Freezing Patching,Saturday 28th April 2018..

A full day visit to the patch today in a freezing northerly blast,saw a few additions to the patch year list in difficult conditions.
 I started in usual style by parking at Winter's Pond,got several layers on and the pack up in the ruck sack and off i went.
 First nicetie was a couple of Whimbrel flying over east towards Killingholme and the unfortunate sight of the Great-crested Grebe pair attempting to repair their nest which had been washed out due to the rise in water levels and blustery wind,hopefully they will eventually be success full.
 As i walked it was really difficult to try and hear any singing birds,so i eventually gave up trying to count singing males of species as i usually do and tried to concentrate on the Humber and anything passing by,when i flushed a Common Sandpiper half way between Winter's and the Skitter,at last something of note.This was my first of the year and certainly made the effort of coming out today a bit more bearable.
 As i arrived at the Skitter,it seemed to be birdless,but then i managed to spot a wader bathing in the edge of the Haven,a gorgeous summer plumaged Black-tailed Godwit.I rattled off several photos of this lovely brick red wader and then carried on my way.
 A quick look on the inland fields saw 4 more cracking Whimbrel as they fed in a wet area in one of the pastures and i enjoyed some lovely views of a singing male Lesser Whitethroat.
 I then decided to head inland along Skitter beck when i received a text from Paull birder Simon Brebner to say he had just had a flock of 6 Scaup drifting past the Skitter,the trouble is i was half a mile away!.I walked back to the Skitter as quick as i could and attempted to see them,but i just couldn't be sure after seeing something miles away sat on the river,oh well you can't see them all.
 Plenty of scanning over the Skitter pools revealed a hand full of Swallows and a further 7 flew west,before i cut inland to walk along East Marsh lane up to Goxhill Haven.
 Very little of note was found along this section of the patch,apart from the small Rookery near the horse stables.I just love to hear the squabbles and sounds of Rooks,with several chicks begging for food,just brilliant to see and hear.
 As i arrived at the Haven,i walked up onto the bank top to see a white arse disappear infront of me and i quickly relocated the bird,a female,my first local bird of the year.She showed nicely,briefly,before reverting to more typical Wheatear behaviour and buggering off.Also here was a single Whimbrel which showed well also,before it flew off east.
 A decent bit of activity between Goxhill Haven and East Halton Skitter saw 12 Swallow on Dawson City feeding over the pit and i grilled them intently for a Red-rumper,but to no avail and a little further on a Cuckoo brightened proceedings a little.
 Finally with 11 odd miles walked i arrived back at Winter's Pond to the sight of a mixed flock of Hirundines feeding over the pit,which consisted of 17 Sand Martin,7 Swallow and 12 House Martin making for a lovely sight,as 3 Yellow Wagtail fed nearby,a decent end to the days visit,just as it began to rain.
 It was really hard going today in the blustery northerly wind,but 2 more additions to the patch year list is better than nothing,onwards and upwards.

Black-tailed Godwit,East Halton Skitter.

Black-tailed Godwit,East Halton Skitter.

Having A Doze,The Stunning Black-wit,East Halton Skitter.

Female Wheatear,Goxhill Haven.

Female Wheatear,Goxhill Haven.

Whimbrel,Goxhill Haven.

Whimbrel,Goxhill Haven.

Male Yellow Wagtail,Winter's Pond.

Patch Watch 2018 Update.

The last two visits have been pretty productive to my local patch between East Halton and Goxhill,mid way along the Humber Estuary,with me adding 16 species in the visits and finally breaking the difficult 100 species mark.The following post is a summary of what i saw.

15th April

Today was a bit of a wader day with singles of Whimbrel,Avocet and a rare spring Green Sandpiper all being recorded between Winter's Pond and East Halton Skitter,the latter,a nice surprise as it was flushed from the Skitter Pools along with a single Water Pipit which was still in residence.
 Apart from the waders it was spring migrant passerines which featured strongly,with firsts for the patch year including Sedge Warbler,Willow Warbler,Yellow Wagtail,Blackcap,Swallow,House and Sand Martin and finally an un-countable dapper male White Wagtail at the Skitter,surely a sign of things to come.
 The final additions for the visit included a single male Bearded Tit at the small pond near the ruins between the Skitter and Dawson City and an unseasonal visitor in the form of a Dark-bellied Brent Goose watched grazing on the  wet pasture the Pink-footed Geese use in the winter months close to Dawson City.
 So all in all today was a very productive visit,despite the summer migrants only being in small numbers so far.

22nd April 

Today's visit saw a considerable jump in migrant numbers and 4 more species added to the patch year list.
 The new species for the year,were all summer migrants of course and included Whitethroat,Lesser Whitethroat,Cuckoo and finally Reed Warbler,numbers for species were as follows and refer to singing males: Whitethroat - 4,Lesser Whitethroat - 5,Reed Warbler - 4,Blackcap - 7,Sedge Warbler - 12,Cuckoo - 1,Willow Warbler - 2 and Chiffchaff - 3.
 A decent passage west of species included at least 14 Swallow,5 Sand Martin,1 House Martin and 5 Yellow Wagtail along with about 30 Linnet.
 The only wader highlight observed was a lovely flock of 12 Whimbrel along the shoreline infront of Winter's Pond,which was a great sight to see,they are such smart birds.
 A bit of a bizarre sighting today,saw a flock of 9 Coot on the Humber,something that only ever happens when the Humber Clay Pits are frozen over,so was a tad interesting.
 The final highlight was a slightly tardy flock of 40 Pink-footed Geese seen crossing the Humber off Dawson City from north to south and then again over Winter's Pond heading west,with them presumably being the same birds.
 So another great visit and nice to be out and about and I'm looking forward to the next one at the weekend.

Sunrise At Winter's Pond,15.04.2018.

Roe Deer In The Murk,Winter's Pond,15.04.2018.

Avocet,East Halton Skitter,15.04.2018.

Little Egret,Goxhill Marsh,15.04.2018.

Extreme Distant Blob Of The Dark-bellied Brent,Goxhill Marsh,15.04.2018.

A Murky Start,22.04.2018.

East Halton Beck,Taken At East Halton Skitter.

An Interesting Grey Acredula Type Willow Warbler Near Dawson City,22.04.2018.

Part Of The 9 Strong Coot Flock On The Humber,22.04.2018.

Dawson City LWTR,Goxhill Haven,22.04.2018.

Brown Tail Moth Larval Web Near To Dawson City,22.04.2018.

Part Of The Whimbrel Flock,Winter's Pond,22.04.2018.

Part Of The Whimbrel Flock,Winter's Pond,22.04.2018.

The 'Bluethroat' Hedge,Winter's Pond,22.04.2018.

West Bound Pink-footed Geese,Winter's Pond,22.04.2018.

Messingham Sand Quarries,Saturday 7th April 2018.

A few hours spare this morning saw me travelling the short journey over to MSQ as Trace was catching up on her sleep after her nightshift.
 As i arrived at the car park,got the gear together and began to explore,that welcome sweet sound of a lovely Willow Warbler singing close to the car,what a great start and my first of the year.
 This was quickly followed by my first record of the year of Blackcap,with a male singing on the edge of the first meadow.He was quickly joined by a female and they both looked intent in finding a suitable nest site and gave some great views.
 Overhead a flock of 16 Siskin passed over towards the pine plantation and as i passed the first dipping platform by,another singing male Blackcap and Willow Warbler were added to the notebook.
 As i carried on my walk,several singing male Chiffchaff were recorded and again an overhead flock of winter visitors flew over,this time it was 27 Fieldfare and 2 Redwing,so certainly a mix of winter and summer visitors today,all making for an interesting variation in species.
 A quick scan of the new fishing lake adjacent to the reserve added another welcome first for the year,with me watching my first Sand Martins hawking their flying prey and giving some really nice views.They are such smart little birds and it is amazing to think these little birds have just crossed the mighty Sahara Desert along with the Willow Warblers,Blackcaps and Chiffchaffs to arrive back here for the summer months,bird migration is just so amazing!.
 I eventually arrived at the Duck Hide overlooking the main lake,but after several scans,nothing really of note could be seen and i decided to walk around to the Wader Hide instead.
 At the Wader Hide plenty of activity was on show from the Black-headed Gulls collecting for the forth coming breeding season,with lots of displaying and territorial disputes as usual.
 Several nice birds were seen from here which included a single Avocet and a lovely pair of Red-crested Pochard,the latter being a bit of a surprise,but i had seen them here in the past on occasion.Further exotica from the world of wildfowl,included a single male Mandarin Duck seen along the edge of the main lake,who knows were these latter two species have originated,but they certainly added some colour to the days sightings.
 As i retraced my footsteps and back around the remainder of the reserve towards the plantation,i looked up to see my final firsts of the year,this time in the form of a single Swallow and 2 House Martins with a small flock of 4 Sand Martin.It is always a great day out when you see your first Swallow of the season and i have always had a soft spot for House Martins as well,since they nested under the eaves of our house when i was a lad.It was a great experience watching them return every summer to raise their noisy little broods,nice memories.
 Non bird sightings today included a few insects at last,with Buff-tailed Bumble Bees,Tawny-mining Bee,Seven-spot Ladybird and hundreds of Back-Swimmers and Whirlgig Beetles being recorded.The only other notable was a single Common Toad.
 What a great visit to this gem of a reserve today and it is always a privilege to come here.

The Red-crested Pochard Pair.

The Lone Avocet.

Stunning Chat Surprise.....Tuesday 3rd April 2018.

After not been able to visit the patch for a few weeks,i was very keen to get out today and see what i could find,little did i know what was in store.
  I began,as usual,by parking at East Halton Skitter for first light and in usual fashion got all my gear together for a full day around the patch,or so that was the plan anyway.
 The tide was rising and little was on show in the Haven as i passed by,but as i turned the corner towards Winter's Pond,an adult male Marsh Harrier hunted the fields here and 6 Roe Deer browsed the rough,grassy field edge.
 A couple of year ticks in the form of my first local Oystercatcher of the year and the not so inspiring sighting of 2 Canada Geese flying east,pretty much summed up my visit so far.
 As i neared Winter's Pond,i could hear a couple of snatches of a scratchy,sylvia like song from the ditch/hedge next to me,but it just didn't register at first,until i stepped off the bank top so i could hear it properly.Then it clicked,i think it's a Bluethroat,i said to myself,but it couldn't be could it?,on my patch at East halton,at this point i was getting a bit excited to be fair.I coolly took my phone out of my pocket,opened up the Collins Birdguide App. and gave a quick blast of White-spotted Bluethroat song,which had the desired affect,as the beautiful culprit duly popped up into the hedge flashing those striking chestnut tail bases at me and promptly turned around to show me his blue gorget and white spot before dropping back down out of sight.I just froze in disbelief at what i had just seen,before the euphoria and buzz of finding a cracking bird took hold of me.
 I spent the next 5 or 10 minutes trying to inform as many people as was possible and put the news out on RBA.
 All the song from the bird had been while the sun was out and now it had gone in he had gone quiet,then the sun came back out and he began to sing just as Chaz Adland arrived.
 Unfortunately there was a male Cetti's Warbler singing in the same ditch now and as Chaz and myself watched the Bluethroat flew out of the ditch into an adjacent hedgerow,obviously not being impressed by the noisy male Cettis singing in his ear,before he dropped onto the ground.Some more brief views of him on the deck in amongst vegetation,before he sang in the open and disappeared again into the hedge.
 This was the scenario for the rest of the 4 hours or so i spent watching this little cracker,along with a few other birders who managed to twitch this first record for my patch.
 The previous few days and following few days,saw other White-spotted Bluethroats being seen in Suffolk,Northumberland and Yorkshire,but it certainly wasn't on my radar for the patch,but just goes to show what can turn up.
 The White spotted form(Luscinia svecica cyanecula)spends the winter in Africa and breeds as close as Holland to the UK,with the birds arriving on their near continent breeding grounds as early as the first week in April,making it a pretty early rare migrant over here and ties in nicely with this occurrance.This is the first sighting of a White-spotted bird for myself,with me finding and seeing several birds of the Red-spotted form in the past.
 Back to the patch and after all the excitement of the star bird,i carried on through the remainder of Winter's adding my first Chiffchaff and calling Water Rail of the year in the process.
 I turned the corner and walked along Skitter Road past Red House Wood where a pair of Common Buzzard showed nicely and further along at Grange Farm,another patch year tick in the form of a Jay kept things ticking over nicely.
 As i had lost time spent with the star bird,i decided to head home after completing the square,but added 6 species today to the patch year list and no doubt some bonus points to my #Patchwatch2018 year list,what a great day out locally!.

The Big Twitch.

Record Shot,First Thing Of The Bluethroat Singing.

Not Easy To Photo At The Best Of Times,But You Can Just About Make Him Out.

Barton Star Aythya.....Sunday 1st April 2018.

After a very kind message from Far-Ings warden Simon Wellock,a quick trip down the A18 to Barton was the order of the day,as a Drake Ring-necked Duck had been found on the Bridge Pit adjacent to the hotel complex.

 It was a number of years since i had seen a Ring-necked Duck,with the last being a 2nd calendar year Drake at Tophill Low in February 2013 and being a fan of the species i decided to go over and take a look.
 After parking at the old visitor centre car park,i got the kit together and had a steady stroll around to where the bird had been seen and sure enough on arrival he was still present with his adopted Pochard flock(Every RND i have seen,has been with or paired to a Pochard).
 Some nice views were gained of the bird as he swam around the pit,mainly actively feeding,interspersed with a few bouts of preening his pristine plumage.
 This is no doubt the bird which has been present for a few weeks prior to this occurrance,at Bagmoor Lake near to Winterton.A nice few hours out today,re-aquainting myself with this smart species of American duck.

Chough Update,Sunday 1st April 2018.

Going back to our trip to North Wales from a week or so ago and our brilliant encounter with 4 Chough at Braich y Pwll on the Llyn Peninsula.As posted previously we had encountered a colour ringed bird,the following are details which were kindly received from Adrienne Stratford on this individual.
 The bird had been ringed as a male nestling as part of a brood of 3,9km from were we had seen him on our visit and then wandered widely as part of a flock of non breeding birds for the first 2 years of his life into the Nantile mountain range.This area is over 40km inland from his natal area and he spent time here in the summer and autumn months and then spent the rest of the year around Nefyn and Trefor in the winter time.It is highly unusual for Choughs to wander this far from the area they hatched in,with them usually staying closer to their hatching area.
 From 2015 he settled down in the Aberdaron area with an un-ringed partner,the one with him in my photos and successfully reared 2 broods of 3 chicks.
 This just goes to show the invaluable data gathered from colour ringing and ringing birds in general and in particular the rarer species which require strict management and protection measures to help them survive.
 A big thank you must go out to Adrienne and Tony Cross for all their hard work over the past 27 years in studying and ringing over 5,500 individual birds and help secure this stunning Corvids future.

U5 The 5 Year Old Male With His Partner At Braich y Pwll,Llyn Peninsula,23.03.2018.