Northern Experience Wildlife Tours

Tag: Tufted Duck

  • A gift from heaven

    I’ve always known that I tend to be very lucky when out with clients but last week, when we welcomed our first ever clients from Cyprus, that luck took an unexpected form.

    I collected Jane, Aristos, Eva and Nassos from Newcastle and we headed coastwards in the blazing sunshine.  Our birdwatching along Druridge Bay included what was, for our clients, a very welcome opportunity to get to grips with that difficult species pair of Common and Arctic Tern.  Reed, Sedge and Willow Warblers were all singing, Tufted Ducks and Gadwall were displaying and, as the afternoon progressed, it was time to focus on our two main targets for the day; Red Squirrel and Otter.

    Now, there are many ways that I’ve found Red Squirrels for our clients in the past…but being hit by flying squirrel poo was an entirely new one 🙂  Looking from the squishy mass on the back of my hand up into the trees I could see the waving orange tail of our quarry.  Eventually it came down the tree, raced up and down a few trunks and leapt from canopy to canopy before launching itself to the ground and out of sight.

    When your luck’s in, it’s in…and, as sunset approached and I commented about the state of alert of the ducks and geese, Jane spotted an Otter.  For 35 mins everyone sat mesmerised as it twisted and turned in the water, catching fish with almost every dive and munching away at the surface before sliding under the water again and eventually out of sight.

    With sightings like these, it’s no surprise that we’re getting booked up rapidly for the next few months.  Give us a call on 01670 827465, and join us on a search for Northumberland’s wildlife.

  • Maximising our chances

    So far this year, tracking down Otters has proved slightly more difficult than it did last year.  That’s one of the drawbacks of working with animals 😉  They’re generally not predictable.  That’s what makes a wildlife tour so much fun though, you just never know what you’re going to experience.

    However, after a brief sighting on Thursday evening, I was happy that we’re still visiting the right areas of Northumberland to maximise our clients’ chances of connecting with this elusive, graceful predator.  I arrived at Newbiggin at 10am yesterday to collect Derek and Jacky for a mini-safari in Druridge Bay.  After our usual commentary on the industry and landscape of the area, as we drove towards Cresswell, it was time to settle and be patient.  I’d just finished explaining the two types of bird behaviour that usually accompany the appearance of an Otter, when there was a good example of the first; eight Tufted Ducks scattered from the edge of the pond.  Sure enough, it was less than 20 seconds before I spotted the tell-tale dark back breaking the surface and for the next few minutes we watched an adult Otter as it surfaced, dived and fed, all the while with a flock of Black-headed Gulls circling above it.  After a minute or two without any further sign I was sure it had disappeared into a channel in the reeds, probably going to rest after feeding.  The gulls began moving around the pond randomly; clearly they’d lost sight of the Otter as well.  Further entertainmant was provided by 3 Herons that were following each other around, and a Carrion Crow that was foolhardy enough to fly over several pairs of nesting Lapwings.

    After the morning seemed to just fly past, I took Derek and Jacky back to Newbiggin and then returned to the office, before heading out in the evening to check another new Otter site and enjoy some relaxed birdwatching.  But that’s another story for another day…

  • A day in the Bay, Birdwatching Northumberland (part 2)

    Our second day out with the winners of last year’s Birdwatching Northumberland  competition, was a day in Druridge Bay.  It provided a real contrast with our earlier trip to the Harthope Valley.

    After collecting Jean and Andy from the Bamburgh Castle Inn we headed down to Embleton to collect Helen, our third client on this trip, pausing for a few minutes to watch a very obliging Brown Hare in a field near Chatton.  As we toured our usual sites the weather was more like the caribbean than Northumberland 🙂  Tufted Ducks, Shovelers, Herons, Mute Swans, Lapwings and Coots were around the coastal pools, Sedge, Reed and Willow Warblers, Whitethroats and Reed Buntings were singing from hedgerows, sedges, reeds and willows and Fulmars were arcing gracefully along the cliffs at Cresswell.  On a woodland walk along the River Blyth we heard more than we saw (as you would expect in mid-May) with Nuthatch, Chiffchaff and Great Spotted Woodpecker all being particularly vocal.  Eventually the two days of the Birdwatching Northumberland prize were over and I returned all of our clients to their respective holiday accommodation.

    The day wasn’t finished for NEWT though; as dusk approached we were out on the coast, at separate locations, checking for Otters.  I did have one brief sighting, and on the journey home we began the process of redeveloping our Otter Safaris to make them an even better experience than they already are.

  • Wax(w)ing lyrical

    Yesterday was a Druridge Bay Safari and, after collecting Katrina, Craig and their boys from Church Point, I was astonished to see how much snow was on the ground as we drove towards Cresswell.  A Stoat played hide-and-seek with us…and proved to be masterful 🙂

    The plummeting overnight temperatures had frozen nearly all of the pools along the bay.  Each one still had it’s own little area of open water though, and these held a lot of ducks.  Teal, Wigeon, Mallard, Tufted Duck and, almost indescribably handsome, a drake Pintail were all enjoyed by everyone.  A mixed herd of Whooper and Mute Swans provided an identification diversion and a few Pink-footed Geese flying over nearby fields alerted us to the presence of several thousand feeding below them.  After marvelling as the entire flock lifted into the air we were then transfixed by a Barn Owl hunting over the reedbeds at Cresswell.  A brief detour into Ashington for a spot of birdwatching, Northumberland housing estate style, where we had excellent views, and enjoyed the trilling calls, of 37 Waxwings, was followed by a walk along the Wansbeck.  With bone-chilling temperatures, not a breath of wind, and a river that was mirror-like the walk was sublime. We don’t get a lot of days like that, but they always feel special when we do.  Goldcrests called from the trees, Canada Geese were clamouring around Castle Island and almost the entire length of river that we walked along was dotted with Goldeneye, as the sun dropped below the horizon.