Northern Experience Wildlife Tours

Tag: Willow Warbler

  • Through our clients eyes

    After four years of guiding visiting birdwatchers around some of the stunning habitat that we have in Northumberland, one thing we’ve learned above all else is that hardly any two people hear, or see, things the same as each other.

    As I drove to Rothbury, to collect Bill, Kate, Gerry and Ieva, I was wondering what the day would bring.  I knew what the weather would be like; clear blue skies, glorious sunshine, maybe a cool breeze on the coast.  What had me gripped though, was what a group of clients from the US would find most entrancing about Northumberland’s wildlife.

    As the day progressed I found myself seeing and hearing some of our regular species as if for the first time.  With clients who were already familiar with some of our birds, but unfamiliar with others, we paid an incredible deal of attention to Tree Sparrows, Little Grebes, Shovelers, Shelducks and the other birds that we see on most, if not all, of our Druridge Bay trips.  As each new species was observed, a field guide was produced to check relevant ID features (always a good approach if dealing with an unfamiliar bird).  A Willow Warbler perched obligingly in full view just a few metres away, singing his descending silvery cadence, two Reed Warblers delivered their metronomic chuntering from adjacent reedbeds, Avocets dozed in the bright, warm sunshine, strings of Gannets flew northwards into the stiffening headwind, Puffins swirled around Coquet Island, Eiders bobbed about on the swell and a Turnstone, respendently white-headed on it’s northward journey to the breeding grounds, played Sanderling-like with the onrushing tide.  As Kate demonstrated some excellent field ability, picking out a distant Roseate Tern, a Stonechat grabbed our attention.  Starkly black and white, with a rich orange breast, as he flitted away from us along the fenceline he flashed a white rump and big white wingbars.  Almost certainly a Siberian Stonechat, he evaded all of Ieva’s attempts to photograph his striking rump and then vanished across the fields in pursuit of a Meadow Pipit.

    Bird of the day?  I’ll leave that one to Bill “For me, it has to be Sedge Warbler“

  • 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.

  • Happiness is a state of ‘find’

    A couple of months after I left my teaching career, I was sent a link to this webpage… and I ended up in a pub at 10:00 on a Tuesday morning, explaining my ideas to an interview panel.

    A few weeks after that interview I found myself on an Enterprise Island residential weekend and when we were asked the question “how will you know when your business is a success?”  almost everyone answered that the measure of that would be if their customers were happy.

    We had our first Cheviots Safari of the year yesterday.  I collected Sally and Tony from Morpeth and we headed northwest.  On a day that was cold, windy and overcast, the quality of the birdwatching in the Northumberland hills more than made up for the weather; 3 Ring Ouzels perched obligingly in one tree, allowing us a prolonged opportunity to watch them, Curlews were displaying high over the heather moorland, male Red Grouse were as stunning as ever, Chaffinches, Willow Warblers, Chiffchaffs, Blackcaps, Robins, Redpolls, Meadow Pipits, Mistle Thrushes and Wrens were all singing and we had an unexpected bonus in the shape of a White Wagtail.  A real highlight of the day, although it wasn’t a highlight so much as a constant backdrop, was the number of raptors; 14 Common Buzzards (including 7 in the air at the same time), 2 Kestrels chasing each other around and a Sparrowhawk would have been a good haul on a cold day, but as we watched a Peregrine go into a stooping dive we were amazed to see that the object of it’s ire was a Goshawk, beating it’s way steadily across the hillside.  As the falcon repeatedly buzzed the ‘phantom of the forest’, buzzards were hanging in the wind high above it, and a kestrel was hovering against the hilltop.  It was one of those moments that I really can’t do justice to in writing.

    And the connection to the anecdote at the start of this post?  My answer to the question was that I would consider NEWT a success if I was happy with what we’re doing.  Of course, me being happy requires happy clients… and the reason we had Sally and Tony out with us yesterday was that Sally had been given a gift voucher by one of our previous clients.  Happiness is infectious 🙂

  • Busy birdwatching

    Even though we live in southeast Northumberland, we’ll never tire of getting out and about searching for new experiences for our clients.  Days out with clients are always exciting as well, because we never know exactly what we’ll see or what it will be doing.

    Last Thursday we had a Southeast Northumberland/Druridge Bay safari with clients from a fairly wide geographical area; Jeff and Jean from Huddersfield, Lawrie and Linda from Glasgow and Yvonne from southwest Northumberland.  Starting at Newbiggin we managed a brief view of a Mediterranean Gull on the beach, and a small flock of Sanderling.  These little grey, white and black ‘clockwork toys’ are always entertaining as they scurry back and forth along the water’s edge.  The River Wansbeck was our next destination.  As expected there was a good sized flock of Lapwing roosting and Cormorants and Herons were doing what they do; standing with their wings out and just sort of standing respectively.  All of a sudden a wave of panic spread through the Lapwings.  We all scanned backwards, forwards, skywards but couldn’t see any cause.  Perhaps it was just a false alarm?  The birds settled but were up again within a minute, gradually settling back down with a great deal of conversation between them all.  Greenshanks flew by calling and the Lapwings were becoming increasingly jittery.  Even birds from distant streams were high in the air, forming the quite tight flocks that indicate the presence of a predator, something that creates anticipation wherever we’re birdwatching.  Eventually we found a distant Peregrine, and a big female Sparrowhawk slid menacingly through the trees opposite our watchpoint.  One or both of them was presumably the cause for concern.  Even the Great Black-backed Gulls flushed and flew overhead, giving calls of consternation.

    Among the coastal waders, perhaps the best were three Common Snipe, unusually confiding and just a few metres away from us.  The fall of passerine migrants earlier in the week had left a few goodies behind.  Spotted and Pied Flycatchers were quite elusive, sallying forth and then back into cover, Willow Warblers and Chiffchaffs were picking their way through willows beside the path and, providing a visual feast to rival the gaudiest of birds from elsewhere in the world, six male Common Redstarts were along one short stretch of hedge.  There really is little to rival the beauty of these birds.

    At the conclusion of our journey up the coast a bird as lacking in colour as the Redstart is bathed in it was a final wonderful sighting.  As we watched two Grey Herons perched in trees overhanging the River Coquet, a Little Egret flew by before returning and perching high in the treetops in a spot where we could watch it through the ‘scope.  There can’t be many better places to be birdwatching than the Northumberland coast in September 🙂

  • Birdwatching; Northumberland in the rain

    I’ve always maintained that, whatever the weather (with the possible exception of a howling gale), it’s always possible to have a really good day birdwatching in Northumberland.  Yesterday’s forecast didn’t promise too much in the way of good weather though and, as it turned out, we had to contend with drizzly rain for the whole day.

    I collected Reg and Val from Newcastle and we set off towards the Harthope Valley.  This is one of NEWT’s favourite locations; spectacular scenery, excellent birdwatching and the all important absence of crowds.  A holiday group from another birdwatching company were in the valley as well, though.  Just before we reached the turning for Langleeford, a Brown Hare was sitting in a roadside field.  As we’re in June, and all of the trees are in leaf, a lot of our birding was done by ear.  Grasshopper Warbler was a nice find, Oystercatchers were chasing each other up and down the valley, a Cuckoo flew past, pursued by Meadow Pipits, the shivering trill of a Wood Warbler could be heard over the running water and Grey Wagtail, Common Sandpiper  and Dipper were all along the water’s edge.  Willow Warblers were singing from all around, Siskin and Redpoll were picked up on call and then eventually gave excellent views, Snipe were displaying over a recently planted area on the opposite side of the valley, Curlews were singing their haunting song (so much more appropriate on windswept, remote moorland than on the coast) and then I heard it; a call that is familiar in the winter, but not in the Cheviot valleys in June.  I was still trying to convince myself that I’d misheard the call, when the bird appeared in front of us – unmistakeable really, there was a Twite. I looked, looked away, looked again;  no, I wasn’t imagining it.  It’s a species that’s suspected to breed in tiny numbers in Northumberland, although there seems to be a lack of confirmed records for the breeding season.  Perhaps it was passing through, or maybe, just maybe, there is a breeding site in the Cheviots.

    After the excitement of such an unexpected find, we had one major target species left for the day.  Ring Ouzel is another bird that you may find on coastal headlands in the autumn, and there are sporadic wintering records as well, but the place to see them is surely the remote upland valleys where they breed.  As we made our way up a steep-sided valley we had excellent views of a recently fledged Dipper, and I could hear an ouzel singing.  We continued and then the bird appeared overhead, flying from one side of the valley to the other, singing as it crossed.  It dropped out of sight, still singing, before retracing it’s route over the valley again.  This time we knew where it had landed so we crept along a track towards it.  Patience and persistence paid off (as they so often do) and we enjoyed prolonged views of the bird as it sang from a clump of heather on the skyline.  The rain was becoming colder and more persistent so we headed back to the car and then down the A697 back to civilisation.

  • Setting the scene

    Sunday started with a journey to inland Northumberland, birdwatching on some heather moorland in order to complete our final 2 ‘early season’ visits for the BTO Bird Atlas.  Contrary to the forecast weather, it was cold, windy and drizzly.  However, we set off and were eventually rewarded with a dramatic improvement as the sun came out and so did the birds.  Alongside all of the Willow Warblers, Chaffinches, Skylarks and Meadow Pipits the highlights were at least 3 Spotted Flycatchers and a stunning male Whinchat.  A pair of Curlew began alarming as we crossed the moorland, constantly changing position to draw us away from their nest location.

    After a walk of just over 5 miles we headed home and decided that we would venture out towards dusk in search of badgers.  We’ve got an Otter and Badger trip on Thursday so we needed to check on the current status of a couple of setts that we’ve been watching for some time.  As we settled into position, with what appeared to be a horde of bats flying around, Blackbirds and Mistle Thrushes were alarming (as they often do late in the day).  Soon, movement on the hillside opposite revealed our first badger of the evening.  Very grey, with cream stripes, it came out of a sett, squatted on a patch of bare earth and then vanished into the undergrowth.  A second animal quickly followed, much more gingery than the first, and then a third, starkly black and white.  It really is a privilege to sit and watch these magnificent animals as they go about their business (no pun intended).

    After such a successful evening, getting a ‘phone call earlier today “can you take us out to look for Red Squirrels, Otters and Badgers tomorrow please” was exactly what we wanted.  Once upon a time I wouldn’t have been happy working on a Bank Holiday weekend, now it’s an enjoyable part of my career choice.  Just over 2 years in, and I don’t regret even a tiny part of that decision.

  • 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.

  • Slow, slow

    Yesterday was the first of two days out with the winners of last year’s Birdwatching Northumberland prize draw.  After collecting Andy and Jean from the Bamburgh Castle Inn our destination was the Harthope Valley in the Cheviots.  It’s one of our favourite locations; stunning landscape, interesting geology and, of course, excellent wildlife.  As we reached the start of the valley we stopped to check on a Dipper nest, and there was one of the adults sitting on a rock in the river, so close that we didn’t need binoculars.  Further upstream we watched a pair of Grey Wagtails, eventually locating their nest in the tangled exposed roots of a riverside tree, before setting off in search of Ring Ouzels.  It wasn’t too long before we heard a singing male, but he remained stubbornly out of sight.  As we climbed higher up the valley the song seemed to be coming from somewhere else and careful scanning of the area revealed our quarry, perched on the remnants of a dry stone wall.  A pair of Red Grouse, with at least 7 chicks, were very obliging and a pair of Whinchat were flitting around in the heather.  After lunch we were treated to more Grey Wagtails, including a bird singing and displaying high overhead, and these were a real highlight of the day, a singing Dipper, Tree Pipit, Redstart, Cuckoo, a plethora of Willow Warblers and the shivering trill of a Wood Warbler.  Andy was keen to take a photograph of a Green Tiger Beetle and, eventually, one sat still for long enough to allow him to get close to it.

    Green Tiger Beetle

    The non-bird highlight of the day though came as we walked back to the Land Rover; a pair of Slow Worms locked in a mating embrace.  A remarkable end to an excellent day captured on camera by Andy, who kindly sent me the images to add to our blog.

    This embrace can last for up to 10 hours!
    That doesn't look comfortable

  • mid-April magic

    After a couple of days in the office (although I’m not complaining; I spent those two days finalising details for two new projects and taking bookings for group photography trips and a Northumberland birdwatching holiday) it was good to get out with clients this morning.  Our three clients became just one though, due to the Icelandic volcano, and I collected Ellen from Newbiggin by the Sea for a tour of southeast Northumberland and Druridge Bay.  We started with a search for Mediterranean Gulls.  None of the nice, ghostly white-winged adults were around but there was a 2nd year bird amongst the Black-headed Gulls.  It made a good identification subject, as the lack of obvious white wings meant that it was possible to focus on structure rather than just plumage, although the obvious wing-bar ensured that a discussion of wing topography was easy to relate to what we could see flying in front of us.

    Under deep blue skies with fluffy white clouds this was a beautiful morning, although the bitingly cold, howling northwesterly meant that hats and gloves were in order.  At Cresswell we admired our bird of the day; a stunning male Black-headed Wagtail.  I’d never seen one before, and as Ellen is from the southwestern US it was a lifer for her as well.  The geographical connection to where I spent 6 months in 1999/2000 focused conversation on two of my favourite topics; birdwatching and Mexican food.  Summer visitors were evident, with Swallow and Sand Martin flying over all the coastal pools, Willow Warblers singing their silvery, descending cadence sheltered from the wind, a nervous Common Sandpiper just a few metres away from us and, best of all one of the best looking ducks to have ever dabbled around Druridge Pools, Garganey, was another lifer for Ellen.  A pair of Stonechats perched in a bare hawthorn were a welcome sight, after a winter that will have surely decimated their population.  The three hours passed incredibly quickly and I dropped a happy birdwatcher in Morpeth to continue the next leg of her journey through Northumberland.