Today's destination was again an easy choice,with a few scarce migrants still being reported the previous day and the chance of a good visible migration in the South West wind.
On the journey out a couple of birds were seen near to Patrington,a Grey Heron and Barn Owl,the former scaring me briefly as it appeared in the headlights!.
I began by parking in the usual spot at the Bluebell and planned to walk up Beacon Lane to Beacon Ponds and then on to Kilnsea Wetlands and back up to the Crown etc.
Along Beacon Lane a hand full of Goldcrests,Redwings and Blackbirds were observed and overhead the first flocks of Tree Sparrows and Goldfinches flew south.As i reached the ponds a single Swallow flew south and a few more Goldcrests and 2 Chiffchaffs fed in one of the hedgerows.
On the ponds itself good numbers of Wigeon and a small number of D.b.Brents loafed and fed.
On the wetlands only a single Little Egret was seen,while distantly the main flock of Dark-bellied Brents were seen towards Sammy's Point.
A good scan from Long bank revealed no sightings of note apart from the resident gang of Roe Deers,with 8 seen today.
As i walked back along the road towards Kilnsea,more flocks of south bound Tree Sparrows made their journey south with one flock containing 67 birds!...this is a phenomena i have only seen in the Spurn area and ringing returns have revealed birds ringed at Spurn being retrapped as far away as Oxfordshire,with birds originating further north.Similarly Goldfinches have been recovered from a variety of locations including Northern Ireland and Belgium.
I walked along the side of the triangle and watched in amazement as a huge cloud of Knot lifted off the estuary and a couple of Little Egret battled against the strengthening wind,at least it was warm.
After a quick chat with Adam,i walked past numpties along the shore back towards the Bluebell and it was much more productive along here.The first nice bird was a cracking 1st winter Wheatear which i managed to get some nice images of as it searched for food on the beach and cliff and this was quickly followed by the best bird of the day,as a Great-grey Shrike flew past me along the beach.To see one actually migrating was brilliant,as the bird was seen to fly down the peninsula as one had already done earlier in the morning.
Further on and beside the borrow pits a pair of Stonechat were seen and showed nicely and then a single female was seen,which flew when i approached and nearly ended up in the middle of the North Sea with the blustery South Westerly,but it managed to battle its way back to land.
Other birds seen passing south included a couple of Rock Pipits,125 Pink-footed Geese,House Martin and several flocks of Skylarks.
A few insects were noted today,the best of which was a Red Admiral.
So another great day enjoyed watching migration at it's best at this superb site,i just wish it was nearer home.
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| Loafing Mute Swans near Kilnsea Wetlands. |
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| Roe Deer,Long Bank. |
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| Reed Bunting,near to Numpties. |
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| Wheatear along the beach,near Clubley's Field. |
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| Wheatear,along the beach near Clubley's Field. |
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| Male Stonechat. |
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| Female Stonechat. |
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