Northern Experience Wildlife Tours

Tag: Swift

  • 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 to spend the day exploring Druridge Bay.  It was, unsurprisingly, cold and very windy again but that didn’t impact on our day birdwatching.  Skylarks soared and sang, Marsh Harriers drifted over reedbeds and fields close to the coast and an impressive range of waders performed obligingly; Oystercatcher, Curlew, Ringed Plover, Avocet, Turnstone, Dunlin, Sanderling and Black-tailed Godwit – the latter three species resplendent in breeding plumage – demonstrated why this is such a popular group of species with birdwatchers.  The godwit in particular stood out; clothed in chestnut and a vision of elegance to rival the Little Egret that was stalking along the water’s edge nearby.  Moorhen and Coot crept furtively along the edge of reedbeds, Stonechat and Meadow Pipit flicked their tails nervously at the tops of bushes in the dunes and an eye-catching fly-catching adult Little Gull was easily picked out from amongst Black-headed Gulls.  Seawatching over lunchtime is a regular feature of our Druridge Bay trips and Eider, Gannet, Manx Shearwater and Common Guillemot could all be seen offshore as Fulmars soared and arced along the clifftops a few metres way from us. Wheatears and a Whinchat flitted from tussock to tussock, strikingly beautiful as they always are at this time of the year, and then a sign that the summer is nearly here; hundreds of Sand Martins were flycatching above every pool on the coast as a group of six House Martins flew in, battling against the strengthening breeze with the imperative to head north driving them on.  Then, a Swift, and another, then six more.  Eight of these scythe-winged masters of the air flew by us, rocking from side-to-side into the wind as they headed to join the feast above the water.

    I love those days when we concentrate on looking for a single species, but a day birdwatching with clients and just enjoying, and marvelling, at everything that comes along is pretty much as good as it gets for a birdwatching guide 🙂 As Jan and Peter headed across to Bellingham, and I took the shorter journey back to the office, I was wondering if perhaps the summer weather was on the way…

  • 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.

  • 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 increasing and, by lunchtime, eventually it was overcast, misty and spotting with rain.  We’d spent the morning around Druridge Bay, with one of the highlights being a very obliging male Reed Bunting who sat just a few metres away from us and sang for over 20 minutes, Wall and Green-veined White Butterflies flitted across the tracks ahead of us, Sedge and Reed Warblers played hide-and-seek in the edge of the reeds and a male Marsh Harrier quartered a reedbed, giving prolonged views at relatively close range.  As we ate lunch, overlooking the North Sea, watching Eiders, Guillemots, Kittiwakes, Fulmars and Gannets, the southeasterly breeze was starting to build a noticeable swell…

    The inevitable happened and our planned sailing around Coquet Island was cancelled on safety grounds, so we continued around Druridge Bay.  Sandwich Terns and a Grey Seal were near the weir between Amble and Warkworth and we ended up watching five Otters as they munched their way through a feast of Eels 🙂 A Great Northern Diver flew south between Coquet Island and the mainland and we could see clouds of Puffins and a few ghostly white Roseate Terns from our clifftop vantage point.  Swifts were around in good numbers – a scythe-winged menace to flying insects – and at the end of the day we returned to The Swan and were joined for dinner by Sarah.

    After Tuesday’s cancelled boat trip it was a relief to see that the wind had died down by Wednesday morning, and our all-day birdwatching trip to the Farne Islands went ahead as planned.  There were lines of Puffins, Guillemots and Razorbills streaming back towards the islands, Gannets were effortlessly heading either to or from the Bass Rock, and the sights, sounds and smells of the seabird colony were just a few minutes away when we came across two Harbour Porpoises. Cormorants and Shags perched sentinel-like  on the Scarcar rocks and landing on Staple Island we watched Guillemots, Fulmars, Kittiwakes, Puffins, Razorbills, Shags and Rock Pipits at close range before having our picnic lunch in superb weather conditions on this magical rock just a few miles offshore from the Northumberland coast.  Transferring across to Inner Farne at 13:00, via a brief detour to look at the Grey Seals lazing in the sunshine, we were greeted by Head Ranger David Steel and then enjoyed the very different experience of running the gauntlet of a succession of angry Arctic Terns.  Common and Sandwich Terns were around too, and we watched Puffins skilfully avoiding the attention of Black-headed and Lesser Black-backed Gulls.  A pair of Rock Pipits nesting beneath the boardwalk were carrying beakfuls of food and I had a Farnes ‘tick’ in the shape of a Swift soaring over the lighthouse buildings.  We tried to find a Roseate Tern in amongst the roost by the Inner Farne jetty, but without success.  Back to The Swan for tea, reflection on a successful day and my Plan B…

    Today was planned to be a one-day extension to the holiday, visiting the North Pennines, but we’ve moved that to tomorrow and the ladies have an extra afternoon out with me, to take the boat trip around Coquet Island 🙂

  • 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 🙂

  • Otter Watching 01/06/2013

    Single-species trips can be some of the most stressful experiences for NEWT, although possibly not quite so stressful for our clients 🙂  Some species that our clients want to see can be very straightforward, like Grey Seals or Puffins (at least if you come at the right time of year!), others can be more difficult, and one in particular has a certain degree of unpredictability…With large home ranges, and as happy on land as in the water, Otters aren’t always an easy animal to find.  We must spend more of our time looking for them, on days when we don’t have clients, than we spend doing anything else.  If a site is producing regular sightings that’s a bonus, but there’s always the possibility that one day they won’t be there, so we keep checking back-up sites as well.

    Arriving at Church Point, I met up with Ian and Ann, Antonia and Henry & Nigel and Mrs Hackett.  Our quarry for the afternoon was that elusive iconic predator and, having unexpectedly stumbled across four Otters a couple of weeks ago, the location for the first part of the afternoon was decided well in advance.  All seemed quiet; Black-headed Gulls were lazing in the afternoon sunshine, Swifts, Swallows and martins hawked insects and a Meadow Pipit was song-flighting…then Ann spotted an Otter!  Crossing the water towards a reedbed, the gaze of a Grey Heron and a pair of Mallards were firmly fixed on it too.  Twisting, turning, diving, feeding, it made it’s way to the edge of the reeds and continued feeding there.  Then it headed away from the edge and back towards us, before switching direction again and sliding beneath the surface.  A few minutes later it climbed out of the water and we could see it making it’s way through the grass.  Then it was back down at the water’s edge and being obligingly showy.  What came next was one of our highlights of the year so far as the Otter dived back into the water…followed by two more…and then a fourth 🙂  Then, as often happens with Otters, they simply vanished from sight…

    The afternoon continued with Sandwich Terns feeding just a few metres away from us, a pair of Marsh Harriers, two Brown Hares boxing, a Great Crested Grebe being the epitome of avian elegance, eight Little Gulls sitting on consecutive fence posts and an impressive mixed flock of hirundines as the wind direction shifted and a heavy shower passed over us from the north west, producing an intense rainbow out over Druridge Bay.

  • Performer

    There are times when we’re out with clients and encounter a species that’s really unexpected, other times a bird or animal will do something really impressive and sometimes, just sometimes, it’s the often overlooked ‘little brown jobs’ that are the stars of the show.

    I collected Stephen from home in North Shields and headed north to collect Gordon and Mandy, and Susan for her second day out with me.  In weather that didn’t seem sure what it was going to do, we were soon watching a stunning Yellow Wagtail.  As House Martins, Sand Martins, Swallows and Swifts hawked insects just over our heads a singing Sedge Warbler was located at the top of a dead tree, and one of his near neighbours was busy answering the challenge laid down.  For over an hour everything we watched was accompanied by the frenetic warbling of this little bundle of energy; first he perched half way up a reedbed, then hopped higher to take a position on reeds that were so thin they swayed under his weight before beginning a series of song-flights, culminating in a dive into deep cover…then he started the whole process again.  Often we see Sedge Warblers as they flit from one reedbed to another, but this bird was going flat out – either trying to attract a mate, or warning his neighbours that the reedbed and its immediate surroundings was his domain.  Little Grebes, Coots, Moorhens, Mallards, Tufted Ducks and Greylag Geese were all staring nervously at one edge of the reeds, but the cause of their concern didn’t reveal itself.

    Down the coast in Druridge Bay there was a good assortment of Little Gulls, deftly dip-feeding and taking insects from the water’s surface, a Great Crested Grebe sailed serenely by, Tree Sparrows were picking insects from the shoreline vegetation and Fulmars were soaring effortlessly along the cliff edges.

    Just an excellent day birdwatching with lovely clients for company 🙂

  • Three stars

    I collected Zoe, Richard, Ella, Luke and Charlie from Alnmouth and we started our evening mini-safari around the Northumberland coast and Druridge Bay. It wasn’t too long before we were watching one of the birds that never fails to grab the attention of our clients; a beautiful, ghostly pale, Barn Owl was quartering the vegetation close to the water’s edge before plunging into a reedbed in pursuit of prey.  A Roe Deer played hide-and-seek with us, as it persistently walked out of sight behind a bush before reappearing, first to one side of the bush then the other and Sand Martins, House Martins, Swallows and Swifts were all hawking insects, allowing a detailed observation and discussion of these species that less-experienced birdwatchers often find confusing.  Black-headed Gulls and Little Gulls were watched at close quarters, with the Black-headed Gulls squabbling with each other like a group of children 🙂  Little Grebes were, well, just as cute as ever and two large Bats flew over, not echolocating, not feeding, just heading somewhere on a mission.

    Heading north, our 2nd Barn Owl of the evening was flying just ahead of us, and perched briefly in the lower branches of a roadside tree, Rabbits were scampering around on grassy banks and our 3rd Barn Owl was silhouetted in a bare tree like a sentinel guarding the road back to Alnmouth.

  • Nature’s bounty

    After a day in the North Pennines, I had an hour at home before setting out for an evening mini-safari around Druridge Bay.  I couldn’t have anticipated that the evening would bring one of the most astonishing things I’ve seen…

    I collected Fiona and Damien from Morpeth and then headed north east to Amble to collect Mark and Mrs Blake.  The good weather of the earlier part of the day continued and we were soon watching four Avocets, and listening to a fifth, as a flock of Tree Sparrows foraged on a pile of rotting vegetation, a Grey Heron stalked along the edge of the pond and Black-headed Gulls hawked insects over nearby fields.  One of Northumberland’s long-standing Bird Race teams passed through and picked up Avocet and Little Gull for their day list.

    As we continued our journey north through the bay, it became obvious that there had been a huge hatch of insects.  Dense clouds of them were hanging around us and they were providing a feast for Black-headed Gulls (several hundred), at least eight Little Gulls and countless Swallows, Swifts, House Martins and Sand Martins.  With barely any breeze, and mirror-calm water, the birds were flying back and forth deftly picking insects from the water’s surface, and the swallows and martins were passing within a few feet of us.  The whirling, twisting mass of birds was breathtaking, and numbers had barely decreased by the time it was so dark that it was time for us to finish our evening.  Lovely clients, common birds, abundant insects and a memorable wildlife spectacle 🙂

  • Waiting for the light

    In an ideal world, a bespoke photography day with a client involves arriving at our chosen location, discussing techniques that will be required to achieve the desired image and then waiting for the perfect light to fall on the subject…

    I arrived at Church Point on Sunday afternoon to collect Gareth for his bespoke photography trip.  My task was to deliver locations that would provide the opportunities for landscape or wildlife photography, and give advice on technique when needed.  In advance I’d planned a route through Druridge Bay, southeast Northumberland and the Northumberland coast that would provide a series of landscape opportunities.  So, discovering that visibility on the coast was poor was a bit of a spanner in the works 🙂  My backup plan was some nice close, obliging wildlife…swifts, swallows and martins were the ideal subject for the afternoon.  Difficult enough to test the abilities of most photographers, but usually obligingly consistent in their feeding, bathing and drinking behaviour.

    As Gareth honed his ‘birds in flight’ skills we had an unexpected bonus in the shape of four Otters!  A writhing sinuous mass of muscle and menace, they twisted and turned in the water before climbing onto the bank and one of them munched contentedly on the fruits of it’s labour – a large Eel.

    Displaying Redshank, typically unobliging Little Grebes and a ghostly Barn Owl drifting across a reedbed as dusk approached all added to the wildlife experience as Gareth shot lots of images of Swallows as they twisted, turned and stalled just a few feet away from us.  I managed a few shots myself, as we compared the effect of different camera settings, focal lengths etc.

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  • Change of plan

    Snow on Monday, glorious weather on Tuesday…and torrential rain on Wednesday 🙁  When I arrived to collect David and Janet for their Prestige Tour in the Cheviot Valleys we quickly decided to head towards the Northumberland coast instead as that would offer the chance of plenty of birdwatching with the prospect of being able to shelter from the worst of the weather.

    Starting at Stag Rocks, we watched flocks of Eider and Common Scoter as they rolled up and over the substantial waves and a Grey Seal swam just beyond the breaking surf.  One thing that was immediately obvious was that there was a movement of Gannets; birds were flying over the rocks and more could be seen offshore.  Heading down the coast, the intensity of the rain increased and we had our second seawatch of the day, this time just south of Cresswell.  An almost continuous passage of Gannets was evident as they headed north, flocks of Kittiwakes and Guillemots were passing by, the occasional Fulmar arced up above the clifftops and a single Manx Shearwater easily outpaced the Gannets.  Avocets sat tight as the rain hammered down around them and, when the deluge finally ceased and blue sky and sunshine replaced the gloom, we watched a male Marsh Harrier as he quartered a nearby field before soaring heavenwards. A Great Crested Grebe sailed by serenely, a Whimbrel flew north, five Brown Hares were engaged in some half-hearted chasing and Swifts, Swallows, House Martins and Sand Martins all took advantage of the feast of insects that had been stirred to activity by the improvement in the weather.

    Even in poor weather, Northumberland can produce some excellent birdwatching 🙂