Shibdon Pond, Blaydon

Visited Shibdon Pond, this afternoon. I have not seen the water levels quite as low as they are at present. Don't know if its just rain shortage or managed. There seems to be quite a lot of maintenance work going on at the reserve at present.
However there are vast areas of mud, which is drying out.
There were good numbers of Lapwing, Snipe and Redshank together with Golden Plover, Dunlin, Shoveler, Water Rail, Teal, Grey Heron.
A Kingfisher sat for a while on a branch on the island before flying to the back of the reserve.
A single pass by a Sparrowhawk scattered the birds for a short while but it was not long before they resettled