Saturday 17th September

The weather forecast was poor this weekend, with a high chance of rain. With that in mind, we were looking for potential indoor places. We decided to start the day with a visit to Castletown and a tour of Castle Rushen. It was many years since Dave had been and I'd never visited. So, a mooch around the harbour then into the castle. It is good to walk around and informative, with great views from the top.

After leaving the castle, we went to Scarlett for a short walk, lunch and to decide where to go next. As we had seen signs on our way down, the decision was made to go to 'Tractorfest'. We headed up north but, by the time we arrived it was pretty much over. Just time for a walk in a very muddy field and a few pictures so, where next? As we were fairly close to Smeale, it was around high tide time and there was a chance the pool had been filled, it was an easy decision. We arrived at Smeale to find the tide lower than we thought and no water in the pool - disaster. We wandered to the water's edge and saw some white blobs - Sanderling. We went into stealth mode to approach the birds and get some pictures.