Druridge pond

Popped over to one of the ponds at Druridge today as I had a spare hour or so when my daughter was out at her art club and sightings included:
Lapwing (huddled together on the banks)
Teal
Black Headed Gulls
Magpies and
Shoveler ( my very first sighting so very excited) and
Widgeon these cute ducks were all walking behind each other in a line and seemed to be on a mission, not quite sure what though.

On the way back which was after about 30 minutes because it was freezing I saw some Eider Ducks off the shore at Cresswell. Sat in the car and watched them swim out for a while whilst my hubby complained that I was a 'fair weather birder' hehehe. I think I will invest in some sort of spotting scope as my binoculars are a bit temperamental as some times no matter what I do I see double. Back to work on Monday after a nice week off so birding will probably take a back seat for a while.

QEII Country Park

Popped over to the QEII Country Park this afternoon and saw the usual Mute Swans, Coots, Moorhens and Black Headed Gulls. There was a large group of Canada Geese on the Lake along with very nice group of ducks, one I think is a Bali Duck but am at a loss at the other 2. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. We didn't see any Cormorants which was a bit of a surprise as the last time I was there we saw a few on the shore drying their wings. We did see a few Tuffted Ducks diving for fish which my daughter filmed on her video camera.