Northern Experience Wildlife Tours

Tag: Red-necked Phalarope

Turning tides; Bespoke Northumberland Coast photography 12/10/17

The Holy Island causeway makes it into the news for too frequently due to overly-optimistic car drivers who think that driving into a tidal estuary is going to turn out well…

I collected Tony from Fenham le Moor and we headed to the causeway to watch as the tide fell and the road was uncovered. More exciting though was the mud that was revealed, attracting Curlew, Bar-tailed Godwit, Barnacle Geese, Brent Geese, Pink-footed Geese, Turnstone, Teal, Wigeon, Shelduck and Dunlin 🙂 There’s a lot to see as the tide falls and after an hour on the island we had a wander down the coast. A Rock Pipit came close to the car but wasn’t too keen on having a camera lens pointed at it. Grey Heron, Little Egret and Cormorant were proving to be a scourge of small fish and the Red-necked Phalarope at Druridge Pools was performing well among a group of Shoveler, Gadwall and Tufted Duck.

A nice easy-paced day with plenty of birds in front of the camera and, it almost goes without saying now, a client who it was a pleasure to spend the day with 🙂

17/10/2017
Autumn’s treasures; Otter Safari 10/10/17

Sometimes it can be late in a trip before we find our target species., then there are the times when it’s almost embarrassingly quick and easy…

I collected Phil and Glynis from Amble and we headed down the coast for an afternoon and evening searching for Otters around Druridge Bay. I’d found an Otter at dusk on Tuesday so I knew where we’d be finishing the tour. On a hunch I thought that might be a good place to have the first hour of the tour too…and when we arrived there was a lot of panic among the Lapwings and a small group of Black-headed Gulls, with a single Common Gull, were circling above one spot. I concentrated on the water below the gulls, and there was an Otter! We watched it for around 40 minutes before it vanished into the reeds leaving us with Mallard, Teal, Wigeon, Pintail, Tufted Duck, Gadwall and Shoveler to watch. Next stop was Druridge Pools for an elusive Barred Warbler. There was a small crowd there already searching for it and, after an obliging Garden Warbler fooled a few people, it eventually came out into the open as a Redwing, surely one of the most beautiful thrushes we have, was sitting on a bare branch on the other side of a field. Next up was another scarce migrant, possibly the most delightful little wader to have ever graced the world’s avifauna. The Red-necked Phalarope was twirling in the shallow water, darting at small insects on the surface as the evocative cries of Curlew drifted across the marsh. A flock of 14 Whooper Swans passed by, seemingly unhappy with the lead swan’s choice of direction before they eventually settled on heading south where they were spotted by Sarah 🙂 Hedgerows were filled with the calls of Tree Sparrow and Goldcrest, and at least three Chiffchaffs darted in and out of the canopy, leading us a merry dance as we checked to see if there was anything exciting traveling with them, as Grey Heron and Little Egret stalked small fish.

Our picnic stop produced a nice roosting flock of Oystercatcher, Redshank, Curlew and Turnstone accompanied on the edge of the rocks and breaking surf by a Kingfisher 🙂 As dusk descended a Brown Hare crossed the track in front of us, a juvenile Marsh Harrier drifted by, causing Starlings to lift in rippling waves from their reedbed roost, Mute Swans seemed to glow in the dying embers of daylight, a Barn Owl ghosted over the reeds before plunging into rough grass and reappearing a few minutes later and then, when it was just about too dark to see, Lapwings flew from their daytime roost towards feeding areas, wingbeats thrumming in the still air of a chilly autumn evening 🙂

11/10/2017
Battling the breeze; Otter Safari 02/06/2015

Tuesday saw Pete and Jan taking their 7th trip with NEWT, and as I got out of the car in Embleton to collect them it was ever so slightly breezy…

When every bit of water you look at is whipped up into a froth by the wind, with dainty Little Gulls hanging in the wind and delicately dip-feeding, searching for Otters becomes particularly challenging and, despite Tufted Ducks and Great Crested Grebes staring intently at reedbeds, that we’ve seen Otters appear from in recent weeks, there was no sign of our target species for the afternoon. A really stiff breeze will frequently lead to reduced sightings of all wildlife, but the afternoon produced some impressive sightings…as we watched at least 10 adult Avocets, and four chicks, at Cresswell, alongside a summer-plumaged Sanderling, two huge birds appeared low over the dunes, battling into the wind. I gave my head a shake and looked through my binoculars again…and there were two Common Cranes 🙂 They slowly crossed the pond, lifted as a flock of Canada Geese took off beneath them, and were blown back towards the sea! Undeterred they continued their progress westwards, landed for a few minutes and then continued. I’d alerted a few local birdwatchers to their presence, including Ipin as they were heading towards his house…and he soon had them as an impressive garden tick 🙂

I couldn’t imagine how the evening could get better…and then as dusk approached, I was scanning through binoculars and noticed a small bird that I couldn’t immediately identify. A quick switch to viewing through the ‘scope, and there was one of my favourite birds twirling on the water’s surface and darting at flies. Common Cranes may be huge and impressive, but Red-necked Phalarope is simply a breathtaking avian jewel 🙂

As we headed back to the car, the breeze had decreased in strength, but had also turned from quite warm to bone-chilling. A Barn Owl flew silently from a fence post, and the journey back to Embleton produced another one sitting on a post just a few metres away from us.

And with that wind, I’d been worried we wouldn’t see anything…

04/06/2015
Sunset spectacular; NEWT’s North Sea Pelagic 28/06/13

We’ve seen some fantastic wildlife during the 16 years that I’ve been running pelagics in the North Sea off Northumberland; Wilson’s Petrel, Great Shearwater, Grey and Red-necked Phalaropes, Sabine’s Gull, Ocean Sunfish, Minke Whale and White-beaked Dolphin are just a few of the highlights. One thing that so many clients mention though, is just what an experience it is to be offshore approaching sunset and to see the Northumberland coast in a different light (no pun intended!).

Last Friday brought a reasonable amount of swell, the ‘usual suspects’ – Gannet, Fulmar, Kittiwake, Guillemot, Puffin, Razorbill, Manx Shearwater – and a dense feeding flock of terns and gulls just off Cresswell. The other thing the trip brought though was probably the best sunset I’ve ever seen on a pelagic. As the sun dropped out of sight and we were approaching the Tyne piers, the sky away to the northwest was a stunning pinky-orange. Some things really do take your breath away 🙂

06/07/2013
A picture paints a thousand words; NEWT’s North Sea pelagic 21/06/2013

22/06/2013