Local Patching Round-up August 2026

Another month over birding this brilliant local patch saw some nice birds being seen throughout the month, with me finishing the month on 149 species for the local patch year so far, with 4 more months to go.

Wednesday 5th

Taking full advantage of being on summer shutdown at work i headed out to East Halton and had a really good visit with a decent 77 species entering the notes.

The main highlight was not for some the most inspiring, but i managed to find an eclipse male Mandarin Duck on Winter's Pond. The bird was watched roosting under the bank at the far side of the main lake. It is the first record for my personal local patch list and puts me on 234 species, a decent total i think.

Other species on and over Winter's included juvenile Caspian and Yellow-legged Gulls, a Pink-footed Goose with the Greylag flock, 20 Icelandic Black-tailed Godwits, a Common Snipe, 1 Common Sandpiper, 4 Green Sandpipers, Greenshank, 21 Little Grebes and a Kingfisher.

Along Marsh Lane, a singing male Quail was heard, my second of the year for the local patch in what is becoming a record year for the species nationally.

A wander up to East Halton Skitter, saw more good birds being seen which included an adult Sanderling, 6 more Common sandpipers between Killingholme Haven and the Skitter, 22 Bar-tailed Godwit and 3 Whimbrel which flew east.

Two Harbour Porpoise showed really nicely off the Skitter today as well, great to see as always.

Saturday 22nd

Another trip to East Halton today, saw more niceties around Winter's Pond in the form of the male Mandarin still, 650 Greylag and 77 Canada Geese, the first returning Wigeon of the autumn, 22 Mute swan, a Drake Pochard, 14 Coot, 3 Green Sands, 3 Ruff, a juvenile Yellow-legged Gull which flew north, 12 Cormorant, 2 Great-white Egret, first adult plumaged male Marsh Harrier, 65 Barn Swallows, 15 Sand Martin, 6 Willow Warbler and a Green Woodpecker.

Around the Skitter on today's visit, 3 Common Sandpiper, 18 Ruddy Turnstone, 79 Redshank, 2 Ruff and a juvenile Marsh Harrier.

Saturday 29th

A really good visit to East Halton again today, saw a whopping 88 species being seen.

An early start saw 2 Little Owl being heard calling in their usual location at dawn, a nice start to the visit.

The best of the days sightings went to a lovely juvenile Black Tern at Winter's Pond, which showed nicely, but was a buggar to try and video, but i eventually managed some phone-scoped stills and video when it perched up.

A juvenile Spotted Redshank also at Winter's was a very welcome addition to the year list for the local patch.

Other species and notable records here included the 2 Great-white Egret still, 2 Green Sands, 3 Ruff, adult male and juvenile Marsh Harriers, 5 Wigeon, 66 Eurasian Teal, Great-spotted Woodpecker, 45 Barn Swallow and the single Pink-footed Goose again.

At the Skitter 5 Pintail flew south, 7 Ringed Plover, 6 Common sands and 1 Red Knot.

Marsh Lane provided 2 great sightings also, with a very rare these days, Tree Sparrow with a feeding Finch flock and a hunting Hobby, which was so close to me when it flew past, i felt the whoosh of its wings, amazing!.

Sunday 30th

A wander around the whole patch today, parking as usual at Goxhill Haven.

Best of the sightings at Goxhill went to a single Hobby, Peregrine and Kestrel all having a sparring match which was great to see, 3 juvenile Wheatears, 16 Little Grebe on the main pond at the old boatyard, a juvenile Yellow-legged Gull which flew south east, 55 Curlew, 15 Ruddy Turnstone, 135 European-golden Plover, 17 Gadwll, a Common Sandpiper and 5 Mute Swans.

Highlights at East Halton Skitter today included 37 Pied Avocet, 2 juvenile Little Stint with Dunlin, Common Sandpiper, a Kingfisher and 5 Yellow Wagtail.

A Clouded Yellow was also seen at the Skitter today.

A really enjoyable month, with some great birds and wildlife seen.

An Impressive Rainbow Over Redhouse Wood, 5th.

Eclipse Male Mandarin Duck, Winter's Pond, 5th.

Eclipse Male Mandarin Duck, Winter's Pond, 22nd.

Sunrise At East Halton Skitter, 29th.

Juvenile Black Tern, Winter's Pond, 29th.

DST Leconfield, Sunday 16th August 2026

The chance to get out today and support the ongoing efforts at DST Leconfield to record as many species of plants and wildlife along with Tim and others, saw a superb visit being enjoyed by all.

Bird wise, the main highlights went to 2 juvenile Hobby, which gave some close views, followed by a presumed juvenile Bittern with its bright green legs, making for a nice sighting and the first i have seen at the site.

Insects were recorded in lesser numbers than on my last visit, but it was still great to see Oak-bush and Speckled Bush Crickets, Long and Short-winged Coneheads and some nice examples of Field Grasshopper and Lesser-marsh Grasshopper.

I managed to find a new species of Planthopper for myself and the site, Idiocerus herrichii, a cracking little thing, found on a Alder Tree.

Odonata were recorded in decent numbers and a post can be viewed here @ https://LincolnshireOdes.blogspot.com .

The only highlight away from the Birds and Insect sightings was a stunning female Barred Grass Snake which gave some fantastic views as it basked in the sunshine.

Thanks again to Tim, for organising access and allowing us all to visit this brilliant site.

The following are a selection of photos from the day.

Micro Moth Species - Pyrausta purpuralis

Female Oak-bush Cricket

Male Bridge Orb Weaver, A Stunning Spider!

Female Lesser-marsh Grasshopper

Male Field Grasshopper

Hairy Shieldbug Nymph

Female Long-winged Conehead

Planthopper Species, Idiocerus herrichii, A Smart Little Species Found On An Alder Tree

Kite-tailed Robberfly With Prey.

A Stunning Pink, Male Field Grasshopper

Wonderful Whitby, Saturday 8th August 2026

A lovely day out with the family today visiting the lovely, if very busy Whitby, always presents you with the opportunity to take a few nice photos, so the following are my favourites from our day to this superb, picturesque, seaside town.

The Entrance To Whitby Harbour, With Its Distinctive Twin Lighthouses.

Whitby Harbour & Town

The World Famous Whitby Abbey, Where The Story Of Bram Stoker's Dracula Was Born.

Local Patching Round-up - July 2026

Another month over and now into August, July for me is always the beginning of autumn migration on the Humber, as returning waders pass through the local patch on their long migrations from their breeding grounds.

Three visits to the local patch this month, saw some nice birds being seen, the following is what i saw during the month.

Saturday 4th

Today i covered both Goxhill and East Halton, parking in my usual place at Goxhill Haven and then walking up to East Halton.

Waders were the main feature of the visit, as expected at this time of year, with 13 species being observed. The main highlights went to a good mixed wader flock at East Halton Skitter containing 43 Knot(A record count for my patch), 27 Bar-tailed Godwit and 21 Avocet making for some great viewing. Also here, 2 Common Sandpiper and a Green Sandpiper were also nice to see.

Up at Winter's Pond, more waders were in evidence, with a single Whimbrel flying north there and 2 Green Sands were watched feeding around the main lake.

Away from Waders, it was really nice to see 2 fledged Marsh Harrier juv's at Dawson City, with their bright ochre crowns, just great to watch.

Wildfowl are beginning to make an appearance now, with a female Pochard, 2 Teal, 2 Shoveler, 13 Mute Swan and 7 Coot all at Winter's.

Herons were also in slightly greater numbers today, with 1 Great-white Egret, 7 Little Egret and a single Grey Heron all being seen.

A small movement of 21 Swift flew west at Goxhill Haven.

Saturday 11th

A visit just to East Halton today, saw a good 76 species being recorded, with an unseasonal Pin-footed Goose with Greylags along Marsh Lane first thing.

At Winter's, 20 Mute Swan, 51 Mallard, 21 Icelandic Black-tails, 3 Green Sands, a Common Tern, 8 Little Egret, 3 Grey Heron and 3 Little Grebe made for some great viewing.

Two really nice surprises were located, the first was a singing male Corn Bunting along Marsh Lane, the first singing bird i can remember on my patch and the second was a calling male Red-legged Partridge along Skitter Road. These two species are proper rares here, particularly the latter, with no gamebird releases locally.

Also along Marsh Lane was an adult Hobby watched hunting, always a fine sight to see.

The only other highlight from the day was a lovely Barn Owl watched hunting in fields near to East Halton Grange first thing.

Saturday 18th

Today i covered both Goxhill and East Halton and logged a good count of 79 species, with no real surprises being noted.

A total of 14 species were noted today, with 6 Knot, 30 Bar-tailed Godwit, 3 Green and 4 Common Sands, 90 Icelanders, a single Whimbrel again, 264 Golden Plover, 157 Curlew and a single juvenile LRP making for a good selection of species being seen.

Raptors also featured again, with another adult Hobby hunting at Goxhill, a juvenile Peregrine hunting at Winter's and the best of all, the second pair of Marsh Harriers near Ruins Pond managed to fledge 2 juvs. So 4 juveniles from 2 pairs was a decent return for the species and really great to see.

A Great-white Egret watched in Dawson City was my first on the ground in the reserve and second record for the year.

Other assorted sightings from the day included 13 Yellow and 11 Pied Wagtails, 75 Sand Martins and a good count of 36 Cormorants.

An enjoyable months birding locally as always.

Goxhill Haven, 4th.

Juvenile Marsh Harriers, 4th.

Avocets, East Halton Skitter, 4th.

Knot & Bar-tailed Godwits, East Halton Skitter, 4th.

Bar-tailed Godwits, East Halton Skitter, 4th.

Interesting Sky, East Halton, 4th.

Male Semaphore Fly, East Halton, 4th.

Comma, East Halton, 4th.

Hoverfly Species - Scaeva pyrastri, Goxhill Haven, 4th.

Hoverfly Species - Syritta pipiens, Goxhill Haven, 4th.

Distant Record Shot Of The Singing Male Corn Bunting, East Halton, 11th.

Flamborough, My Favourite Place On The East Coast, Sunday 2nd August 2026.

With the chance for us both to get out together today, Tracey and myself headed for our favourite destination, Flamborough for the day.

For the first few hours we enjoyed the visit just watching from the lighthouse headland, seeing Grey Seals and the local seabirds passing by which was great. I even saw a Yellow-legged Gull pass by and a couple of Harbour Porpoises.

We then decided, as it was lunch time that we would try and get a table at the North Star around at North Landing. After enjoying our sunday lunch, we went exploring the caves at North Landing as it was a very low tide.

It was great looking around this area, but you certainly need to be very careful and be aware of the tides.

There were still quite a few Kittiwake chicks fledging and it was really nice to see some natural House Martin nests under the cliffs.

After enjoying our time here, it was back up the steep slope to the car after another lovely visit here, what a great place it is.

No Visit Here Is Complete Without A Photo Of The Lighthouse

Selwick's Bay Looking Lovely At High Tide

New & Old, The Modern Day Lighthouse & The Chalk Tower

High Stacks

Caves At North Landing

Hudsonian Godwit & Long-tailed Shrike, Thursday 30th July 2026

After the very kind offer from Tim, of a chance to go on a trip to see both the long staying Hudsonian Godwit and Long-tailed Shrike and also a look for Migrant Spreadwing, I, of course, said yes.

After Tim picked me up from home, we travelled over to Doncaster to meet up with Mark, before heading off towards Suffolk. 

After having a trouble free journey, we arrived at the car park adjacent to North Marsh at Cattawade beside the River Stour. We got our gear together and headed for the area the Hudsonian Godwit had been seen from.

Straight away we noticed 2 Godwits feeding distantly over the other side of the marshes and were certain one of the birds was the Hudwit. Sure enough after a disagreement with the other Godwit, the bird flapped its wings and revealed the diagnostic black underwings, get in!.

We watched as the bird fed and took in the other identification features, such as the slightly upturned bill, which was more reminiscent of Bar-tailed Godwit and the notable supercilium which extended from the bill base to the eye, being stronger than both Bar-tailed and Black-tailed Godwits. It did look smaller and more compact than the two other species mentioned.

I took some video of the bird, but it was pretty distant to be fair, but will share it below.

A few other species here included Whimbrel, Green and Common Sandpipers and a juvenile Green Woodpecker.

After seeing the Godwit and enjoying views of this new species for me, it was onto site number two for the day, Canvey Island.

After finding parking, we got our cameras and headed off for the famous 'Canvey Island Marshes Ditch', for an account of what we saw here, see this link https://lincolnshireodes.blogspot.com/ . Other notable sightings here included a first for me in the form of a stunning Jersey Tiger Moth and a few birds included a flyby Cattle Egret.

After successfully seeing target number two, we were Gloucestershire bound for our final target of the trip.

After travelling through Essex and along the M25, we eventually made it into the Cotswolds and site number three for the trip, Eastleach Turville.

After parking in the field which a local farmer has gladly allowed people to park in, we walked the short distance along the country lane to where the bird was. 

After a few minutes we were all watching our first Long-tailed Shrike for the UK. At first we watched from a distance, but then walked along the public footpath to where the bird was feeding and got some much closer views.

This bird was very smart, but in obvious moult and in my opinion being more reminiscent of a Red-backed Shrike rather than the often mooted confusion species of Lesser-grey on first views.

The combination of solid dark mask from the bill base extending well behind the eye, longish pale based bill, pale grey head and peachy washed flanks making for a very handsome bird.

We watched as it hunted along the adjacent hedgerow, catching several Grasshoppers and occasionally was mobbed by a Whitethroat.

Other sightings while on site included 3 Whinchat, a Red Kite and a Clouded Yellow.

After the bird flew away further, we called it a day and Tim expertly drove us home after another very successful days twitching. A big thank you to Tim for allowing me to come along and Mark for his great company as always.

Jersey Tiger, Canvey Island

Some Phonescoped Images Of The Long-tailed Shrike.