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 lon 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.

Alstonefield - Milldale - Dovedale Circular, Saturday 25th July 2026

A chance to get out with Mrs R today on her day off, saw us heading for the white peak in Derbyshire/Staffordshire, to carry out a circular walk starting from the picturesque little village of Alstonefield down to Milldale and then up to the caves at Doveholes and Ilam Rock and then back along Halldale to Alstonefield.

The walk is a really nice one, but does take in some steep sections so bear that in mind.

We managed to see some nice birds on the walk which included 6 Raven and 2 lovely Red Kite overhead, plus 3 Mandarins and a couple of Grey Wagtails along the River Dove. 

If you like limestone scenery, then this is a walk for you and the added bonus of the caves at Doveholes and Ilam Rock add some extra interest.

With regards to refreshments, Frank's Cafe Hut is a must with superb cakes and drinks and was open when we arrived.

The following are my favourite photos from our day.

Picturesque Alstonefield

St.Peter's Church, Alstonefield.

Looking Across The Fields To Milldale.

Milldale

Ravens Tor, Milldale

The Caves At Doveholes, Dovedale

Ilam Rock, Dovedale

Mrs R, Ilam Rock Bridge

Halldale

Looking Back Across The Fields Towards St.Peter's Church At Alstonefield