Welcome To My Blog,This Will Be Mainly Used As A Diary For My Local Birding Patch At East Halton/Goxhill On The Banks Of The Humber Estuary,With Occasional Twitching And Visits Elsewhere Including Photos From Mine & Tracey's Walks Around Our Beautiful Countryside.
A decent afternoon forecast albeit it being a bit windy, saw Tracey and myself heading south through the Lincolnshire Wolds to that gem of a reserve Frampton Marsh RSPB.
The main reason for travelling down was to see the reported adult Bonaparte's Gull which had taken up residence on Reedbed Lake, and was a new species for Tracey and only a second sighting for myself and also a new bird for my Lincolnshire list.
After a pretty decent drive considering it was a Saturday afternoon, we arrived at a packed car park.
We got our gear together and it was great to see the Lesser Yellowlegs still here and showing really well as always near to the car park, this bird was first found in autumn 2023 and has spent the winter here, new bird number one for Tracey.
On to Reedbed Lake and a small crowd were present and it wasn't long before we were enjoying some superb views of the star Yank as it fed on flies picked from the surface of the water in company of a handful of Black-headed Gulls for a useful comparison.
The size difference was apparent, being in between Black-headed and Little Gulls and the head colour was more reminiscent of Sabine's Gull, with a charcoal-bluey black shade to it, much more different to the chocolate brown of the Black-heads.
After taking some pleasing video of the star bird, i attempted to take some video in flight of the 1st summer Little Gull and lovely Black Tern which were also present over Reedbed, but it was a real challenge in the gusty south westerly wind.
After enjoying all the nice birds on Reedbed we made our way around to North Scrape and enjoyed some great views of the 1st summer female Black-winged Stilt which was watched feeding in the shallows, at times battling with the wind. It made me wonder if this is one of the returning chicks from the previous years breeding success here, when two pairs bred.
Now Tracey had seen 5 new birds, but more was to come.
We had heard that a Red-breasted Goose had been seen from the floodbank earlier in the day, but luckily as we wandered back towards the visitor centre it was feeding out on the wet grassland, talk about jammy!.
We watched as this smart goose fed with it's Dark-bellied Brent cousins and gave some cracking views, what a smart bird.
This lovely Goose species breeds in arctic Siberia and mostly winters around the Black sea coasts in Bulgaria, Romania and the Ukraine areas so is a long way from home.
Well what an amazing visit, seeing birds from all points of the compass and it really does go to show what an incredible reserve this is and what a real pleasure it is to visit.
A planned day out today to lovely Derbyshire again, saw us visiting a new place, the stately home of Bess of Hardwick, Hardwick Hall and later in the day one of our favourite places nearby, Bakewell.
We arrived at Hardwick Hall, just as the gates were opening and decided brekkie first and a cuppa in the cafe, before investigating the grounds, Old Hall and gardens and then looking around this grand house.
As mentioned above this was built by 'Bess of Hardwick' or Elizabeth Hardwick as she was born and became one of the richest woman in the land in her time second only to Queen Elizabeth the first. One of her marriages was marrying Sir William Cavendish and was responsible for the building of the amazing Chatsworth house.
She was an accomplished needlewoman and she collected some fine tapestries, which can be seen to this day, one of the finest collections in the world.
After enjoying our visit to this amazing house with it's fine history, we travelled over to Bakewell for some lunch and a wander around this lovely Peak District town.
The following photos are my favourites from our day, all taken with my new Google Pixel 8 Pro phone.
An epic month with some really early spring migrants and the patch year list on 113 species, the following is what i saw.
Sunday 3rd
A steady visit today, with mostly the usual suspects being seen, until i found 3 lovely Brambling with the Chaffinch flock at East Halton Skitter. The birds were a bit flighty, but i did manage to get some record shots of a very dapper male, a welcome spring record.
Other niceties included 13 Whooper Swan sat on the Humber off Goxhill Haven, a couple of Stonechat were also seen, along with 2250 Pink-footed Geese grazing one of their favourite fields along Goxhill Marsh.
The final goodie finished with a lovely Short-eared Owl hunting the saltmarsh near to Ruins Pond, the first on the patch for several weeks.
Saturday 9th
A cracking start to proceedings for the time of year, saw a lovely 2nd calendar year Little Gull being found resting on the marshes. i managed to get a short video clip before it flew off north towards East Halton Skitter, my first record here in March.
Other birds around the area included a pair of Pintail on Winter's Pond.
A wander along Marsh lane proved fruitful this morning, as i saw the wintering female Hen Harrier again flying across the fields towards Killingholme Haven, what a smart bird.
Saturday 16th
Another great visit today saw a decent arrival of Chiffchaffs, with 13 birds being recorded.
On Winter's the 14 Tree Sparrows were still in residence along with 2 sparring male Great-crested Grebes.
Another welcome view of the female Hen Harrier saw me watching here soaring over the Skitter, perhaps on her way north and i wished her a safe journey.
The welcome sight of my first Brimstone Butterfly of the year at East Halton Grange, certainly brightened up the visit.
As i returned to Winter's Pond, a calling Little-ringed Plover headed onto the marshes, my earliest personal record and first of the year, a great end to proceedings.
Saturday 23rd
An incredible visit today, with 2 really early spring migrants being recorded.
The first was a singing male Willow Warbler in the Hawthorn scrub near the chimney on Winter's Pond, by far my earliest record and really great to hear that lovely song again.
The second was even more surprising, as i found a male Yellow Wagtail with a flock of Pied Wagtails feeding on East Halton Marshes. This is at least 3+ weeks earlier than any i have seen before in 38 years birding, amazing and a fantastic addition to the year list so early in the season.
Overhead today saw quite a bit of passage in the blustery north westerly airflow and included a first for the year species in the form of 12 Siskin which were all heading north along the estuary. Other species involved included 63 Linnet and 43 Meadow Pipits all heading in the same direction.
Next goodie was another year tick in the form of a Green Sandpiper along the borrow pits near to Dawson City, always a good record in spring here, being obviously more common on autumn migration.
A walk along the floodbank from the Skitter back to Winter's saw two more year ticks, a brief Grey Wagtail heading onto the marshes and the one i had been wanting all day, a spanking male Wheatear feeding along the seawall. The latter really are one of my fave spring migrants and it is always great to see them.
Final highlight of the visit was a cracking Red Kite seen flying low over Goxhill village giving some cracking views from the car. It was last seen heading towards New Holland, a species which still isn't common here, but annual with one or two records a year.
What a day with 7 year ticks, spring birding at it's best!.
Sunday 24th
The wind had switched around to the north today and the overhead passage had dried up, with the previous days Wheatear and Willow Warbler had moved on, but the male Yellow Wagtail was still present with his Pied Wagtail buddies feeding on the marshes, great to see again.
A walk along Skitter Road proved fruitful with my first singing male Blackcap of the year at East Halton Grange, just great to hear that flutey song again.
Two Siskin were seen flying north at the Skitter and the final highlight for today, was another first for the year, a cracking male Swallow was seen flying through Winter's and north along the marshes to round off a brilliant couple of days patch birding.
Saturday 30th
Today's early morning start certainly paid off with some fantastic views of an Otter at Winter's.
It was watched feeding in the dyke along the edge of the grassland before moving into the main lake and certainly scaring the life out of the resident Coots and Mallards.
This is the first i have seen for a good while here and was really great to see.
Also at Winter's this morning were 2 singing male Willow Warblers, one of which showed really nicely and at least 3 singing male Blackcap.
A flock of 245 Pink-footed Geese were seen heading north here also.
A walk along Skitter Road proved really rewarding for insects with my first Dark-edged Bee Flies and Common Carder Bees being seen along with several Eristalis pertinax and Seven-spot Ladybirds.
The insect theme continued at East Halton Skitter, with my first Comma of the year and a male and female Brimstone.
Also at the Skitter, another singing male Blackcap was seen and heard and a Merlin shot across the fields.
A really enjoyable month of birding, with some great records and species being seen.
Badger Footprints , East Halton, 3rd.
Male Brambling, East Halton Skitter, 3rd.
Scandinavian Rock Pipits, Goxhill Haven, 3rd.
Brown Hare, East Halton 9th.
Winter's Pond Dawn, 16th.
Modelling My New Swarovski Cap, 16th.
Eristalis Tenax - Common Drone Fly, East Halton Skitter, 16th.
Blackthorn Blossom, East Halton Skitter, 16th.
Humber Sunrise, 23rd.
East Halton Beck & Langmere Covert, 23rd.
Chapel Field Road, Goxhill, 23rd.
East Marsh Road, Goxhill, 23rd.
Goxhill Haven, 23rd.
Long Wood & Firecrest Corner, Goxhill Marsh, 23rd.
Ruins Pond, Goxhill Marsh, 23rd.
Male Yellow Wagtail, Phonescoped, East halton Marshes, 23rd.
Winter's Pond Dawn, 24th.
Some Lovely Cloud Formations Over The Humber, 24th.
Winter's Pond Dawn, 30th.
The Back end Of An Otter, Winter's Pond, 30th.
A Stunning Male Marsh Harrier, East Halton Marshes, 30th.
Singing male Yellowhammer, Marsh Lane, East Halton, 30th.
Eristalis pertinax - Tapered Hoverfly, Skitter Road, East Halton, 30th.
Dark-edged Bee Fly, Skitter Road, East Halton, 30th.
East Halton Marshes, 30th.
Comma, East Halton Skitter, 30th.
Common Buzzard Migrating Over Winter's Pond, 30th.
