A change of venue today was brought about by two things - a complete lack of Swifts where I've been so far and, the possibility of an Iceland Gull sighting. So my destination this morning was Hornsea Mere on the East coast, where it's still cloudy and cold. Poor weather and not school holidays, meant the Mere was quiet and I spent the first hour on my own. Fortunately, it was far from quiet on the birding scene. The water surface was alive with skimming Swallows, House Martins and Sand Martins. Common Sandpipers and wagtails flew from the water's edge as I began scanning the lake's wildfowl. A good number of Tufted Duck are still present and I picked up a larger duck with a grey back among them, looking like a Scaup. Never coming really close, this Scaup? appeared to have a slightly tufted head and the bill markings resembled Tufted Duck more than a Scaup. I've reached the conclusion of Scaup/Tufted hybrid and some images are below. This White Wagtail frequented the shore line all morning with a Pied Wagtail and, in the afternoon, two Yellow Wagtails arrived. Far across the Mere, a Black Tern was flying and feeding, occasionally resting on one of the marker buoys. for a while, it came a little nearer but only for record shots! One of three Common Terns seen, used the same buoy. The hirundines mentioned earlier were quite a spectacle. The Common Swifts which began by flying high, joined the Swallows and Martins over the water surface. Swifts must have numbered many hundreds and were a joy to see after the winter. I attempted to photograph some of the feeding mass! Sand Martins. Common Swift. Swallow. Not pleased with my images today. I experimented with spot metering instead of evaluative and don't like the results! The Iceland Gull which has been seen here recently didn't make an appearance but by chance, I happened to find it on the coast, a short distance away. Really pleased to see this gull and together with two Hobbies later at the Mere, a thoroughly enjoyable visit to the coastal town of Hornsea.
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