The weather looked pretty decent,with a blustery south,south east wind blowing off the land.After getting all the gear together i headed for the haven mouth.
The tide was fully up and there was a hive of activity with Black-headed Gulls and a few Common Gulls feeding over the river and a Goldeneye made a brief visit to the haven before flying off west.A good scan through the gulls revealed very little,but as i walked towards Winter's Pond,two decent duck sightings in the form of a single Redhead Merg and 2 Pintail flew out east towards Killingholme.
On the land a hand full of Mips and Skylarks fed and chased over the fields and a little further on the Roe Deer herd where still to be seen as on my last visit,with 6 entering the notebook.
As the tide began to slightly drop off,a few waders began to appear,with a few small flocks of Blackwits heading west and smaller numbers of Turnstone and Dunlin feeding along the shore.
As i arrived at Winter's Pond,all the usual suspects could be seen,with the big dog Otter showing on the pit as he dived for food,but more distantly today,than on my last sighting of him.I will get some decent photo's of him one day.
I carried on past Winter's Pond checking the fields all the way back to East Halton Skitter in a big square,but added little else to the days sightings apart from a lovely adult male Marsh Harrier,a Common Buzzard getting some unwanted attention from the local Corvids,a Stoat and a fairly late Green-veined White.
After checking the car was ok i headed off past the Skitter and through Goxhill Marsh to Dawson City.
Sightings along here consisted of 50+ Curlew and 30 Black-tailed Godwit feeding on the inland fields,2 Grey Heron and 4 Little Egret on the Skitter pools and as i neared Dawson a small flock of 54 Pink-footed Geese fed on a grass pasture the wintering flock had been using last winter.
Around Dawson a couple of Goldcrest were seen and then the very sad scene of the hide which had been burnt to the ground.This hide has been here for at least the 31 years i have been birding in the area and provided me with some great sightings and shelter over the years.I doubt we will ever catch who did this.
I sat on the bankside while i ate my lunch,when i picked up a Short-eared Owl crossing the river.He was being harassed by a couple of gulls,but eventually made it to the bankside further west towards Goxhill Haven.This is the first one i have seen this autumn and was a nice addition to the days sightings.
On the return walk back towards East Halton Skitter,2 more Goldcrest and at least 2 Bearded Tit where seen,1 at Ruins Pond and 1 in the large bankside reedbed before you reach the Skitter itself.
Final goodie of the day went to a single female Stonechat just before i reached the car and was a nice end to another visit to the patch.
After 8 miles walked i made the journey home after another great day out in some cracking weather for the time of year.
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| Looking Along The Sea Wall Towards,North Killingholme Haven. |
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| East Halton Skitter. |
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| Dunlin,East Halton Skitter. |
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| Greylag's,Winter's Pond. |
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| Skitter Road And Red House Wood. |
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| A Late Green-veined White. |
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| Little Egret,East Halton Skitter. |
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| Adult Grey Heron,East Halton Skitter. |
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| A400-M Atlas,Practicing Landing Approaches At Humberside Airport. |
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| juvenile Mute Swan,East Halton Skitter. |
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| Black-tailed Godwits,East Halton Skitter. |
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| Pink-footed Geese,Goxhill Marsh. |
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| Pink-footed Geese,Goxhill Marsh. |
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| The Hide At Dawson City Is No More. |
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| Short-eared Owl Over The Humber. |
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| Short-eared Owl Heading For Land. |
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| Autumnal Reeds,East Halton Skitter. |
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