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Summer…; Otter Safari 25/07/16
July is a month when most of my time is spent at sea, either carrying out transect surveys or leading pelagic trips, so an afternoon and evening looking for Otters brings some welcome variation… I collected Susan and Mike from Seaton Burn and then Frank, Gabrielle, Boudewijn and Odette from The Swan before heading to…
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Small things; Druridge Bay 24/05/16
Waders are often spectacular, seabirds are enigmatic and raptors are, well, raptors, but sometimes the smaller birds deserve a lot more attention… I collected Stephen from North Shields for his 7th day trip with NEWT and we headed north to Druridge Bay. Days out with Stephen are always enjoyableStarting in bright sunshine under blue skies,…
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Porpoiseful birdwatching; Druridge Bay Safari 06/07/2015
mid-Summer can be a quiet time for birdwatching, but there are some days where everything just falls into place… I arrived in Seahouses to collect Nigel and Barbara for a day birdwatching further south on the Northumberland coast, and we headed towards Druridge Bay in beautiful hot summer weather. With a flat calm sea we…
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Lifers; Druridge Bay birdwatching 13/08/2014
It isn’t unusual for our clients to see species for the first time on one of our tours, but it’s much less usual for me to see something new… I collected Chris from home in Gosforth and we headed out towards the coast and Druridge Bay. It’s always a great pleasure to have Chris out…
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Twitching; Druridge Bay 29/07/2014
I collected Stephen from home in North Shields and we headed north to Druridge Bay for an afternoon and evening of birdwatching. Late July can produce some very good birds, and this was to be no exception… Mediterranean Gull is a bit of a southeast Northumberland speciality, and the ghostly white adult drifting across the…
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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…
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Spotting the Otter
They’re the sort of words I always want hear at the start of a day out with clients “The sole reason for coming to Northumberland on this holiday was to see an Otter“. So, no pressure there, then… I collected Ann and Glyn from their b&b in Seahouses and we set out on an exploration…
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Lightning strikes twice
Trips with existing clients are always a pleasure, not only because it’s very gratifying to get a booking from someone we’ve taken out before, but also because we already have shared memories. I had 3 things vivid in my mind from when I took Pete and Janet out in September 2008 – it rained, we saw 11…