Birding around Hartlepool

 Decided to spend the last day of  meteorological spring birding in Cleveland. I arrived at Hartlepool Headland at 8am and joined another birder looking out to sea. Lots of common scoters, tick number 173 for the year, flying north. Gannets, cormorants and eiders also on the sea.

As I walked around the headland I saw lots of cormorants and eiders sat on rocks.

The tide was going out and I assumed that the birds had spent high tide on the rocks. Lots of kittiwakes around the lifeboat station. Newburn Bridge had no birds at all as the tide was well out. Seaton Carew was my next stop where I spent a very pleasant hour talking to Derek, who was the warden on the little tern colony. He had counted 73 birds when he first arrived.

The area is well fenced off to protect the nesting birds. A nice bird for year tick 174. This lapwing was the only bird by the side of the road leading to North Gare car park.

This orchid was growing in a field alongside the Zinc road

the kestrel was looking for its lunch.

As high tide had past there were no seals to be seen from the viewing point and to my disappointment there we no terns on the tidal pool. 

Dormans was my next stop where I added great white egret to my year list. The two birds were near the hide but were on the other side of a 5 bar metal gate and not easy to see.

 Phil Stead hide at Saltholme was next. It was starting to rain as I entered the hide. Light conditions were poor.

Little egret and squabbling avocets kept us entertained until a bittern walked along the outside of the reedbed.

Bottom Saltholme pool was my last stop of the day. From the top deck of the hide I could see 4th tick of the day , a glossy ibis. From downstairs there were lots of birds to be seen. Avocets

the adults were chasing a pair of adult little ringed plovers, who were only trying to protect their own young. A pair of common terns were sat close to the hide.

On the water a fair distance away a little gull  was sat on the water

it did a circuit of the water before settling back on the water, tick number 5 for the day and 177 for the year.