RSPB Saltholme, Middlesbrough, County Durham, 02/04/2010

12:30 - 2:30pm. Weather: overcast, grey, cold, still.

First outing on the third annual Easter extravaganza, this time I wanted to visit the uplands of the north east of England where I hoped to see a couple of specialities of that habitat. To start though I picked up Rob up from Middlesbrough train station mid-morning after a very late night drive up from London the night before. As well as the uplands I wanted to visit on the RSPB's flagship reserves in the area after reading quite a lot about it in the membership magazine. It was easy to find & a pleasure to visit covering an impressive area of land which yielded an impressive number of species.

Sand Martin - first of the returning summer visitors just after the visitors' centre.
Tufted Duck, Reed Bunting, Goldfinch, Coot, Magpie.

Wildlife Watchpoint:
Black-Headed Gull, Black-Tailed Godwit, Mallard, Redshank, Meadow Pipit.
Wigeon, Gadwall, Shoveler, Little Grebe - heard from reedbeds.

Cormorant, Crow, Linnet (3 over), Greylag Goose, Kestrel.

Paddy' Pool Hide:
Mute Swan, Great-Crested Grebe, Moorhen.
Brown Hare - one hunkered down in a form; we heard the hide volunteer saying that there are several on the reserve & before the area became a reserve people often chased them with their dogs for some sport.
Teal, Curlew, Shelduck.
Mediterranean Gull - scanning the black-heads I picked out this beauty which I wasn't expecting & which I shared with the others in the hide.
Avocet - a couple on one of the islands in front of the hide.
Oystercatcher, Lapwing, Herring Gull, Lesser Black-Backed Gull, Starling.

Saltholme Pools Hide:
Hooded Merganser - a lone male busily fishing in a more secluded part of the pool, as always with this species it seems there was speculation of its origin & whether it was just an escapee. Judging by the lack of reports on the internet & in magazines subsequently published it was not considered worthy of a genuine vagrant status, but a first for me nonetheless.
Pink-Footed Goose - a lone straggler on the adjacent grassland not look in the best of health, looking rather forlorn & obviously incapable of flying further north with the big flocks.
Goldeneye, Pochard - lone male.
Little-Ringed Plover - alerted to its presence by others in the hide, it foraged a channel at the edge of the pool affording excellent sightings before wandering out of view.
Pied Wagtail, Great Black-Backed Gull, Skylark - heard over the meadows as we made our way back to the car.

An excellent reserve that has already far exceeded its expected numbers of visitors, as it matures it can only get better which is an exciting thought, & a great way to get the Easter holiday up & running.

42 species, one new.

After Saltholme Rob & I continued along to Seal Sands & then out to Seaton Carew. There wasn't much at Seal Sands other than huge oil processing plants & we then passed a Wildlife Trust reserve on the way to the coast. At Seaton Carew we walked amongst the dunes to the beach & watched some impressive kite-surfers, impressive because the wind was freezing & the beach was covered in oil & other detritus! It was an impressive scene nonetheless but we eventually headed off up into the hills.