barely gave the swan a second glance, but just sat tight on it’s nest.

    A Brown Hare sat haughtily in a roadside field, and a Sparrowhawk flew just ahead of the car for over 100m, before perching on a hedgerow and staring menacingly at us as we drove by.  By early evening the wind had really stiffened again and it started raining.  This didn’t dissuade a sub-adult male Marsh Harrier from hunting over a reedbed close to our position, and he eventually dropped into the reeds and onto prey; judging by the squealing he may have caught a Water Rail. Sand Martin, Swallow and House Martin in one flock were additions to the year list, 18 Red-breasted Mergansers were displaying, a few Goldeneye were busy feeding and, as we finished our day, along one of NEWT’s favourite rivers, a dark shape moving slowly along the water’s edge caused some excitement.  Was this our quarry, the sinuous predator that terrorises fish, birds and small mammals?  No, it was a Moorhen…

  • Fireworks

    As a chemist I’ve found fireworks fascinating for some time.  While I was still teaching, I developed a series of demonstration experiments that illustrated how different colours are produced by varying the chemicals in the mix and managed, during one particularly spectacular demo, to set fire to a pile of homework and the surface of my desk.  Every year there are information campaigns about domestic pets and fireworks, but never really anything about the effect on wildlife…

    I met up with Pete and Georgie at Church Point and we set off (in their car, but that’s a whole other story…) around Southeast Northumberland and Druridge Bay.  Perhaps my own favourite moment of the day came quite early as a Merlin chased a Common Snipe through the dunes at Cresswell.  An elusive Brambling played hide and seek with us nearby and the Coots, Moorhens, Mallards, Teal, Wigeon, Gadwall, Tufted Duck and Shoveler at each pond we visited seemed unconcerned and not indicating the presence of the sinuous predator that enlivens so many of our trips on the coast.

    As dusk approached things started to look a bit more interesting; Whooper Swans were clearly alert and agitated, all staring into the same reedbed.  We’ve seen it so many times before…and then ‘whoosh’, ‘whoosh’, ‘whoosh’, ‘bang’, ‘bang’, ‘bang’, ‘bang’, ‘bang’, as a fireworks display on a nearby beach scattered everything!  Ducks, geese, swans all took to the air and we finished the trip with not very much wildlife in view at all.

    As we headed back to the car a figure appeared out of the dark “Dr Kitching. Slight change of plan, Sarah’s poorly so I’ve come to collect you”.  The hero of the day was a man whose knowledge of the Northumberland coast is second to none, and whose blog is really worth checking out.  Cheers Ipin, you’re a star 🙂

  • Hide and seek

    Sunday was a Prestige Otter Safari for Chris and Sophie.  It was Chris’ birthday and, as I collected them from Berwick in some pretty horrible conditions, I was hoping that we would drive south into better weather.  Sure enough, we did pass out from under the rain clouds, but the day stayed quite gloomy and windy.  I’d already had an excellent start to the day’s birdwatching, with a flock of 14 Waxwings flying alongside the road as I approached Berwick.  I’m often asked what my favourite bird is, and usually reply that it’s impossible to have a favourite…but Waxwings have a special place at the top of my list 🙂

    Down in southeast Northumberland we found an adult Mediterranean Gull, and Chris proved to be remarkably eagle-eyed – picking out a sleeping Jack Snipe in an area of cut reeds.  On the water the usual suspects (Mallard, Teal, Wigeon, Tufted Duck, Shoveler, Gadwall) were joined by some less regular species; Scaup, Pintail and a pair of Long-tailed Ducks. Some surprising entertainment was provided by a Merlin which spent several minutes harassing a Magpie, and then there was a sudden movement of Goldeneye, Coot and Moorhen away from a reedbed.  They stared intently at the reeds for a few minutes before drifting back towards the edge, then repeated the whole process twice more!  There was something in the reeds that was causing concern, but it didn’t reveal itself (not an unusual occurrence in strong winds – and who could blame anything for staying sheltered?).  We moved on to another pool…and had a repeat performance, this time with Pochard, Goldeneye, Teal, Tufted Duck and Whooper Swan being a bit on edge.  Sometimes wildlife can be frustrating…

    Given the low temperatures and high wind, it seemed a little over-optimistic to get the bat detector out.  However, just to confirm that you can’t ever predict wildlife, we had at least two or three Common Pipistrelles, including some frenzied feeding activity around a streetlight, before heading back up the coast.