{"id":1525,"date":"2012-04-07T06:39:32","date_gmt":"2012-04-07T06:39:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.northernexperiencewildlifetours.co.uk\/blog\/?p=1525"},"modified":"2012-04-07T06:39:32","modified_gmt":"2012-04-07T06:39:32","slug":"kielder-safari-05042012","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.northernexperiencewildlifetours.co.uk\/blog\/index.php\/birdwatching\/kielder-safari-05042012","title":{"rendered":"Kielder Safari 05\/04\/2012"},"content":{"rendered":"

After Tuesday’s snow, sleet and general murk, and Wednesday’s icy breeze, I prepared for Thursday’s Kielder Safari<\/a> by loading as many layers of technical clothing as I could into the back of the car…but, as I headed north to Felton to collect Lindsay and Abbie, I was glad that I’d included sunglasses in my kit list for the day \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n

We drove west through Rothbury, Elsdon and Otterburn, in absolutely stunning light that really showed Northumberland at it’s best,\u00a0along roads where the verges were still snow-covered and the temperature was sub-zero,\u00a0past flocks of Fieldfares<\/strong><\/em> and Redwings<\/strong><\/em> gathering pre-migration, to collect Victoria and Paul from Bellingham before heading along the forest tracks towards Hawkhope.\u00a0 Only a few hundred yards from the public road we were\u00a0soon watching a stunning male Common Crossbill<\/strong><\/em>.\u00a0 More Crossbills<\/strong><\/em> followed, then some outrageously bright Siskins. Common Buzzards<\/strong><\/em> were soaring over the plantations (it turned out to be a excellent raptor day – although the ‘Phantom of the Forest’ eluded us), Chaffinches<\/strong><\/em> seemed to be along every step of the way, Great Spotted Woodpeckers<\/strong><\/em> played their usual game of hide-and-seek\u00a0and even the humble Meadow Pipits<\/strong><\/em> were subjected to great scrutiny.\u00a0 As Lindsay commented as we watched one pipit, elevated above it’s usual status of LBJ by the superb light,\u00a0“it’s nice to have views in the field,\u00a0of a feature\u00a0that you’ve read about in a field guide”.\u00a0 He was referring to the long hind-claw of the pipit and, with our subject perched just a few metres away and very obliging, this led on to a discussion of pipit identification.\u00a0 When we finally returned to the C200 we’d been off-road for over\u00a0two and a half hours – a new longevity record for that 10 mile section of our route, and an excellent measure of just how many birds we’d stopped and studied.<\/p>\n

Up over the border our lunch break, after watching a pair of Curlews<\/strong><\/em> as they called on a bit of high\u00a0moorland,\u00a0was accompanied by a pair of Ravens<\/strong><\/em> chasing off a Kestrel<\/strong><\/em> that had strayed over their nest site, a territorial skirmish involving 2 pairs of Common Buzzards<\/strong><\/em>, Pied Wagtails<\/strong><\/em> flycatching over the stream and 3 Goosanders <\/strong><\/em>looking resplendent.\u00a0 <\/strong>Our post-lunch walk produced more Common Buzzards<\/strong><\/em>, another Kestrel,<\/strong><\/em> a Peregrine<\/strong><\/em> powering it’s way down the valley and a small group of Wild Goats<\/strong><\/em> including a tiny kid.\u00a0 As we returned to the car a pair of Ravens<\/strong><\/em> appeared along the ridge, soared up against the sky and then began tumbling and calling.<\/p>\n

Our final section of the trip was the Forest Drive between Kielder and Byrness; currently closed to the public because of forestry activity, and the state of the road surface, we’d been given permission by the Forestry Commission to use the track, which we had to ourselves for the afternoon.\u00a0\u00a0A Raven<\/strong><\/em> soared close to a Common Buzzard<\/strong><\/em>, a pair of Stonechats<\/strong><\/em> were next to the road at Kielderhead and we came across an excellent mixed flock of finches; Common Crossbills<\/strong><\/em>, Siskins<\/strong><\/em> and Lesser Redpolls<\/strong><\/em> (which we’d earlier heard but not seen) in one small area of spruce, pine and birch.<\/p>\n

We dropped Victoria and Paul back in Bellingham, and headed east towards the coastal plain as the light faded at the end of a 12 hour Safari Day.\u00a0 12 hour days as a birdwatching guide, in some extraordinary landscapes with stunning wildlife,\u00a0leave you feeling energised…don’t think I would have\u00a0said the same\u00a0while I was a teacher \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

After Tuesday’s snow, sleet and general murk, and Wednesday’s icy breeze, I prepared for Thursday’s Kielder Safari by loading as many layers of technical clothing as I could into the back of the car…but, as I headed north to Felton to collect Lindsay and Abbie, I was glad that I’d included sunglasses in my kit […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,15,5],"tags":[148,165,172,23,128,134,207,55,457,22,89,215,495],"class_list":["post-1525","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-birdwatching","category-kielder","category-northumberland","tag-common-buzzard","tag-common-crossbill","tag-curlew","tag-fieldfare","tag-kestrel","tag-lesser-redpoll","tag-meadow-pipit","tag-peregrine","tag-raven","tag-redwing","tag-siskin","tag-stonechat","tag-wild-goat"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.northernexperiencewildlifetours.co.uk\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1525","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.northernexperiencewildlifetours.co.uk\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.northernexperiencewildlifetours.co.uk\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.northernexperiencewildlifetours.co.uk\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.northernexperiencewildlifetours.co.uk\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1525"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.northernexperiencewildlifetours.co.uk\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1525\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1526,"href":"https:\/\/www.northernexperiencewildlifetours.co.uk\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1525\/revisions\/1526"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.northernexperiencewildlifetours.co.uk\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1525"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.northernexperiencewildlifetours.co.uk\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1525"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.northernexperiencewildlifetours.co.uk\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1525"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}