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Seabird Spectacular; Birdwatching magazine Reader Holiday 25-28/06/17
Day 1 25/06/17 After collecting Malcolm, and then John, from Alnmouth railway station we headed to Seahouses and the Bamburgh Castle Inn for the start of a short break concentrating on the seabirds of the Northumberland coast. Nigel, Janice and Cliff and Lesley had already arrived and at dinner we discussed the plan for the…
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Wind tunnel; North Pennines Safari 06/06/2015
When I arrived at Waren Mill to collect Kevin and Chris, things weren’t looking promising for our planned Farne Islands Safari. We drove down to the sea at Bamburgh and a quick look told me all I needed to know; there really was no chance of boats sailing out of Seahouses with the frothy white…
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Divebombed; Farne Islands Safari 03/06/2015
Wednesday’s weather was a complete contrast to Tuesday as I collected Mike and Janet from Dunstan Steads. This was their second trip with NEWT, after a Lindisfarne trip last November, and today we were heading across to the Farne Islands. Starting on dry land, we watched Grey Seals lazing in the sunshine as Skylarks soared…
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Bottlenose Dolphins; Farne Islands safari 06/06/2014
Whenever I head out for a day guiding clients, I have a plan. Occasionally we deviate from that plan… I was heading to collect Liz and Mark from the Lord Crewe in Bamburgh, for their Farne Islands prestige tour, and I thought I knew what we’d be doing throughout the day – a walk along…
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“a real birding day” Birdwatching in the North Pennines 14/06/2013
After a successful sailing around Coquet Island last Thursday, with sightings of Roseate Terns perched and flying, our re-arranged North Pennines Safari was on Friday. I collected Liz and Ronnie from The Swan and we headed southwest into the hills. Only a month earlier we had a North Pennines trip in near-zero temperatures, but now…
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Seabird Spectacular 10-13 June 2013; birdwatching on the Northumberland coast
Arriving at The Swan on Monday evening I met up with Ronnie and Liz at the start of our Seabird Spectacular holiday. Of all of our holidays, this is the one that concentrates on the really outstanding wildlife available on the Northumberland coast in the summer. Tuesday started out very nice, although cloud cover was…
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Three days in early June
We started June with three trips in the first four days of the month, all focused around our ‘local patch’; Druridge Bay and southeast Northumberland. On Friday morning I collected Gary and Claire from their holiday base in Proctor Steads, and we headed down the coast. Even though we’ve lived close to Druridge Bay for nearly 12…
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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…