Trip reports

July 19th Sunday Morning Outing to Hartlepool Headland.

Sunday, 19 July 2009

A quick seawatch without being blown away yielded a few gulls, which sadly, refused to become Gannets. There were a few Eider duck, but the sea seemed very quiet. Some Sandwich and Common Tern passed by and some people were lucky enough to see Small Tern as well.
A walk down towards Andy Capp found some Red Shank, Turnstone, Oystercatchers and more Gulls and Eider Duck. A very quiet but pleasant morning.
It all changed when a local resident came towards the group holding something carefully in one hand. It was a Crossbill that he was just taking to his vet because it could not fly. He did not know what was wrong, but both wings were drooping and he did not want to leave it where it was. We wished him luck and walked down towards Hartlepool.
Then someone spotted another Crossbill - another Male - in a tree in the gardens near the Tourist Information. Then someone else spotted a female on the path. Neither bird seemed worried by a lot of people with telescopes and cameras. They both gave us spectacular views.
We walked back to the cars before the rain started and agreed that, although it had been a quiet morning, it made up in quality what it lacked in quantity