First visit to beautiful Saltholme!

This reserve has been lurking on my list of places I want to visit for some time now.  Last week saw us heading up to Mull for a birding holiday and it seemed like the perfect opportunity to stop at Saltholme on the first leg of our journey.  I couldn't have known how perfect our timing was!

This is the Tees Transporter Bridge.  I'd never even heard of transporter bridges but as we headed out onto the reserve it demanded attention - it absolutely dominated the view from the path.

One of my favourite sights of autumn - a flock of Canada geese, all honking away.  To be fair I'm happy to see any species of goose doing a fly past but Canada geese are satisfyingly loud and unsubtle.

This is the Saltholme Pools hide.  I love the tower but sadly, once up there, you can't fully open the windows to get photos.

It was nice to see a spoonbill so far north of my usual stomping ground.

A lapwing demonstrates its normal level of spookiness (high!).

This is the bird everyone was getting excited about - a merlin!  This was the first time I'd seen one and you can bet the camera got a bit carried away!

Off it goes ..........

....... to another post.  Perhaps it likes having the cattle in the background.

'Whose feather is that?  It's making me look small!'

The reserve cattle were quite expressive - especially this individual.

Time for a lay down!

A lovely teal pair.

I might have mentioned on some previous thread that I love pied wagtails.  They were out in force.

I got a bit carried away with these as well!

I couldn't resist finishing with this - there were other signs around which drew the attention but this one had me laughing out loud!

We really enjoyed our visit - so much so that Limpy booked the mobility scooter for the following Wednesday, when we would be returning from Scotland.  I'll post those photos on a separate thread as I've yet to look through them.  Hope you all enjoy these.

  • Fabulous photos Clare and it looked a fab day out, and the merlin looked beautiful. If you like pied wagtails, Conwy often has a plethora of them usually around the shallow lagoon, and I have to admit, even I'm taken up with them, especially the way they wag the tails....

  • Conwy is another reserve that's lurking on my list of reserves I'd like to visit. We must fit that in the next time we're in Wales.
  • Clare Bailey said:
    Conwy is another reserve that's lurking on my list of reserves I'd like to visit. We must fit that in the next time we're in Wales.

    It is a very nice reserve, one I'd love on my doorstep, though I'm not so sure my wife would agree, (on the other hand, she might).....

    If ever I'm free, I'd be more than happy to join up with you.

  •   Hi Clare,
    I’ve just seen your thread about your visit to Saltholme of which I visit nearly every Saturday by bus from Newcastle Upon Tyne. Brilliant photo’s. Did you have time to visit the small RSPB satellite reserve of Saltholme close by called Dorman’s Pool which is just 5-10 minutes walk outside the entrance to Saltholme or you can take your car to a small car park up the road called Huntsman’s Drive and Dorman’s Pool is not signposted from the main road.

  • The above is a plan of Dorman’s Pool with the one hide and also details of the various RSPB Satellite Reserve’s close to Saltholme and details of those smaller RSPB smaller satellite reserve’s can be found included in the details about visiting Saltholme in the reserve listings.

  • Glad you like the photos, Ian! We didn't make it to Dorman's Pool - in fact, nobody mentioned it while we were there. We didn't really have time to visit it, though Limpy is talking about our visiting again and staying overnight.

    I'll be posting a second thread soon, from our visit two days ago. Keep your eyes open!

    EDIT:  Here we go - click here to see the second thread.