Today was going to be the best day for weather this week and I decided perhaps we should make the trip to Teesside, to see the Brown Booby which has settled in the Tees estuary. First seen ten days ago in this location, the Brown Booby is found in the Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico as a rule. This bird has found a new home on the no.5 buoy (green) at the entrance to the river Tees and far out in mid river. You may see the green buoy on the image below. For the duration of our visit, the Brown Booby remained on the buoy, only moving around to preen occasionally. The images below reflect the best I could do, given the distance from the shore, however I'm delighted to see the bird on our east coast. The Tees estuary is a great venue for birding as I found out on a previous visit, to watch Arctic Skuas here. There was no shortage of seabirds on the river today. Within the estuary there were many terns, mostly Sandwich and Common, with one Black Tern going out to sea. A few Gannets passed by and this Kittiwake was unusually close to the shore and alone. Both Razorbills and Common Guillemots were in large numbers, feeding and resting on the river. A walk along the beach south of the river produced several wader species, including Dunlin, Oystercatcher, Turnstone, Ringed Plover and eight very smart Bar-tailed Godwits. An excellent day with a great rarity and a wonderful area for birding.
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