WEBS Count,Monday 13th March 2017.

As i was busy on WEBS count Sunday and i had a free morning today,i decided to get out and complete my survey sections for the month.
 The weather was excellent with a bright blue sky and a moderate westerly breeze,perhaps there might be some visible passage west up river i thought.
 I started in usual fashion,by parking at Barrow Haven train station and then began to walk the first two sections up to New Holland Bulk Terminal.
 As i left the car,the first of 4 Chiffies were heard singing near to the train station,with others being seen and heard at New Holland,a welcome sight and sound to the mornings proceedings.
 On the pits the usual suspects included Tufties,Mallard,Canada and Greylag Geese and the first pairs of Great-crested Grebes arriving to establish their breeding territories.
 A scattering of Curlew were present on both the fields and on the Humber and as i reached the outflow near Fairfield Pit a superb count of roosting Redshank totalled a whopping 231 birds.
 On Fairfield itself a single female Goldeneye and 12 Pochard dived for food in the brackish water.
 After negotiating a very busy Bulk Terminal,i walked along the sheltered public footpath that takes you back onto the Humber floodbank and it was pretty productive for insects along here to be fair,with me logging my first species of butterfly for the year.This included 2 Small Tortoiseshell,2 Brimstone and a single Comma,the Brimstones positively glowing in the warm sunshine,a most welcome sight to see.
 Very little was seen between New Holland and Goxhill Haven apart from some decent numbers of Curlew and Turnstone and only 2 drake Goldeneye remained on the Humber.
 A light visible passage west up river included small numbers of Siskin,Goldfinch,Linnets,Mips and a few alba Wags,but nothing unexpected.
 The return leg back towards Barrow Haven revealed no new surprises,but i did manage to gain some nice views of one of the Chiffies from earlier in the morning around Fairfield Pit and as i reached Barrow Haven a Cetti's Warbler blasted out it's song and near the car a few insects included 3 Buff-tailed Bumblebees and a Harlequin Ladybird.
 A nice morning out today,with some very welcome diversions away from the birds now we are beginning to see some insects and wildflowers.

Barrow Haven.

Barrow Haven,Looking Towards New Holland And Hull In The Background.

Coltsfoot At Barrow Haven.

New Holland Bulk Terminal,A Surprisingly Rich Area For Birds.

Part Of The 'Shank' Flock At New Holland.

Comma At New Holland.

Looking Towards New Holland Bulk Terminal From The Eastern Side.