Northern Experience Wildlife Tours

Tag: Swallow

  • Watching; Bespoke Safari 25/04/2014

    The first part of the Bank Holiday weekend was a washout, with our scheduled Dark Skies event, for a Hen Party in Kielder, falling victim to the weather 🙁 Sunday was a bespoke wildlife Safari for Claire and Sophie and, as I collected them from home in Gosforth, things were looking a bit more promising.  Away inland we could see a lot of general murkiness, so we headed for the Northumberland coast – planning to drop down to Druridge Bay as the afternoon progressed.

    Glorious, yet chillingly breezy weather was waiting for us at Bamburgh and we watched Eider and Common Scoter as they bobbed about in the swell.  We checked the wake of very passing boat for any sign of Bottlenose Dolphinsand continued south down the coast.  Willow Warblers, Sedge Warblers, Reed Buntings andWhitethroats were singing all around and Little Grebes were diving for prey before bobbing back to the water’s surface.  Our picnic stop featured Fulmars arcing just above the clifftops a few metres away from us and a viewpoint over the River Wansbeck revealed lots and lots of ducklings; Gadwall, Mallard, Shelduck all had broods of between eight and eleven – although this prime source of Otter food didn’t seem to have attracted the attention of any Otters.  A Roe Deer on the far bank appeared than quickly vanished again as it made it’s way through the bushes, and Swifts, Swallows, House Martins andSand Martins feasted on the buzzing clouds of insects overhead.  As daylight faded we arrived at one site to find a Mallard and a Grey Heron both staring intently into a hole that we’ve long suspected of being an Otter holt.  More Mallards, and the three of us, joined the staring contest but the adversary that eventually flushed the heron, and had the Mallards waddling away at a rate of knots, remained unseen as bats began flitting past our ears.

  • Eye of the storm; Druridge Bay 13/05/2014

    The deep ominous rumble of thunder was all around us now.  There was a light at the end of the tunnel though, but could we make the most of it?

    I’d collected Stephen from home in North Shields and we headed up the coast for an afternoon and evening birdwatching around Druridge Bay.  The early part of the trip was in fine weather and we watched Whitethroats and Sedge Warblers singing from the bushes, Wheatears flitting from ground to fencepost and back and House Martins andSwallows twisting and turning in pursuit of the bountiful harvest brought about by warm damp conditions.  Part way through the afternoon things began to change; away to the north the sky was darkening and we could hear the deep rumble of distant thunder.  Another storm was looming to the southwest, and gradually we were encircled by a menacing gloom.  The rain began hammering against the car, but there was one ray of hope.  At the centre of the storm was a break in the clouds; blue sky and sunshine of sorts.  I could see which way it was heading and knew that we had one excellent option.

    Down the coast to a Barn Owl breeding site, with the rain relentlessly challenging the efficiency of the windscreen wipers on the car, we positioned ourselves so the owl’s regular hunting area was in view.  I was fairly sure that the break in the weather would be over us in about ten minutes, and that we’d have a window of opportunity for about another ten minutes prior to the next downpour.  As the rain eased to just a few drops, we concentrated our attention on the dunes and, within a couple of minutes of the rain stopping, the Barn Owl appeared.  Quartering , hovering, diving out of sight into the grass before lifting again, carrying a vole back to the nest then resuming the hunt only to abandon as the next edge of the storm hit with a vengeance and we headed off with flashes of lightning illuminating the darkened landscape.

  • The Kill; Druridge Bay birdwatching 24/09/2013

    Through the thickening mist, just inches above the ground, the Sparrowhawk maneuvered it’s way at speed around bushes and the edge of a reedbed.  From that position it couldn’t see any possible targets.  Of course, that meant it couldn’t be seen either…

    I’d collected Laura and Barry from Church Point at midday. for an afternoon birdwatching around Druridge Bay and southeast Northumberland.  Unlike the stunning sunshine and warmth of Monday, conditions were rather overcast.  On a walk through woodland, we came across a roving tit flock.  Goldcrests could be heard high in the trees, and a quick session of pishing soon had one just a few feet away from us as it descended to investigate where the squeaking noise was coming from.  Our lunch stop, overlooking the length of Druridge Bay, gave us the opportunity for a spot of seawatching although, with the lack of any substantial breeze, there wasn’t a great deal of movement offshore.  Eider were dotted here and there, Cormorants were flying along the coast, a few Swallows  were catching insects low over the clifftop vegetation and flocks of Goldfinch and Linnet were noisily flitting about.  Lapwings, Curlew, Dunlin, Ruff, Snipe, Ringed Plover and Redshank, the latter in what seemed to be a state of perpetual motion, were working their way along exposed mud as Grey Herons stalked with an imperceptibly slow motion that  spells danger to fish, frogs and ducklings everywhere.  As the afternoon continued, we were suddenly confronted with heavy mist.  Then the rain started.  Thinking this would clear the mist proved a forlorn hope, and we watched a flock of Dunlin make several low passes over the mud in front of us before they vanished into the mist.  Eiders and Cormorants were diving repeatedly on the River Coquet near Amble and Salmon were leaping from the water – a real joy to watch when all three of us in the car are keen flyfishers.  With dusk approaching, although this wouldn’t differ too much from the rest of the afternoon, the yapping of Pink-footed Geese could be heard from behind the grey impenetrable curtain of mist.  Growing louder, and with the calls of Greylag and Canada Geese intermingled, the flock appeared on the edge of the mist.  Just beyond the limit of clarity, the amorphous mass of several hundred geese dropped onto the water and then upped the volume of their calls.  As another flock arrived they were greeted noisily by the birds already on the water.

    …accelerating on powerful wings, following an approach of supreme stealth, the Sparrowhawk exploded from a gap in the reeds, still just inches from the ground.  Lapwings and Starlings took to the air in panic, but the predator quickly fixed it’s baleful stare on the three closest birds to the edge of the reeds.  The Dunlin took flight, but the concealed approach by the Sparrowhawk had given it the edge that it needed in the game of life and death that was playing out in front of us.  With lightning quick reflexes it plucked the Dunlin deftly from the air, turned back through the channel in the reeds, and settled to devour it’s catch out of sight.  Not out of sight from us though 🙂

  • Birdwatching in an iconic landscape; Lindisfarne 23/09/2013

    After two long hard days offshore (8hr pelagic on Saturday – blog post coming soon! – and 14hr offshore on Sunday for a North East Cetacean Project transect survey) today brought some light relief from the rolling swell of the North Sea as I headed north to Seahouses to collect Phil and Ann (who had won a morning out with NEWT in a competition on Visit Northumberland) and Rachael and Alex, who by happy coincidence were all staying at St Cuthbert’s House.

    In weather that was glorious, even by the high standards set during this year, we headed north towards Holy Island.  In the north of Northumberland, with a falling tide, it was looking like a good waders and wildfowl morning.  Mudflats were dotted with a mosaic of Mallard, Shelduck, Curlew, Dunlin, Lapwing, Redshank, Oystercatcher and Pink-footed Geese and, as we drove along the coastal road towards Holy Island, we had the treat of watching a Sparrowhawk as it flew just ahead of us, only inches above the road.  Ringed Plover and more Dunlin, Curlew and Redshank were feeding in the mud of Holy Island harbour, Pied Wagtails were, well, wagging their tails along the pebbly edge of the harbour, a flock of House Sparrows was engaged in stripping the seeds from grasses just above the tideline and House Martins and Swallows were sallying back and forth in search of insects in the warm autumn sunshine.  Flocks of waders in flight are a spectacle to rival any other and as we watched, and listened to, a group of Grey Seals that were hauled out on the sandbanks between the island and the mainland, the amorphous twisting turning shapes in the air high overhead resolved into flocks of Golden Plover and Bar-tailed Godwit.

    The final part of the plan for the morning was a short session of seawatching.  Sandwich and Common Terns were diving close to the shore, Gannets were a bit further out and the sea was dotted with the dark shapes of Eiders.  Turnstones were perched on the top of rocky outcrops, a Harbour Porpoise proved elusive as it surfaced to breathe and an Arctic Skua raced south before everyone could get on to it.  Obligingly it came back north, settled on the sea for a little while and then continued steadily north before breaking off into a aerobatic attack on a Sandwich Tern with another skua joining in as the tern twisted and turned in an attempt to evade the pirates of the sea as they attempted to rob it of it’s recent catch.

    Lots of birds, lots of interesting wildlife behaviour to watch, and four clients who were all great fun to spend the morning with – if I ever suggest that I’m going to return to teaching, just point me in the direction of this blog post 🙂

  • Stoatally different to yesterday…

    By extraordinary coincidence, one of our least observed mammals put in an appearance for the second consecutive day…

    I collected David, Jackie and Alexander from Bamburgh and we headed south to start their Prestige Tour of the Northumberland Coast.  As Swallows and House Martins flitted about low over the water in front of us, a Stoat proved elusive as it darted in and out of the vegetation close to the water’s edge, momentarily startling the dozing ducks before vanishing back into the edge of a reedbed.  As ever something wholly unexpected appeared, on this occasion a Peregrine over Cresswell village.  A Roe Deer walking through an arable field appeared like a disembodied head – only popping up, like a Jack-in-the-box, every few metres as it made it’s way across the field.

    Another elusive mustelid put in a brief appearance too, as a Badger trotted along between reedbeds, but unfortunately hidden from view by the vegetation on our side of the pool.  As dusk approached, pipistrelle bats were flitting back and forth, tiny Common Froglets hopped across the path in front of us and the drive back to Bamburgh produced another impressive mammal, as a Brown Hare loped along the verge as we passed.

  • Beauty in the ‘mundane’

    LBJ.  No, not the 36th President of the United States, but the acronym used by many birdwatchers to describe any relatively small, nondescript brown bird – ‘Little Brown Job’.  Over the last few years, a number of our clients have applied that term to two birds that I always think deserve closer attention…

    I collected Jo and Kirsty from Alnwick for their second consecutive day out with me and we headed straight up the coast and made our way on to Holy Island.  Curlews were passing overhead as we walked around the bits of the island that weren’t full of other people, those two LBJ’s, Skylark and Meadow Pipit, were dodging in and out of long grass in the fields by the path, Kirsty started photographing Swallows and quickly progressed to using flash to freeze the action as they hovered in front of us feeding beakfuls of flies to recently fledged juveniles and Golden Plover and Oystercatcher were probing around rockpools as Grey Seals bobbed about in the gentle surf just offshore.  Edges are always a productive area; edges of fields, woodland, moorland and the shoreline – that ever shifting edge of the sea and the land.  That latter edge produced some stunning Bar-tailed Godwits, and an impressively large group of very vocal Grey Seals.

    As we continued back down the coast the mist thickened and we were eventually in the surreal position of having blazing sunshine on our backs and visibility of less than 100m in front of us.  As a loose flock of Eiders drifted close inshore and then back out again, and Swallows and House Martins hawked insects low over the beach, a dark menacing shape drifted out of the mist, passed in front of us, and then drifted back into the impenetrable white mass.  Always a bird to grab the attention on a seawatch, the Arctic Skua was only in view for a few seconds as it made it’s way south along the coast, and we headed inland into glorious weather again.

  • A mixed bag of wildlife; Lindisfarne Safari 12/08/2013

    As I collected Jaap, Nancy, Maartje and Laura for their Lindisfarne Safari it was good to see that we’d made the right decision in postponing from the previous Monday (which would have been an unpleasant day to be out and about on Holy Island).

    Lindisfarne is an excellent birdwatching location in the winter months, and can be spectacular during spring and autumn migration, but the summer brings a real variety of things to look at.  As we walked around the island Starlings were swirling, Grey Seals and Eiders were bobbing just beyond the breaking surf and Swallows were feeding hungry nestlings.  There was plenty on the ground too; Cinnabar Moth caterpillars were munching on Ragwort, Viper’s Bugloss was by the side of the paths and Maartje spotted, and identified, a Dark Green Fritillary.  With exposed sandbars at low tide there were lots of Grey Seals just lazing about and the shoreline was bustling with bird activity; Bar-tailed Godwits, Curlews, Dunlin, Ringed Plover, Grey Plover and Turnstone were around the island’s edge and in the gooey mud of the harbour.  Golden Plover were swirling over the island in impressive flocks before settling in the fields, an adult Mediterranean Gull was perched obligingly close as we headed back to the village, and all too soon it was time to leave the island as the rising tide approached the causeway.  Landscape photography stops at Bamburgh and Newton on the way south were followed by distant views of lightning and then an impressively dark sky out over the North Sea.  With so much wildlife in one day it would be hard to choose one highlight…but my own personal favourite was the brightest pink binoculars that I’ve ever seen 🙂

  • “I am Gadwall…”

    After the heavy rain of Monday, it was good to drive to Newbiggin, to collect Bryan and Zoe & Simon, in warm sunshine and broken cloud.  Our evening Otter mini-Safari would take in the best of Druridge Bay and southeast Northumberland…

    One thing that I always enjoy is the response to bird names from clients who’ve never come across a particular species before.  Godwit is a name that always raises a chuckle, and both Bar-tailed Godwit and Black-tailed Godwit, resplendent in their breeding finery, were among the noisy flocks of Redshank and Curlew.  Turnstones were also looking particularly stunning, two juvenile Marsh Harriers were drifting over reedbeds, a particularly dark male Pheasant couldn’t make his mind up which way to run when we stopped to admire him and a Stoat poked it’s head out of the grass, then back in, then out again, before finally running across in front of us.  Gadwall and Wigeon invoked more bemusement at bird names and we added Red Admiral, Meadow Brown and Magpie Moth to the trip list.  Small groups of Starlings were heading to roost and it was time for us to head to our final site of the evening.

    As the sun dropped towards the horizon we settled to scan for any indication of Otter activity.  A Sparrowhawk passed through, causing consternation in the Swallows, Sand Martins and House Martins and a Common Snipe was illuminated by a patch of sunlight, raising it from the level of ‘brown bird with long bill that pokes it’s face in mud’ to something quite sublime.  Then, a sudden panic among the ducks.  Females with ducklings were fanning out rapidly from one edge of the pond and we intensified our scanning of the reedy margins.  Nothing, but the birds weren’t settling.  Then a pair of Mute Swans gave a call that we’ve come to associate with one thing, and it was only a matter of time…in the dark shadow of a reedbed, I saw a line of bright water appear.  Everyone’s attention turned to that edge of the pool and then the Otter popped up at the surface 🙂  For 20 minutes it made it’s way steadily across the water, including a stunning few minutes in the reflection of the sunset, before finally vanishing into the darkening gloom.

    As we headed back towards Newbiggin, the discussion turned back to bird names and led to one of my all time favourite things that any client has said “I am Gadwall, a wizard of the elven kingdom, and you are Turnstone, a Dwarf” 🙂

  • The power of the sea

    We rarely let the weather get the better of us.  Apart from our annual programme of North Sea Pelagics, where the weather really can make a difference to a trip going ahead or not, we can pretty much cope with anything the elements throw at us.

    I collected Harry and Maureen for their mini-safari on the North Northumberland coast as the first drops of rain began to speckle the windscreen of the car.  Straight down the coast and we were soon watching Eiders and Common Scoter riding up and over the surf, Guillemots, Puffins and Razorbills loafing offshore, Gannets and Fulmars soaring effortlessly over the sea, Swallows hawking insects within a few feet of us and Rooks foraging around the car park in search of discarded morsels of food.  All of this was in heavy rain, but positioning the car at just the right angle to the wind made it possible to watch all of these birds and the dark majesty of the sea as a backdrop.  Along the coast towards Holy Island a huge group of Grey Seals were basking in the improving weather and, all too soon, it was lunchtime and the end of the trip.

  • Otter Watching 02/06/13 – Patience pays off

    Just a couple of days before the end of 2008, I led an Otter Safari that produced prolonged sightings of our target species…just 5 seconds after arriving at the first site I’d planned to visit that day!  That produced a complication all of it’s own – how do you keep a family with a young child entertained for over 7 1/2 hours?  In that case the answer was rockpooling; not the most enjoyable of experiences as I plunged my arm into the icy cold water to turn over a series of rocks chosen by a very excited four year-old.  Usually though, wildlife requires a bit more of a patient approach…

    I collected John and Kelly from Morpeth railway station on Sunday afternoon, in glorious sunshine, and we set off to search Druridge Bay and southeast Northumberland.In the warm afternoon, with a myriad of insects buzzing around, Black-headed and Little Gulls, Swallows, Swifts and House and Sand Martins were all giving incredibly close views as they sallied back and forth in their pursuit of the tiny morsels of protein.  Grey Herons were standing by the water’s edge, Little Grebes dived, re-surfaced, dived, re-surfaced repeatedly and Mallard, Gadwall and Tufted Duck seemed to be in two minds whether to simply laze around or engage in some half-hearted courtship.  After 3 hours of peace and tranquility, and no Otters, I was wondering if we should move to another location.  Instead I decided that staying put would be the better option…

    A pair of Mallards came out of a gap in the reeds, no hurry, no panic but taking a direct line out to open water.  I focused my attention on where they’d just appeared from and then a dark, menacing, sinuous shape twisted and turned in amongst the reeds and we had our Otter.  Sometimes, you just need a little patience 🙂