Dressed for Dinner

New Year’s Eve was spent at The Swan, always an enjoyable location to see out the old year and see in the new and somewhere that we were given so much help and advice when we decided to start NEWT; it’s hard to believe that only a year ago we were yet to embark on the first Northern Experience Wildlife Tour. 1am on New Year’s Day 2009 saw me contemplating a glass of Malbec, a glass of Bushmills and a glass of Moet…9am on New Year’s Day, in contrast, saw me contemplating our 2009 wildlife tour schedule. Today we were back to what I enjoy the most, with a trip to Druridge Bay. A mixed herd of Mute and Whooper Swans allowed comparison between these close relatives and there was plenty of opportunity to compare the bills and behaviour of several waders (including Curlew, Redshank and Golden Plover) and ducks (including Goldeneye, Teal, Wigeon, Gadwall and Red-breasted Merganser). Participant descriptions of some of the birds were quite illuminating; “depressed” (Grey Heron) and “dressed for dinner” (Lapwing) are phrases that will linger long in the memory. Perhaps the star of the day was, again, an otter. Snaking sinuously through the icy-cold water, rolling on it’s back to feed, leaving a trail of fine bubbles while under the surface and, best of all, climbing out of the water onto a log and having a good stretch before looking straight towards us – while we were looking through a 60x eyepiece on the telescope. The best start to the year that we could have imagined, and hopefully a good omen for our upcoming otter safaris and Druridge Bay trips.