After getting plenty of clothing on due to the frosty start,i began by looking over the haven and pools at the Skitter,seeing at least 1 Water Pipit in flight on a couple of occasions and the first of 3 Short-eared Owls hunting the saltmarsh here.
Further along the local wader flocks were very jumpy and after a short while the culprits were seen,a juvenile Peregrine and 2 young male Marsh Harriers obviously on the hunt for their first meals of the day.The Peregrine put on a fine show,dive bombing and chasing several targets,which included the Marsh Harriers.One of the birds had,had his fair share of this abuse and headed northeast over the river and into Yorkshire.
A little further along the river bank i heard that distinctive 'Wink wink' of an approaching Pink-footed Goose flock and sure enough a good sized flock of about 600 birds flew from the direction of Goxhill Haven,over my head and over the Humber in the same direction as the male Marsh Harrier had taken,a great sight and sound to see.
I eventually made it around to the Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust reserve,Dawson City near Goxhill Haven,a place in which i had spent many an hour as an up and coming birder in my teens and had seen such goodies as my first ever Red Kite on the 31st March 1988,when they were proper rarities!.
Today's visit though was a much quieter affair,but i spent some time watching the humber from here and logged a few niceties in the form of 4 Goosander(3 drakes and 1 hen),148 Goldeneye and a single drake Pintail.The Goosanders put on a great show,chasing and displaying,the males vying for the attention of the female,great behaviour to watch.
As earlier i could hear that 'Wink wink' call again and the Pinks that had passed over me earlier were on their way back,thankfully they chose to land in a flooded grass field not far from where i was stood.A quick scan through them revealed an adult and juvenile White-fronted Goose which were of the Eurasian race and a decent count of 521 Pink feet.It was nice to see these birds feeding and being fairly relaxed as they are pretty jumpy at the best of times.
As i walked back towards East Halton Skitter,i was joined by fellow birding buddy Charlie Adland and after a good chat we went our separate ways.While chatting another 265 Pink-footed Geese flew overhead to join the flock i had just been watching,so 786 birds was a pretty impressive total for down here indeed.
As i neared the Skitter,a handfull of other sightings included a single Little Egret fishing in the haven pools,3 SEO again hunting the saltmarsh,2 west bound Black-tailed Godwits and more sightings of the marauding juvenile Peregrine.
What a great visit today and it was really nice to visit the old patch again after all these years,one of which i will be repeating now.
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| One of the Short-eared Owl's,never close enough sadly. |
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| Looking towards Immingham Dock and Grimsby. |
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| Dawson City LWTR. |
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| Dawson City LWTR. |
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| Record shot of the Goosander's. |
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| Distant record shot of part of the Pink flock and you can just make out the White-fronts also. |
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| Goxhill Marsh. |
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