Steve's Birding,Wildlife & Walking Blog: Local Patching.....Saturday 13th & Monday 15th October 2018.

Tuesday, 16 October 2018

Local Patching.....Saturday 13th & Monday 15th October 2018.

A couple of visits to the patch over the last few days resulted in some fantastic views of the now resident flocks of Pink-footed Geese with a few bits and bobs seen also,this is what i recorded over the 2 visits with a selection of photos.

Saturday 13th

A blustery south westerly wind today and crazy temperatures for the time of year,hitting 25 degrees C,made for a difficult visit and hard work looking for birds along the Humber bank.
The first nicety was a bit of a surprise regarding the location,as a Dark-bellied Brent Goose was found amongst 300 Pink-footed Geese at Winter's Pond.The bird was only seen at first light and not seen afterwards.
A session scanning the river revealed only one decent bird,a Knot,a long overdue species for the year list,the bird passing east towards Killingholme with 5 Dunlin.It has been a dire year for wader passage on this side of the Estuary unfortunately this year,but with the creation of the new wetland site,hopefully things will change.
Other bits seen included 3 Kingfisher,1 at Winter's and 2 seen along East Halton beck,a female Marsh Harrier over the fields near the gas compound and 2 male Ruff with the Black-tailed Godwit flock at the Skitter.
Non bird sightings included a Hornet seen at Red House Wood and a couple of Small White butterflies.

Monday 15th

After the forecast over night of easterly winds and rain,i arrived at East Halton Skitter in the hope of seeing some passage along the estuary,but instead it was a North-North Westerly blast with incessant rain/drizzle making for even more difficult conditions than Saturday.
I spent the first 3 hours or so scanning the estuary,getting very little reward for my efforts,with 9 Pintail and what was most probably 15-16 Whooper Swans disappearing east into the murk.
Enough was enough and i headed out for a walk and did the square,highlights included 34 Skylark moving west,at least 600 Pink-footed Geese scattered over the fields between the Skitter and Winter's Pond,an Adult male Marsh harrier,3 Ruff and 600 Golden Plover at the Skitter,75 Goldfinch and 92 Linnet on the mitigation site.
Two relatively late Swallow headed east at Winter's Pond,the first on the patch for a couple of weeks.
An interesting record concerned a colour-ringed Greylag '4XI' on Winter's Pond,which had been ringed the previous year in the Lower Derwent valley in North Yorkshire on the 19.06.2017. and was subsequently recorded at Spurn on 06.05.2018.,another sighted ringing recovery for the patch.
Non bird sightings today included a Hornet in the same place as Saturday,a Brown Hare and at least 7 Roe Deer.