A few from a fresh mid-November day.

It was my birthday a few weeks ago and I managed to persuade Limpy that there was nothing I'd like better than a couple of nights in the sunny (!) Hartlepool area ....... near Saltholme.  Happily, the weather held for most of the day and we managed to visit all the hides before we headed home - this was a first for us.  We did, though, spend the bulk of our time in the Saltholme Pools hide - and these two beauties weren't far away:

Wigeon are (for me) one of the most beautifully coloured (and patterned) of our wintering ducks.

I'm more than happy to see any variety of heron at any time of year - and this grey one was no exception.

To both of our (very pleasant) surprise there were good numbers of golden plovers about.  We never saw the lurking sparrowhawk that we were told was causing them to repeatedly fly off in a panic, but we certainly appreciated the opportunity to get them in flight!

Beautiful little birds.

This handsome reed bunting posed nicely as we headed back to the Visitor Centre.

These mallards were clearly on their way to Hilda's.

I couldn't resist the lovely markings of this female.

Finishing with a magnificent great white egret.  We got this from the hide overlooking Dorman's Pool the day after we visited the main reserve - it was certainly worth the effort of stopping there before heading south again.

Hope you all enjoy these.