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Warbling 🙂 Kielder Bespoke Birdwatching 03/05/19
I collected Nick and Mel (for their 3rd day out with NEWT) and John and Heather from Bellingham and we took a short drive up the North Tyne valley for a day out around Kielder and the Scottish Borders… Birdwatching in a dense forest in early May is a challenge and a small flock of…
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In the bleak midwin…wait a minute 🙂 Kielder Safari 24/03/19
Yesterday’s Kielder Safari was filled with returning clients; Stephen on his 3rd trip, Andy and Jill on their 3rd and Gordon and Mandy on their 7th. We’d got one species in particular on the target list for the day… The forecast was for blustery showers but it started off fairly fine. Once we were out…
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A wet day in the borders; Kielder Safari 17/04/18
I collected Gordon and Mandy from The Battlesteads for their 5th day out with NEWT and we headed towards Kielder. The forecast suggested occasional showers, so I was hopeful that the breaks in the rain would encourage raptors to be up and about… 6 hours later the rain eventually stopped 🙂 We’d had views of…
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Another raptor day 🙂 Kielder Safari 05/04/18
When we’ve got a day in and around Kielder and the Scottish Borders ahead of us what I’m hoping for is blue sky, not too much cloud and a nice breeze…exactly what we’d got as I collected Ian and Ian from Newbiggin, Joan and Jerry from Hexham and Duncan and Laura from Bellingham… As Chaffinches…
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A raptor day 🙂 Bespoke Kielder Safari 20/03/18
I collected Sue from Old Swarland for her 7th trip with NEWT and we headed west towards Kielder as the clouds started to break and the blue sky, excellent visibility and light breeze suggested it would be a good day for raptors… A Goosander flew along the course of tiny stream before our first raptor,…
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A raptor day; Bespoke Kielder Safari 28/03/2016
I love the Northumberland coast, and my obsession with the North Sea and it’s wildlife is well documented, but I always look forward to the drive west – away from the sea and into forests and remote moorland… I collected Jeanette and Simon for their second trip with NEWT, following the Otter mini-Safari on Sunday,…
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Raptor Day; Kielder Safari 23/04/2015
There’s a lot of very impressive wildlife in and around Kielder, particularly if you extend your visit across the border into Scotland, and we always hope for bright clear weather with a bit of warmth and a breeze… I collected Brian from Bellingham and we headed up the valley in just the sort of weather…
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Moorland magic; Bespoke birdwatching 16/06/2014
Heading up the coast to Embleton to collect Pete and Janet for their fourth day out with NEWT (plus a couple of days with their local natural history society on a Northumberland visit in 2009), I had a mixture of anticipation and trepidation. It’s always a pleasure to have them on a tour, but this…
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Kettling; Kielder Safari 23/04/2014
The alarm went off at 06:00 on Wednesday, and my heart sank as I looked out of the window…heavy mist, not ideal for any of our tours, but particularly not good for a day in Kielder. I drove to Kingston Park to collect Steph and we headed west in much more promising conditions; low cloud…
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Black Grouse Bonanza Day 2; Cross-border birding
Saturday saw a much more relaxed start, at a much more civilised hour, for the second day of our Black Grouse Bonanza guided holiday. After another filling breakfast at Peth Head we set out for a day around Kielder and the Borders. With beautiful blue sky, fluffy white clouds and a nice breeze, it looked…