An Ibis.....Or two!

So after an early overtime shift on Saturday morning, I headed straight to cramlington and picked up Michael. After a brief technical glitch with the sat nav, we headed straight for the Tyne Tunnel and then onto Blue House Lane at Boldon.

I parked up about half way down Blue House Lane, locked the car and got the scope set up!

We spoke to a fellow birder who said the Ibis had just flown to the field slightly further down the lane. Lou and behold in the left hand field, near the metro line, there they were.

This was my first encounter with Glossy Ibis, what great birds and very active!

We watched them for a good 20 minutes until they were scared off by a rowdy Kestrel.

They didn't move very far, simply flying over the hedge into the next field. We walked back up to a better view point and observed them for a while longer. The Kestrel remained perched on an electrical wire and in a bush to the back of the field I saw my first flock of Redwing this winter. 

As we left we had a quick look into Boldon Flats, plenty of Curlew, Lapwing, Teal, Wigeon, Herring Gull, Greater Black Backed Gull, Black Headed Gull and a solitary Mute Swan.

A quick stop off at Arcot Pond showed nothing of major interest, the three Roe Deer were seen again in the bullrushes but they quickly headed into the large trees on the north western side. A search for the Little Owl yielded zero results.