Calmed Down

After having a day to calm down I had the chance to go back to Morpeth this morning.
We didn't have long to spend so it was a good job the Squacco Heron - Lifer, was standing on the shingle bank next to the blue bridge when we got there.

During the 20 minutes we watched it, the Squacco crept along the side of the grassy islands in the river, fished and scratched itself before flying further down the river twice.

Like many birds I have see I was suprised by the small size of the Heron, roughly the same size as the nearby Mallards.
Its easy to see why it has been missed as it is so well camoflagued amongst the riverside vegetation.

After elegantly flying down the river the Squacco would then land on the bank side and clumsily run along the shoreline.

Ducks, Ducks, Ducks

I was out early taking photos for school at the Newcastle Quayside, nothing out of the ordinary seen; Common Gulls and a Cormorant with a white head were the best.
When I got home I saw that the Green Winged Teal- Lifer, was still at Bothal Pond, so after visiting family in Morpeth we went.
I also had a quick walk along the river at Morpeth where a female Goosander was showing well on the riverbank with a group of Mallards.
When we got to Bothal the Teal was nowhere to be seen. I met a group of Birders further down the track that also couldn’t find it but five minutes later managed to pin point it, sleeping on the waters edge. It was probably missed by a lot of people because a wigeon kept walking in front of it and covered the crucial white stripe.
There were about 100 Teal around the pond in total as well as a good number of Canada Geese and a single shoveler on the small flash near the pond.
At Cresswell Pond 1000+ Pink Footed Geese were in the field behind the pond. 3 Scaup and 2 Grey Partridge near the car park were the highlights, no sign of the Bittern.Only one more Lifer and I am on 200, I wonder what it could be?