More Local Patching,What A Great Day Out!.....Sunday 20th January 2019.

An organised meet up today with John,to join him on his WEBS count and to obviously visit the patch again,resulted in a fine day out and another 14 species added to the patch list for the year.The following is what we saw on the visit.
 After getting all the kit together a quick check of the pit at the rear of Winter's and also the main lake revealed very little in the way of surprises,but new for the year was a single drake Pochard,with the usual 2nd calendar year female Marsh Harrier passing us by as we made our way onto the flood bank.
 A distant Short-eared Owl could be seen hunting the mitigation site and then another which was another first for the year,things were going great.
 Other bits ad bobs between Winter's and the Skitter included a single Rock Pipit and a Brown Hare and 5 Roe Deer on the mitigation site.
 A good walk around the pools at the Skitter and the Haven area revealed another Rock Pipit,Short-eared Owl and at least 5 water Pipits,with a poor count of just 7 Snipe being logged.
 The next section of our walk between the Skitter and Dawson was unusually productive with some great sightings added.
 The first was a Merlin perched along one of the hedgerows bordering a field which also held a decent flock of at least 1300 Pink-footed Geese with this flock also holding a single Barnacle Goose,things were really good today!.The Merlin is no doubt the bird seen by GPC and most probably the bird i saw myself before Christmas.
 A distant Little Egret passed east towards East Halton beck and a Cetti's spluttered its alarm call next to Ruins Pond,year ticks were coming thick and fast.
 A walk out over the saltmarsh to view the huge Sandbank off Dawson saw some good numbers of waders and wildfowl which included 250 Wigeon,700 Lapwing,300 Golden Plover and also 2 drake Goosander which passed by west.
 As we walked again,i flushed a single male Bearded Tit which shot from the Spartina into a small reedbed,another nice sighting for the day an also a welcome first for the year.
 As we passed Dawson City,2 Marsh Harrier were noted roosting on the reserve,a 2nd calendar year male and CC bird which was certainly different to the bird earlier at Winter's,so 3 now for the day was decent i thought.
 More prolonged scanning and counting of waders between Dawson and the Haven saw a great count of 62 Bar-tailed Godwit,5 Grey Plover,268 Dunlin,33 Ringed Plover,30 Turnstone and another single Rock Pipit.
 As we re-traced our footsteps another spluttering Cetti's was heard in Dawson,making it 2 for the day and a couple of Common Buzzards also made it into the notebook.
 As we reached the Skitter again,i said my good byes to John as he carried on towards Winter's and i decided to cover the beck side and Skitter road.Plenty of effort was put in,but little reward was gained,with nothing new to add to the sighting's already logged during the day,apart from another couple of Common Buzzard and a Roe Deer.
 As i neared Winter's an impressive sight of 65 Stock Dove were seen wheeling around giving some nice flight views and a pretty decent count also i thought.
 A quick scan of the main lake at Winter's before i headed home revealed a single female Goldeneye.
 A really good day today and just goes to show how satisfying local patching can be.

Pink-footed Geese,Goxhill Marsh.

A Small Portion Of The Pink Flock At Goxhill Marsh.

Some Of The Stock Dove Flock Near To Winter's Pond.