Cresswell ~ waders, an albino and a cuckoo

A couple of hours at Cresswell this morning was very productive, with little stint, ruff, water rail, spoonbill, curlew sandpiper, whimbrel, long-tailed duck, yellow wagtail, an albino barn swallow (amazing - flew south over pool), and greenshank noted.

A great display from a couple of stoats was set to be the highlight until the very last moments - when a cracking barn owl was watched hunting over the dunes and an amazingly obliging juv cuckoo fed along the entrance track!

A bit heat-hazed...

Druridge Oddie

It was a mild morning today, and after another check of the northern pool at Cresswell (BBS-less), it was off to Druridge so that Mark could have another look at the glossy ibis. True to recent form the ibis was feeding right in front of the Oddie hide, albeit in poor flat light. This certainly did not stop the admiring crowd, and inevitably the hide reverberated with camera shutters every time the ibis looked up. Probably more satisfactory was the presence of two obliging greenshank feeding in the vicinity - a delightful species.

With our ibis and shank quota full it was off back to the car for a quick cuppa and...