North Cave Wetlands...A Very Damp Visit,Sunday 22nd October 2017.

Another free morning today saw me heading over the river to North Cave Wetlands for a change of scenery,the following is what i saw.
 After travelling over the Humber and through the lovely village of South Cave i eventually made it to the reserve.Unfortunately the weather was pretty rough today with a blustery southerly air flow and heavy rain,so i grabbed some waterproofs,my bins and scope and headed for the shelter overlooking Village and Main Lakes.
 It wasn't long before i logged my first nicety,as 3 lovely Whooper Swans dropped in for a quick bathe and drink before they flew off west,a nice start i thought.
 More scanning and some nice views of the now resident duck species on site which had arrived for the winter,in the form of Wigeon,Teal,Mallard and Gadwall.
 Other winter visitors included a few flocks of Pink-footed Geese heading south west,with the birds dropping on fields somewhere at the back of the reserve.
 After a while NCW bird recorder Gary Dayes arrived and after a quick chat we proceeded to wander around the reserve as the rain was beginning to slowly stop.
 We walked down the side of the Silt Lagoon,to the lovely sight of a male Green Woodpecker and further on 3 Stonechat(1 male & 2 females)were watched flycatching in a Kale field and adjacent hedgerow along with some good numbers of Tree Sparrows which were great to see.
 This cracking reserve is growing all the time and there are plans to extend it even further,which is great news.
 As we carried on walking,a few welcome flocks of Redwings were encountered,what a gorgeous species these are!.
 Eventually we made it back to our cars and sadly it was time to leave,but i had enjoyed my visit today and was grateful for Gary showing me the Stonies and for the information on the reserves future plans.
 A nice few hours out and about,despite the poor weather to start.