Northern Experience Wildlife Tours

Tag: Otter

  • Showstopper; Otter Safari 04/06/2015

    Every so often, there’ll be an experience during a trip with clients that is simply jaw-dropping…

    I arrived at Church Point in summary weather and set off with six clients to explore Druridge Bay and south east Northumberland in search of Otters.  Avocets with eggs and chicks were delicately, elegantly beautiful, a Whimbrel flew around, calling noisily, Great Crested Grebes with chicks rivalled the Avocets in elegance, a Cuckoo made its way along a fence line, the rhythmic song of Reed Warbler provided an aural backdrop for much of the afternoon and a Roe Deer appeared from a reedbed at dusk before clearing a fence and bounding away.

    The jaw-dropping moment came, not with an Otter, but with another predator.  Usually when we encounter a Barn Owl you get a brief view before it heads off elsewhere to hunt.  This time though we had a prolonged view with the ghostly white bird no more than 20m away from us at times as it quartered rough grassland, hovering in beautiful golden light, a translucent-winged, silent angel of death scouring the ground below for small rodents to dispatch.

  • Dodging the showers; Otter mini-Safari 27/05/2015

    A weather forecast that ‘promises’ heavy rain for the entire duration of an evening with clients isn’t what we would hope for, but you can’t always trust the forecast…

    As I arrived at Church Point, followed soon after by Lesley and Andrew, the rain was falling steadily and the sky looked ever so slightly ominous.  Gordon and Mandy arrived a few minutes later and we set 0ff on an evening exploration of Druridge Bay and southeast Northumberland in search of Otters.  Our first site revealed a skittish Mallard, although we couldn’t see what was spooking it, Little Egret, Common Terns and very close views of a Mink.  The weather had improved by this point, although there were still some ominous dark clouds away to the west as we headed north along Druridge Bay.  A Barn Owl broke off from hunting and perched obligingly on a fence post for several minutes, before launching a persistent attack on a male Marsh Harrier that was quartering the reeds.  Tufted Ducks were looking very alert, as were a pair of Great Crested Grebes, although we couldn’t be certain whether this was because of the harrier or another threat that we couldn’t see.  A Mute Swan pair with nine fluffy cygnets seeemd unconcerned and, as dusk approached, we positioned ourselves overlooking a spot where I was reasonably confident we’d find an Otter.  With hardly a breath of wind, and an overcast sky, viewing conditions were near perfect; very still water and a pale surface against which anything moving, particularly anything dark, would stand out…

    After a few minutes Mandy spotted something swimming along and diving, just visible above the tops of the reeds in front of us, and we were soon all watching an Otter 🙂  After a few minutes of feeding it changed direction and headed quickly straight across the pool and out of sight into the reeds.  Then the dark clouds arrived overhead, accompanied by a strong breeze and heavy rain…

  • Tired and emotional; Bespoke Otter Safari 10-11/04/2015 Part 2

    …I was mulling over the options for last light when the buzzing from my pocket told me I’d received a text message.  Not from Sarah, but from Stephen “Hi Martin.  If you’re stuck for Otters…”

    A quick dash along the track back to the car, a quick car journey down the coast, and we were soon staring intently at a duck-covered pond.  A little bit of panic amongst the ducks, but no sign of an Otter.  We always want our clients to see the wildlife that they desire, but in this case Georgia was so excited at the prospect of seeing an Otter, and we’d put in so much effort in pretty unpleasant weather conditions, that I was willing one to appear…even though I know that’s not how wildlife sightings tend to work.  With falling light levels I tend to put my binoculars down and just scan with my eyes, so that’s what I did, not just because that’s my usual approach but also because I was chilled to the bone from earlier in the afternoon, shivering and barely able to hold my binoculars steady…and a brief dark shape rolling at the surface in the middle distance was just what I was looking for.  Switch to binoculars while giving directions to everyone else in the hide…and the Otter popped up into view 🙂  A second animal appeared briefly a couple of times but this one was obligingly hunting back and forth along the edge of a reedbed.  I don’t think I’ve ever seen a client so overwhelmed by wildlife, so much so that I could have cried.  The Otter created a problem all of it’s own…there was no way we were going to get Georgia to leave the hide while it was still showing, and last food orders at The Swan were rapidly approaching.  The girls knew what they were planning to eat though so a quick ‘phone call to Sarah, who was on her way to the pub, sorted the issue of getting their order in on time.  Eventually it was so dark that Otter, reedbed and water’s edge merged into one and we headed back to The Swan.

    I’d arranged to take the girls back to Newcastle to catch their train on Sunday morning, but a text from Alan changed our timings slightly and soon I was standing on the dunes at Cambois with Fran, Georgia and Sarah…watching a small group of Bottlenose Dolphins through the mist, rain and, yes, once again, bone-chilling wind 🙂

  • “I really love otters”; Bespoke Otter Safari 10-11/04/2015

    Friday and Saturday saw a two day bespoke safari for Fran and Georgia, arranged by their mum back in early December.

    I collected the girls from The Swan and we headed towards Druridge Bay.  We weren’t too far along the road when Georgia asked if we’d seen any Otters recently.  I told them about Thursday’s sightings, and there was an obvious raising of excitement levels in the car…and, with typical wildlife unpredictability, we managed to get right through Friday without an Otter sighting 🙁  Dippers zipping back and forth along the River Blyth were entertaining, a drake Garganey on the Wansbeck was stunning, Little Egrets and Avocets were elegant, but of the sinuous stealthy predator there was no sign.  We returned to The Swan and I started revising our plans for Saturday…

    Saturday 05:00 and I stumble sleepily to the bathroom.  There’s one thing I really don’t want to hear, and that’s a howling gale.  This wasn’t looking promising; our plan for the day was a Seal Cruise around the Farne Islands, and then more time searching for Otters, and neither of those would be helped by the hoolie that I could hear whistling through the trees in our garden.  We arrived in Seahouses for our sailing on Glad Tidings V, and the sea was looking ever so slightly lumpy.  We did manage to sail though, and were rewarded with Cormorant, Shag, Guillemot, Eider, Kittiwake and the two stars of the morning – Puffin and Grey Seal.  Back on dry land we resumed the search for Otters, and the wind strengthened so that we could hear an eerie whistling around trees, bridges and us!  With a wind chill factor taking temperatures down to bone-chilling, and a hail storm pinging ice off our heads, we were having to suffer for our wildlife…and still no Otters.  Sarah was out and about checking other locations and sending regular texts to let me know where she’d checked.  Our final backup plan was an 06:00 start on Sunday, but I don’t think anyone was really too keen on that idea.

    18:30 and the wind shifted from west to southwest and weakened slightly, the sun came out and I started to feel more optimistic.  I had one decision left to make though, and that was which of our two options for sunset to go for…

  • More mustelid mania; Otter mini-Safari 09/04/2015

    I’d arrived at Church Point, to collect Ian, Rosie, Ali, Vicky, Suzie and Aravind, and then had a voicemail on my mobile.  One of their cars had a problem, so they’d taken it to CarBar.  A quick change of plan and I collected them from Morpeth instead, and we headed towards the southeast Northumberland coast in search of Otters.  Goldeneye were displaying, Redshank and Curlew were probing the gooey mud and a Little Egret caught a fish and then dropped it and just stared at the water without refinding it’s prey.  Rosie had just asked where Otters were most likely to be seen on the stretch of water we were looking at, I turned to indicate the general area that I thought would be most productive…and there was an Otter 🙂  We watched it for a few minutes as it fed, and I was fairly sure it was one of the young female Otters we’d watched regularly since December.

    Each time the Otter dived we could follow it’s movements by the trail of bubbles on the water’s surface but it soon vanished from view, as they often do, and everyone’s attention remained focused on the water.  Then another Otter popped up.  This one was a bit of surprise though; a very small cub that isn’t any of the four animals we’ve been watching over the last few months.  It surfaced like a spyhopping dolphin before sliding back beneath the waves then an adult surfaced just beyond the cub, and we’d seen three different Otters 🙂  Rosie then spotted another mustelid, and the Weasel engaged in a game of peek-a-boo from a stone wall before running along the bank.

    Sometimes, when the day seems to be going wrong…

  • Weather 1, Newt 1, NEWT 0; Otter Safari 06/04/2015

    I’ve long held the belief that the worst weather conditions for wildlife watching are strong cold winds.  There is something worse though, although so unusual that we rarely have to worry about it…

    I was out early yesterday morning, in what seemed to be ideal conditions.  From the coast I could see what looked like low cloud massing on the eastern horizon though.  By the time I was driving towards Alnwick to collect Jonathan and Katherine, that low cloud had arrived on the coast, and proved to be an incredibly dense sea fret.   A Common Newt, in a state of torpor, had presumably been part way across the footpath when the fret, and it’s bone-chilling temperatures, arrived.  We moved the newt out of harm’s way and began our search for Otters.  Canada Geese, Greylag Geese, Mute Swans, Mallards and Tufted Duck were all splashing and alarming.  There could have been a rampaging pack of Otters terrorising the waterfowl, but as visibility was less than 50m we couldn’t be sure what was causing all of the consternation 😉  A Little Egret shone briefly in the gloom before being enveloped by the next wave of cloud rolling in off the sea and, as we checked all of our regular sites visibility decreased, then improved briefly, then decreased again.  A few miles inland it was glorious, but every coastal waterbody was under a thick cloud so, after lunch, we decided to cut the trip down to a mini-safari.

    It was atmospheric…

  • Mustelid mania; 05/04/2015

    Arriving in Newbiggin to collect Susan, Dan, Chris and Helen, the first thing that struck me was just how warm it was.  Blue skies, bright sunshine, only a slight breeze – almost an early summer day 🙂

    We began our search of Druridge Bay and southeast Northumberland with those habitual Otter impersonators, Cormorant and Goldeneye, grabbing our attention.  Then Little Egret, Redshank and Mallard all moved away from where I think our regular Otters have their holt, although there was no sign of the elusive predator.  A Stoat, all bounding energy, chased, but missed catching, a Rabbit and a pair of Marsh Harriers drifted over coastal reedbeds with a third bird nearby as Cormorants and Curlew lazed in the sunshine and Red-breasted Mergansers delivered their comical courtship display.

    Finally, distantly, as the sun slipped towards the horizon a sleek, sinuous shape crossed the river before inspecting a bankside log and vanishing into a tangle of brambles 🙂

  • Life, the universe and everything; Otter Safari 04/04/2015

    As I arrived at The Swan to collect Alan, Sarah and Sam it was looking like a glorious spring day.  The plan for the day was to search all of our regular Otter sites around Druridge Bay and southeast Northumberland.  Chiffchaff, Chaffinch and Robin were all singing, Little Egret were stalking through the shallows (almost a permanent feature of our coastal trips now), Cormorant and Goldeneye caused momentary panic as they slipped beneath the water’s surface, Stonechats tail-flicked atop coastal bushes and Meadow Pipits were song-flighting.  Towards the end of the day we came across a species that is always attention-grabbing, as a Kingfisher flew downstream towards us before crossing the river and perching in a low bush, sitting obligingly as we trained our ‘scopes on it.

    As we travelled between sites, Sam’s unquenchable thirst for knowledge generated a keenly contested quiz.  Not on wildlife though, this was a quiz on the solar system and astronomy!  Now, I thought my knowledge of the universe was good, but thanks to an enthusiastic 7 year old, I finished the day with it expanded 🙂

  • Good Friday, great Friday; 03/04/2015

    After two unsuccessful searches for Otters in the last week, I decided to spend some time this morning out in the field on my own.  Time to track down the elusive predator and get a handle on current activity patterns…

    A cold north-easterly and persistent rain maybe aren’t the best of conditions to be sitting around on the edges of rivers and ponds, but putting in the hard hours on my own when the opportunity arises is how we manage to deliver great wildlife experiences for our clients.  Wildlife watching may rely to a certain extent on a good deal of luck, but being in the right place at the right time means that the odds are stacked in our favour (as much as they can be when wildlife is involved!).

    A lone Chiffchaff was optimistically delivering it’s song from the shelter of a small bush, Little Egret, Cormorant, Goldeneye and Red-breasted Merganser were all making a dent in the local fish population, Grey Herons somehow managed to look even more miserable than usual, Sand Martins were probably wondering why they’d arrived back in Northumberland already and then the discomfort of sitting in the rain paid off.  First a Kingfisher flew along the water’s edge; bright orange and electric blue shining through the gloom.  As I watched it’s progress through the drizzle, three Goldeneye crossed my field of view, all apparently in a hurry to be somewhere else – and that ‘somewhere else’ proved to be anywhere that the two Otters weren’t 🙂

  • Springtime in Northumberland; Druridge Bay mini-Safari 02/03/2015

    Unexpected safaris are always a pleasure, and yesterday was a mini-Safari around Druridge Bay that was only arranged on Tuesday.

    I collected Alison, John, May and Isaac from Low Hauxley and we headed down the coast.  In glorious weather, the cacophony of unbridled bird song was a noticeable contrast to the gloomy days of March.  Chaffinch, Wren, Goldfinch, Blackbird and Robin were all singing and the onomatopoeia of our first Chiffchaff of the year was emanating from deep cover.  A pair of Red-breasted Mergansers, all crazy hair do and striking pattern, were swimming back and forth with their heads below the surface in search of fish, a Little Egret stalked elegantly through the shallows, Curlew, Oystercatcher and Redshank prodded and probed in the gooey mud, Goldeneye and Cormorant imitated the Otters we were looking for and Grey Herons stood, sentinel like, against the riverside bushes.  Canada and Greylag Geese were noisily proclaiming their arrival, a young Whooper Swan lived up to it’s name and Great Crested Grebes and Pintail vied for the accolade of elegant beauty.

    A male Marsh Harrier drifted by and a Mediterranean Gull, ghostly white against the speckled backdrop of Black-headed Gulls, performed for some of the group, before frustratingly hiding in the middle of the gull flock.  Common Buzzards were soaring against the blue sky and hovering Kestrels were a feature throughout the morning and early afternoon, as Meadow Pipits song-flighted from coastal fence-posts.

    It certainly feels like the spring…