-
Gloom; Druridge Bay Safari 15/12/2015
Tuesday was a trip around Druridge Bay and southeast Northumberland for Stephen, who’s been out with NEWT a few times already. As we headed north along the coast it seemed to be getting darker and by 11:00 the light levels were approaching those you would normally expect at dusk in mid-December. Even in the gloom…
-
Swanning around; Otter mini-Safari 20/10/2015
We’ve spent a lot of time watching Otters, and probably just as much time watching the behaviour of other wildlife whenever our favourite sinuous stealthy predator is on the prowl. You could be forgiven for thinking that we’d know exactly how birds would behave… I collected Rebecca and Russell from Church Point and we set…
-
Vanishing act; Otter mini-Safari 18/10/2015
All along the water’s edge, ducks, geese and swans were feeding contentedly, and that wasn’t what we were hoping for… I’d collected Zoe and Mal, and Laura and Michael, and we were exploring Druridge Bay and southeast Northumberland in search of Otters. The icy cold wind was cutting across the water, ruffling the feathers of…
-
Dread; Otter Safari 15/10/2015
The great thing or the worst thing (depending on your point of view…) with watching wildlife is the sheer unpredictability of it. There’s always something to watch though, and if you watch for long enough it just gets even less predictable… I collected Neil and Julia from Newbiggin and we headed towards Druridge Bay for…
-
Spring arrivals; Druridge Bay Safari 30/04/2015
It’s been a cold windy spring, and a few of our summer visitors seemed a bit tardy; we found our first Sand Martin and Chiffchaff later than we would have expected, but the day has been coming when things would start to happen… I collected Jan and Peter from Church Point and we set out…
-
Once Bittern; Druridge Bay mini-Safari 22/10/2014
Yesterday afternoon brought quite different conditions to Tuesday evening; still cold and windy, but the clear skies had been replaced by gloomy cloud as I collected Charlotte, Ali, Ben and Thomas from Newbiggin for their second NEWT trip in two days. In difficult light, and occasional rain, we didn’t manage to find an Otter, but…
-
Halcyon Days; Otter Safari 13/10/2014
Monday was a day around Druridge Bay and the southeast Northumberland coast, and an extraordinary contrast with Sunday’s summery weather… I collected Trish and Carol from Dunstan and we headed south along the coast. Kingfisher is always a spectacular sight, and one flew under a bridge beneath our feet, adding a touch of sparkle to…
-
Fireworks
As a chemist I’ve found fireworks fascinating for some time. While I was still teaching, I developed a series of demonstration experiments that illustrated how different colours are produced by varying the chemicals in the mix and managed, during one particularly spectacular demo, to set fire to a pile of homework and the surface of…
-
Hide and seek
Sunday was a Prestige Otter Safari for Chris and Sophie. It was Chris’ birthday and, as I collected them from Berwick in some pretty horrible conditions, I was hoping that we would drive south into better weather. Sure enough, we did pass out from under the rain clouds, but the day stayed quite gloomy and…