Cleethorpes 26-11-15

With wanting to do as much as I could while visiting I asked Mandy if she would like a day at Cleethorpes to try and find Snow Buntings,so it was up about 6.00 ready to catch the Train arriving at Cleethorpes just after 9.00,we thought with it being a week day it would be a bit quieter which it was apart from the dog walkers who insist walking along the waters edge letting their dogs run through the birds which is really annoying.
We picked up large numbers of Knot,Dunlin,Oystercatcher and a single Sanderling as we walked down towards the leisure centre.
Here we picked out a couple of Common Redshank and Curlew but a bit quieter than usual maybe due to the tide going out,so we made our way for the traditional Macky D's breakfast but not before stopping off at the boating lake to try and photograph the female Goldeneye which was a bit flighty,we managed a couple of shots before she flew down towards the other end of the lake so we made our way for breakfast and coffee.
That set us up for a few hours and we returned back to the boating lake to photograph more waterfowl including Pochard,Tufted duck and the resident Barnacle Geese after a while we made our way out on to the salt marsh,lots of Linnet and Skylark present but could not hear any Twite but my main focus was on finding the Snow Buntings,we walked along the not so big dunes where they are usually found but nothing we reached a makeshift bench and sat down for a while,with the weather forecast being spot on I had to take my jumper off due to being so warm,when make received a message that a Minke Whale had been washed up on the beach so with a quick scan I soon picked it up and was just starting to make our way out to it,when I suddenly heard the distinct calls of Snow Buntings which flew straight over our heads 18 in total,I continued to watch them fly to see where they would come down but they got straight back up and carried on towards Buck beck,so we decided on walking down to them but could we relocate them no chance maybe we walked past them and started to walk back up the marsh but still no sign,so we decided on having a sit down with a bite to eat and drink,with time passing and we needed to think about getting back to the station to catch the train back we started walking picking up Brent,Pink-footed Goose,Shelduck and Little Egret for the day list,we reached the leisure centre again and a flock of Knot had gathered so we tried for a few photo's but I wasn't impressed by mine but Mandy managed a couple,Again a real enjoyable day was had,on our journey home I decided that my visit would have to be cut short and return tomorrow due to very high winds forecast for Saturday,so decided to arrange a few drink with my old friend Mark that night and that the morning would be spent at a very leisurely pace and no alarms to be set,on arriving back we learned that the whale was actually a Fin whale not Minke !!!