I arrived at Barrow Haven as it was still dark,just before dawn,to the lovely sound of a calling male Tawny Owl,a great start to the day i thought.
The visibility on the Humber was better than i had expected going by the last week of murk and it gave me some positivity to the day ahead.
The first section up to New Holland was pretty poor to be honest and after meeting up with fellow birding buddy Chas Adland we headed through New Holland Bulk terminal as quick as possible,stopping to look at the gathering of birds feeding in the dock.A quick scan revealed a nice surprise in the form of 3 Scaup,a first winter drake and two female/imm birds feeding in amongst the throng of Mallards.Also here were 4 Black-tailed Godwit and 7 Whooper Swans.The Swans consisted of the family of 2 adults and 4 juvs which have been around all winter and the lone additional adult which is now associating with this family party.
After negotiating the very muddy track to the eastern side of the terminal,we got up on the bank to scan the river again.The aythya duck flock of days gone by has just about dissipated now apart from a few Tufties and the Goldeneye flock is also well down with only 102 birds entered in the notebook.
The usual suspects were encountered along the bank side,those being 2 Rock Pipit and as we neared Goxhill Tilery a quick scan of the fields saw 3 Roe Deer spooked by dog walkers over towards Syke's Lane.
Another scan of the fields and a Common Buzzard sat along one of the dykes.
Onwards on our walk and we passed Goxhill Haven and could see the Wigeon flock which has been hanging around all winter in the area off Dawson City,when Charlie spotted 6 Goosander.A quick look through the scopes saw 4 drakes and 2 redheads showing nicely,but unfortunately they were flushed by a dog walker before we got any closer.
As on all our recent visits,that familiar sound of Pink-footed Geese could be heard as we passed Dawson by and i was sure i could hear White-fronted Geese calling also.We hurried past the long wood and sure enough all the geese were all on one winter wheat field.A quick scan through them saw at least 105 White-fronts being counted with a guesstimate of about 2500+ Pinks,what a fantastic sight and sound to witness and then they were off.The geese were flushed by a plane flying overhead.We walked back towards Dawson and managed some more nice scope views of some of the White-fronts seeing a flock of at least 100 birds together,before they were off again,talk about jumpy.A flock of 5 birds flew in from the direction of Paull off the Humber,so the count of 105 was probably way short.
After a shower of rain and getting a good soaking(Bloody BBC Weather men)we carried on the return leg back towards New Holland.The Tundra Beans were nowhere to be seen and had maybe gone to the Humber to roost along with the Pinks.
After reaching New Holland again,i said my goodbyes to Charlie as the weather closed in,but a final sighting cheered me up as i could see and hear the Whooper family along the shore towards Barrow Haven.There were now 8 birds,4 adults and the 4 juvvies,so they have gained an extra member to their flock,just great to see and a great way to end the days sightings on.
So after nearly 9 hours in the field and 18 miles walked i wearily made my way home,but what a cracking days birding!.
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| Scaup And Whooper Swans Amongst The Locals,New Holland. |
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| Roe Deer In The Murk,Near Goxhill Tilery. |
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| Incoming White-fronted Geese,Goxhill Marsh. |
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| Incoming White-fronted Geese,Goxhill Marsh. |
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| Part Of The Whooper Swan Flock At Barrow Haven. |
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