Tag: Ringed Plover

  • Northumberland in the win(d)ter; Winter Wonderland holiday 19-22/02/17

    Day 1. 19/02/17. I arrived at the Bamburgh Castle Inn for the start of our Winter Wonderland holiday, then met up with with Christine, John, Linda and Rosie in the bar and outlined the plan for the next two days while we enjoyed a fantastic meal. Day 2. 20/02/17.  Our first full day was targeting…

  • Mud, glorious mud; Bespoke Wader ID Workshop 03/11/16

    Thursday was a trip I’d been looking forward to for several months…Sue’s 5th trip with NEWT was a day searching for and identifying wading birds.  Some, like the Curlew with it’s eerie cry and long downcurved beak are straightforward, but others can be a bit trickier… A field full of Oystercatcher and Lapwing close to…

  • Passing storms; Druridge Bay 08/09/16

    As a wildlife guide I’ve become ever so slightly obsessed with the weather, and weather forecasts… I arrived at Church Point to collect Steve and Christine ahead of a day around Druridge Bay and southeast Northumberland, and looking inland there seemed to be a lot of low, dense, cloud.  The forecast suggested showers late morning,…

  • Amphibians; Otter Safari 25/08/16

    All wildlife tends to have it’s own niche, and those can be temporary… I collected Meryl and Kate from The Swan and we headed towards the coast to spend the afternoon and evening searching for Otters around Druridge Bay and south east Northumberland.  The weather forecast wasn’t great but, as Little Egrets, Grey Herons, Cormorants…

  • Dodging the showers; Lindisfarne Safari 09/08/16

    The unpredictability of the weather in northern England is one of the reasons I love living here.  Early August and you just don’t know whether there’ll be clear skies and sunshine, or something akin to the depths of the autumn… I arrived at Kingston Park and met up with Chris (for his third trip with…

  • Never trust a weather forecast; Farne Islands Safari 15/06/16

    With a Farne Islands Safari on Wedneday, I’d been keeping an even closer eye than usual on the weather forecast and particularly the forecast sea state and swell height.  1m waves, strong NE winds and heavy rain wasn’t the most promising of forecasts… I collected Paul and Rose from the Dunstanburgh Castle Hotel and we…

  • When the north wind blows; Lindisfarne Safari 02/06/16

    Thursday was a Lindisfarne Safari where we had the option of either staying on the island over the high tide period, or concentrating on the mainland sites in the Lindisfarne NNR… I collected Stephen and Kate from The Swan, and we headed up the A1 to collect Gordon and Mandy for their 4th day out…

  • Embrace the weather; Druridge Bay Bespoke Birdwatching 07/10/2015

    Crisp clear winter nights for stargazing, calm conditions for our North Sea Pelagic trips and warm summer nights for Otter Safaris are all fantastic, but what really gets my heart racing is mist, drizzle and winds from the east in October… I collected Tony from his b&b in Newbiggin for the first of three days…

  • Autumn passage; Northumberland Coast Bespoke Birdwatching 01/09/2015

    The start of the month brought returning clients, David and Mary who were out with us in 2009 and 2012 and who we see at the Bird Fair each August. Starting at Newbiggin we set out south down the coast and soon found ourselves standing on a track with nine Blackbirds ahead of us, along…

  • If at first you don’t succeed; Bespoke Otter Safari 14/02/2015

    When we’re searching for Otters, a fair degree of success is down to hard work (checking sites repeatedly, so we know when and where they are), a good bit of it is down to luck (they are wild animals after all, so don’t perform to order…) and those often combine to give a gut-feeling… I…