Tuesday 19th March ........Spring

Tuesday 19th March
Not the best day weather wise ,dull grey sky bitter cold East wind , but I thought I just have to get out so headed up to St Mary's Island , but as the Pinkfeet  geese where close to the road I pulled into the car park along the coast road and scoped them  a quick glance through did not reveal any Bean Geese , so I went through more slowly checking and counting  which totalled 220 not bad as I had estimated a couple of hundred but no Bean Geese , every year they come to the County numbers seem to get larger and larger ,the bulk being around Cresswell Druridge areas  but splinter groups seem to also have their favourite feeding areas and this seems to have been assigned by this group. Actually it's ideal although the road is busy they came nearer and nearer to the wall only moving off when a very large lorry came by which they had seen well down the road, in the main they seem to get used to traffic till next year when they will be ultra cautious again.
Parked near the mast fields and checked the cliffs to the North no sign of any Fulmars a large section of soil having slid into the sea , no Fulmars above the bay either walking down the track to the wetland a lone Skylark lifted and went into song, a small group of gulls  surrounded by feeding Curlews to the West a single Golden Plover calling , a handfull of Sanderling in the North bay and 2 Dunlin ,walked around the prom only another 2 Dunlin and a few gulls mainly Black backs with a single LBB on the rocks at the corner . Checking the wetland could only see two Mute Swans but from the viewpoints up the track I counted 30 Teal well spread around  the pool edges , with a Water Rail calling from the North end Reeds , very quiet but given the weather hardly surprising  so I called it a day.