INSIDE THE HIDE

The new seal hide at Greatham Creek. It's taken nearly two years of heavy work on flood protection, reshaping the wetlands and providing this and another fancy new hide. They're still working - providing footpaths, boardwalks and information boards - and when it all greens over again it should look very good, though as I was walking from the car park I recalled a hawthorn hedgerow - now grubbed up - that used to be full of small birds. However, there's still plenty of scrub and reedbed across the road for them to use. Not many seals about today as it was high tide and blowing quite fiercely, but lots of birds including whooper swans and red-breasted mergansers.