Barton Wander.....Sunday 14th February 2016.

Another morning to myself today as the other half was catching up on her sleep after another nightshift and today saw me travelling the short distance over to Barton.
 I started by parking at the new visitor centre and got plenty of warm layers on as it was pretty cold today,a feature of the last couple of weeks,with us experiencing some proper winter weather at last.
 I began my visit by walking along the approach track to the visitor centre,along Far-Ings road and up to Chowder Ness,taking in the 'New' pits.
 Western Approach Pit held a small flock of 5 Goldeneye which showed really well,with the males displaying to the females and positively glowed in the morning sun,what a cracking bird they are!
 Further on and on the pasture field adjacent to the tip a flock of 98 Greylag grazed and rested while a flock of 10 Curlew probed the wet grass for worms.
 As i reached the 'New' pits the best bird so far this morning flew steadily west,a Little Egret.From a personal point of view,i haven't seen that many here and for me are always a highlight of any visit to any site.
 The usual suspects were present on the 'New' pits and included Tufties,Gadwall,Wigeon,Teal and Mute Swans and a handfull of Black-headed and Common Gulls bathing on the pit and loafing on the tern raft.
 After reaching Chowder Ness i decided to walk up to Leggots Quarry and back past Barton Cliff and down to Ness Lake.
 As i walked along the humber bankside towards Leggot's it brought back memories from the 1st of May 1994 when i fortunately found a cracking 1st summer male Woodchat Shrike along here and 30 days later a singing male Golden Oriole in Leggot's Quarry itself,great memories and very special birds from a local perspective.
 A lovely Common Buzzard was seen in Barton Cliff Quarry as i passed by coupled with some welcome early spring birdsong from the local Chaffinches and Great Tits.
 A half an hour stop at Ness hide to chat to Kev and others as they attempted to capture some images of the wintering Bittern was a welcome diversion from the cold,but i soon said my goodbyes as i carried on back towards the car.
 A look on Hotel Pit didn't reveal the Slavonian Grebe,so looks like he or she had moved on.
 As i neared the new visitor centre it began to snow and i rushed back to the car to shelter after an enjoyable visit to the old patch,it's not always about seeing the rare birds....

Mute Swan,on the 'New' pits.

Western Approach Pit.

Looking towards Chowder Ness,Far-ings and the Humber Bridge,taken from Leggots Quarry.

Barton Cliff Quarry.