3rd February
Another cold but bright day, with all the water bodies frozen. We met in the wildlife watchpoint to discuss the day's guiding. We only had three guides available, one of whom was a trainee so we split the duties up as best we could, with John going off to look for the long-eared owl and me going via Paddy’s hide down to the Saltholme pools hide. We were treated to a fly past by the marsh harriers before we left – I think one was the juvenile female that has been resident for a while whilst the other an adult (male) which came down from Rainton Meadows.
There were few birds on view from Paddy’s and Saltholme hide proved much the same. The water was frozen so I assume a lot of birds were seeking out areas where the sun had warmed the ground so that they more easily find something to eat. Two hares were seen on the field by the side of the hide and a party of 10 dunlin on the far side of Back Saltholme.
We headed back to the Centre for lunch. In the afternoon we had another look for the long-eared owl but to no avail so we made our way back via Haverton Hole to the wildlife watchpoint. At the Haverton viewpoint we were lucky enough to catch a glimpse of one of the bitterns as it appeared, flew 50 metres and disappeared once more. The wildlife watchpoint gave views of the water rail once more as well as teal and gadwall looking splendid in the winter sunshine.
Cheers for now
Mark