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Seawatching; Druridge Bay mini-safari 16/07/2015
Thursday’s second mini-safari was around NEWT’s local patch of Druridge Bay and southeast Northumberland. I arrived at Church Point to collect Mike, and we started with a scan of the sea in search of White-beaked Dolphin. It was a bit on the choppy side for observing cetaceans, but there was an obvious movement of seabirds…
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Never mind the Balearics…
…here’s the Bonxies. Watching the weather forecast during the week, and having a day on Holy Island on Thursday with Malcolm (trip report to come soon!), convinced me that there was somewhere I needed to be at dawn on Friday. Arriving at Church Point in the half-light there were a few cars already parked, and…
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Every cloud has a silver(y) grey lining
Our final full-day pelagic for 2012 was on Saturday and, although I was really looking forward to it, it’s always a shame when we reach the end of our offshore season. With strong winds on Thursday, and charter boats cancelling trips on Friday, I still felt that we’d be able to sail. We gathered at…
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Long, lazy swell
When I was on the coast just south of Cresswell on Friday evening, I didn’t hold out much hope for Saturday’s pelagic going ahead; a menacing sea, with waves forming towering peaks, didn’t look likely to abate. However, the sea is often fickle and Saturday saw nothing more than a long, lazy swell as we set…
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The whistling wind
Saturday’s Whale and Dolphin Cruise from Seahouses turned out to be an excellent few hours of birdwatching off the Northumberland coast. As we left the harbour, the swell of the tide had the boat rocking gently up and down. A mile or so later and we were in what I think of as ‘proper’ pelagic…
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RIB-tickling
Tuesday’s weather forecast was indicating something quite remarkable; a spell of nice weather between showers that would coincide exactly with our evening trip on Ocean Explorer. That’s just what we got and, after an afternoon of heavy rain, we boarded the RIB in excellent weather just after 6pm. The excitement of a high-speed journey south…
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White night
After a couple of poor-weather weekends, the elements relented and we headed out from Royal Quays on the SarahJFK for a 4hr evening pelagic in the North Sea off southeast Northumberland. Pomarine Skua, Manx Shearwater, Common Scoters and a summer-plumaged Red-throated Diver were the birdwatching highlights, but were eclipsed by what Stephen described as “the…
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The icing on the cake
As the rain hammered down while I packed the car ready for Sunday’s Otter Safari I was filled with optimism; the weather forecast (really, I should stop believing these…) suggested that the afternoon and evening would be dry and bright. When I arrived at Church Point Marc and Marika were already there, and we were joined…
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Bird Watching Magazine Reader Holiday Day 3: 09/07/2011
On Saturday morning our destination was Druridge Bay and southeast Northumberland and another poor weather forecast ( a bit of a running theme during the holiday…) suggested that we may well get wet. An addition to the mammal list for the trip raced across the road ahead of us; a Stoat – an endearing predator…