North Shields Fish Quay

Went to the Fish Quay in the hope of the Glaucous or Iceland Gull or anything for that matter ,not a bad day bright at times but with a strong westerly which breezed down the river into the normally sheltered quay , no sign of either Glaucous or Iceland  and not many gulls at all non on the shed roofs as the wind was probably too strong so i gave it a couple of hours going from the shore to quay , plenty of gulls on the Middens but I did not go that far hoping the tide would push them off and along the quay.

Eventually moved on to the boating lake good numbers of gull here bathing in the fresh water (Barnacle still here  a good one for tomorrow ) mostly Black -headed and Herring  ,many of the BH  showing the start of a hood , I wonder if it is the older birds that get the chocolate hood fist, this is a good place for winter gulls or can be ,especially when it is partly frozen with the birds giving good views when on the ice making colour rings easier to see.

Called in at Blyth South Harbour  picked up a tide table for only 80p available from the security hut, the highlight here a RB Merganser , before the setting sun anded the day.

looking forward to getting out in the New Year hopefully it's going to be a good one or even a normal one will do !!!!!

"All the best for the New Year !  "   ............Brian