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.
Our herring gulls are red listed birds. Think about that the next time you hear some flaming idiot calling for a cull of them.
Hi Clare,
