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Planning; Bespoke Otter Safari 03/02/17
In glorious sunshine I arrived in Longframlington to collect Lisa and Lucy ahead of a day searching for Otters, Red Squirrels and Kingfishers around Druridge Bay and the Northumberland coast. I was greeted by Ridley, Lisa’s cockerpoo, and it was quickly decided that he would be joining us on the trip 🙂 Our first Otter…
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The icy grip of a cold breeze; Druridge Bay mini-Safari 26/01/17
Thursday was a mini-Safari exploring Druridge Bay and southeast Northumberland and the weather forecast had me donning layer after layer… I collected Chris and Carol from Church Point and we set off. Getting out of the car at our first destination it didn’t seem quite as cold as forecast – until we were facing into…
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Swirling; Otter mini-Safari 15/01/17
Our first trip of 2017 was an Otter mini-Safari and I collected Fiona and Phil from Church Point in what didn’t really feel like January weather. Our other participants for the afternoon had cancelled at the last minute, so the three of us set off for an afternoon around Druridge Bay and southeast Northumberland… Roosting…
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Dusk; Bespoke Otter mini-Safari 27/12/16
Our final trip of the year was a bespoke Otter mini-Safari around Druridge Bay and southeast Northumberland for Diane and Yvonne, who had booked following a recommendation from Claire 🙂 We met up in Newbiggin and set off on our search. Our first site had plenty of birds but no Otters, so we headed on…
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“…and a Common Seal in a dead tree”; Otter Safari 02/12/16
From the Fascinating ‘Life on Earth’ back in the 1970’s, through to the jaw-dropping ‘Planet Earth II‘ that’s currently showing on the BBC (2 episodes to go, ‘Grasslands’ this evening and ‘Cities’ next Sunday!), I’ve always enjoyed David Attenborough’s programmes. Recent series have included a section at the end of each programme, detailing the planning…
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Strategy; Bespoke Otter mini-Safari 13/11/16
Sunday was Claire and Sophie’s 2nd trip with NEWT, following a wildlife safari on the coast in 2014. As we left Newbiggin the first scattered drops of rain hit the windscreen… Arriving at our first location, Claire asked if she’d remembered correctly how to search for Otters, and started scanning an area of water that…
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Searching; Otter Safari 18/10/16
A day around Druridge Bay and southeast Northumberland was in store as I arrived at Church Point to collect Sam, Luke, Perdi and Georgina. Ghostly white Mediterranean Gulls were drifting through the assembled cloud of Black-headed Gulls as we prepared to head a few miles inland, and a Swallow over the caravan park was an…
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Iridescence in the gloom; Otter mini-Safari 09/10/16
Sunday’s Otter mini-Safari started at Church Point with an intense rainbow visible away to the east, and variable weather conditions depending on which direction we looked… I collected Gemma and Jay, then Arthur and Gill and we headed up into Druridge Bay to start our search. Pink-footed Geese, one of the great harbingers of the…