NATUREWATCH AT WHITELEE HOLIDAY COTTAGES

Enjoy a unique wildlife experience during your stay at Whitelee.  CCTV cameras installed around the farm bring live images of barn owls and other birds, badgers and foxes direct to the television in your cottage so that with a click of the remote you have your very own 'Naturewatch'.  At night, Infra-red lighting ensures that you can watch the comings and goings of the nocturnal wildlife without causing them any disturbance. 

This charming photo of a badger
was taken by one of our visitors,
Jason Thorpe, who kindly allowed us
to use It here.  Badgers are largely
nocturnal and so have poor
eyesight.  They love peanuts!

Watch from the comfort of your armchair as badgers and foxes come to a feeding station to feed and barn owls and swallows rear their chicks.  Nature, of course, is unpredictable, and so we can never guarantee what is going to be happening on the 'Naturewatch' cameras at any given time, but we hope there will always be something to excite, fascinate and surprise anyone with an interest in wildlife.

 Whitelee is rich in birdlife and a feeding station in your cottage garden brings a variety of birds within view of your windows, among them,greenfinches, chaffinches, blue tits, great tits, coal tits,  siskins and nuthatches.  In the trees and hedges around the cottages are blackbirds, thrushes, robins, dunnocks, treecreepers and wrens, and among the summer visitors to the farm are dozens of swallows and house martins, oystercatchers, curlews, golden plovers, sand martins, willow warblers and many more.  Nest boxes around the cottages are occupied by blue tits, great tits and starlings and there are also roosting boxes for bats which can been seen hunting at dusk through the spring and summer.  A gentle stroll with your binoculars will reward you with a wealth of sitings.

An RSPB warden stayed with us one summer and below is a list of the birds he identified during his stay around the farm and its immediate vicinity.  Come to stay and see if you can add to the list.

 Further afield, Northumberland contains an amazing diversity of habitats which attract many different species of birds.  These habitats range from offshore islands and muddy estuaries to

Red squirrel by Jason Thorpe
wooded valleys and open moorland.  The Whitelee National Nature Reserve is directly opposite your cottage with stunning scenery and its own mix of bird and wildlife, including wild goats.  The Kielder Water and Forest Park is close by and offers walks and picnic areas with the chance to see a range of woodland birds, along with deer and red squirrels, and is home to an excellent Bird of Prey Centre, that's well worth a visit.
 

The birds which can be seen vary widely with the seasons - some only come here in the summer to breed; others only spend wintertime here; whilst others again only use the County as a staging post in their great journeys around the world.  Each one of these factors help the give Northumberland one of the richest and most varied birdlife in the country. To many, it is simply a bird watcher's paradise.

 The seabirds of Northumberland are one of its greatest bird watching asset.   Many different species come to the various offshore islands throughout the summer to breed before departing for their various winter homes and a trip to the Farne Islands is a must.  You'll see puffin, guillemot, shag, kittiwake, Sandwich Tern, Common Tern and Arctic Tern all nesting close at hand, but, be warned, wear a hat!

 

Whitelee Farm on the BBC

Have a look at these web sites about Whitelee Farm when it featured on BBC's programme " Nature's Calendar"

www.bbc.co.uk/naturescalendar/spring/grasslands/whitelee/whitelee_access.shtml

www.bbc.co.uk/naturescalendar/spring/grasslands/whitelee/whitelee.shtml

 

Whitelee Farm and Northumberland National Park

Read what the National Park have to say about Whitelee Farm

www.northumberlandnationalpark.org.uk/news-article.htm?newsid=8291

 

Whitelee Farm and Wiggly Wigglers

Wiggly Wigglers have been supplying our bird food for many years. If you're interested in encouraging wildlife into your garden, you'll find their website carries some exciting and very interesting products.

http://wigglywigglers.blogspot.com/

 

Northern Experience Wildlife Tours

If you are interested in exclusive natural history excursions with an enthusiastic, experienced and friendly leader with an intimate knowledge of northern Britain and its wildlife, contact Northern Experience Wildlife Tours.  Prices range from £30 per adult for a 2-3 hour Mini Safari to £100 per person for a 6-8 hour Prestige Tour.

www.newtltd.co.uk

 

Shepherds Walks

For the complete Northumbrian walking experience join in with a guided walk.

www.shepherdswalks.co.uk

 

SUMMER BIRDS ON WHITELEE

      
Barn owl Mistle thrush  
Blackbird Oystercatcher  
Blue tit Partridge  
Buzzard Peregrine falcon  
Carrion crow Pheasant  
Chaffinch Pied wagtail  
Coal tit Raven  
Collared dove Reed bunting  
Common sandpiper Robin AND CLOSE TO WHITELEE
Cuckoo Rook Blackcap
Curlew Sand martin Black-headed gull
Dipper Sedge warbler Chiffchaff
Dunnock Siskin Crossbill
Feral pigeon Skylark Goldcrest
Garden warbler Snipe Great black-backed gull
Golden plover Song thrush Green woodpecker
Goldfinch Sparrow hawk House sparrow
Goosander Spotted flycatcher          Lapwing
Great spotted woodpecker Starling Linnet
Great tit Stonechat Magpie
Greenfinch Swallow Moorhen
Grey wagtail Tawny owl  Mute swan
Hen harrier Wheatear  Shoveler
Heron Whinchat  Swift
House martin Willow warbler  Teal
Kestrel Wood pigeon  Tree pipit
Mallard Wren  Tufted duck
Meadow pipit    Yellowhammer