Dad and I had to go up to Hartlepool to give some stuff to my gran. We knew there had been
Marsh Warblers at both Saltholme and Bowesfield marsh. This would be a lifer for me and we decided to try for the Bowesfield bird. The weather was awful with heavy rain all day. Near the Tees we came off the A19 and headed into Middlesborough towards Bowesfield industrial estate. We found the reserve and walked through it to the northern end where we found a few other birders looking into reeds in a dip. We stood and waited. There were plenty of
Sedge Warblers and a
Grasshopper Warbler but no sign of the
Marsh Warbler. We kept waiting through the rain (I realised my waterproof coat wasn't so waterproof). Then we heard it briefly and watched it climb up through the reeds. It sat for no more than 30 seconds before is disappeared again. However the views were still excellent. We then drove to RSPB Saltholme, not to go birding but to get some lunch. However we did get nice views of
Common Terns. After this brief stopped we headed to my grans. After this we decided we would year tick
Little Tern at Crimdon Dene. We luckily managed to get them from the carpark so didn't have to go down to the beach (I did manage a record shot). All in all a good, albeit wet, day.
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| Marsh Warbler |
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| Marsh Warbler |
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| Little Tern, honestly |
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| Common Tern |
