Teeside

Saturday and off down South and our first trip through the new Tyne Tunnel.  We arrived at Teeside just after 7 the headed for the Bus Stop Hide although from 300m away you could already see the Avocets circling.  We watched from the hide for quite a while with the Avocets alighting then taking off within a minute or so.  Got some decentish pics which would have been better if the light had been.

A wander over to the other side of the road gave us some great views of the Seals which were closer than I had ever seen them, also a Little Egret about 200m further on with Canadas, Greylag and Pinkfeet dotted all over the place. 

Off to Saltholme for a quick walk round.   The best birds were the Great Crested Grebe and another Little Egret (wasn't the same one as earlier as it had been there all morning) although there were many others around.  Our quick walk round turned into nearly 3hrs as when we arrived in Saltholme Hide the few people there were all watching 6 Hares in the distance who were doing a bit of boxing.  They were running, chasing, fighting and XXXXXX.   This went on for nearly 90 minutes with about 25 people watching them.

There were several Skylarks around with Meadow Pipits also.  Due to the Hares we didnt have time to check the other places around Teeside as we had to fuel ourselves up.  Ended up at the Merry Go Round in Hartlepool which for a franchised chain was not too bad.