Parking at my usual place at Winter's Pond,to the sound of the local Greylag flock and calling Black-tailed Godwits in the gloom as i got my gear together.
I waited for a while scanning around the pit as it began to get lighter and then began my walk down the side of the hedgerow towards the Humber bank.
The pit was alive with birds and a couple of scans revealed a Green Sandpiper & 9 Black-tailed Godwits feeding around the margins and overhead,100+ Sand Martin and at least 75 Swallow hawking insects.Not many passerines were noted,but the resident male Cetti's Warbler gave a couple of bursts of song and singles of Whitethroat and Reed Warbler were noted.
Half way down the hedgerow and suddenly i could hear a Carrion Crow scolding something and there it was,a Peregrine.This juvenile was getting mobbed by both a single Crow and also a Kestrel and he or she quickly escaped east,towards Killingholme Haven.
I eventually made it onto the Humber floodbank and began to scan the estuary when all of a sudden i heard a call overhead a 'Sle' followed by a 'chu' phrase.A quick look on the Collins Birdguide app. on my phone had me stopping in my tracks,as it was what i had been listening to earlier in the week,after several birds had been turning up in the country,including 2 at Spurn,an Ortolan!.If only i had seen the bloody thing,potentially the first record for the Upper Humber,talk about frustrating.I didn't put the news out as i hadn't seen the bird,but after tweeting it out on Twitter as a possible it was on RBA.
I carried on walking,with a very notable flock of 53 Tree Sparrow entering the notebook around the old tilery buildings at Winter's and as i stopped to attempt to photograph the Hirundine flock they all scattered as a Hobby flashed past towards the Skitter....3 species of Falcon in a couple of hours was pretty good to say the least.
The shore was pretty devoid of birds between Winter's and the Skitter,apart from a few Curlew and as the tide dropped further,several flocks of Black-tailed Godwits and Redshank flew west from their high tide roost at Killingholme.There was also a small flock of 6 Yellow Wagtail feeding along the sea wall.
As i reached the Skitter,i saw the final Falcon species for the day,a cracking Merlin,the first i have seen down here this year and a very welcome sighting all the same.I hope he or she sticks around for the winter period,as there is plenty of passerine food usually in the wet grassland here.
In the Haven,several Redshank,Black-tailed Godwits,2 Bar-tailed Godwit and singles of Common Sandpiper and Little Egret were feeding and on a large stubble inland of the Skitter 4-500 Golden Plover were feeding and resting and a good sized flock of 65 Curlew held more Black-tailed Godwits in amongst them.
The promised rain sadly arrived as i headed inland along Skitter Road,noting a single Lesser Whitethroat and 2 Whitethroat.
At the small bridge over the beck,i stopped to watch more Swallows hawking over the water and edge of the small wood and watched a juvenile Willow Warbler and Chiffchaff as they chased each other around the wood.It's amazing to think,that all these birds will be making an epic journey all the way to Africa very shortly.
It continued to drizzle and the walk along Skitter Road was brightened by a covey of 14 Grey Partridge feeding on a stubble field near Red House Farm,my first recorded on the patch this year.
The final stretch towards Winter's passing the famous 'Shrike Hedge',saw another sighting of the juvvie Peregrine over the fields and as i neared the car, some fantastic views of Black-tailed Godwits were feeding on the grass pasture at Winter's including a colour ringed bird,which was ringed as part of a project in Iceland on the birds breeding grounds.I'm waiting for details from Iceland supplied by Professer Jenny Gill who is one of the writers along with Graham Appleton on the excellent Wader Tales Blog.
So what a cracking visit today,a possible Ortolan,4 species of Falcon and 3 additions to the patch year list.
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| Some Of The Hirundine Flock At Winter's Pond. |
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| Icelandic Black-tailed Godwit,Winter's Pond. |
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| Icelandic Black-tailed Godwit,Winter's Pond. |
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| Colour-ringed Icelandic Black-tailed Godwit,Winter's Pond. |
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