Day in the Bay

I was out yesterday with Holywell Birder and his mate, so we went to the Druridge Bay area.
It was cold and grey but the visibility was ok, we checked Linton on the way up, but not much there.
We then checked Lynemouth Flash but again nothing there, we were going to go straight to the north car park at Cresswell Pond but as we drove past, noticed that the hide was full.
Even though the water level is to high at the moment and there was nothing obvious to be seen on the pond we still stopped, only to find that the hide was full of photographers, photographing nothing. There were no Wagtails in the fields north of the causeway.

At Druridge Pools we stopped at the Budge Screen first where the pair of Garganey were showing well but the Little Egret was nowhere to be seen.
I scanned all of the mud for LRP or Black Tailed Godwit but nothing apart from a few Snipe and Redshank.
From the other new hide, which looks a lot like the public hide at Holywell, it didn’t get much better.
A strange sighting was 14 Gadwall together in the sheep fields right of the reserve.

At East Chevington there were around 10 Gadwall in a fields right of the reserve as well, with some Greylags.

Hauxley was the furthest north we went, in the visitors centre there had been a Brambling reported as well as the Bar Headed Goose.
Most of the Geese were in the fields outside the reserve but could be seen from the fence.
Mostly Greylags with a few Canadas thrown in also 10 lingering Whooper Swans.
As we got to the first hide we heard the Geese fly over and land on the water, something they did the rest of the time we were there.

2 Sandwich Terns were amongst the Gulls on the middle island, but the Bar Headed Goose hadn’t joined the others on the water.
We checked all the hides on the right side of the reserve and then the fields again on the way out.
Eventually I saw a very pale goose amongst the Greylags in the fields. We all watched it for a while before it flew off towards the water.

After dropping off HB’s mate we went to Holywell Pond, 6 Drake Shovelers together was the highlight.
On the way home we quickly checked Arcot Pond but nothing much was about.

I see that a Black Redstart was reported today at Hauxley at the sewage pipe, I can’t say we checked it; I can’t even remember a sewage pipe.