Steve's Birding,Wildlife & Walking Blog: March 2019

Wednesday 27 March 2019

Upper Derwent Dale,Sunday 24th March 2019.

Not really a birding trip today,but a visit to this stunning area walking with Mrs R,covering Ladybower,Howden & Derwent Reservoirs.
We parked in our usual place just before you reach Fairholmes car park in bright sunshine,albeit a tad nippy in the fresh north west wind.
Our walk saw us seeing a few notable birds which included 2 Raven,7 Common Buzzard,a couple of Grey Wagtails,2 Crossbill and Siskins all over the place.But it was a new species for me here,which was the most unusual,a pair of Mandarin Duck.Not everyone's favourite,but nice to see all the same and made a change from looking at the Canada Geese,which were all over the place.
The following are just a selection of some of the fantastic views that can be had around this lovely area.

The Very Impressive Howden Dam.

Howden Dam Again.

Howden Reservoir.

The River Derwent At Slippery Stones.

The Old Pack Horse Bridge At Slippery Stones.

One Of The Huge Sink Holes On Ladybower Reservoir.

Tuesday 26 March 2019

Patch Watch 2019 Update......

The following is going to be a summary of the last 3 visits to the local patch at East Halton/Goxhill where i added a decent count of 7 species over the the three visits putting me on a nice,round,100 species for the year so far.

Sunday 10th

A dire weather forecast today,with heavy rain all day,so i drove along the Humber bank and parked up and watched the river over the high tide in the hope i might pick up a few species.
The highlights included a male Common Scoter which was seen on several occasions in flight and watched diving for food,a new species for the year and sort of expected at this time of year,as the species often migrates overland and up the estuary.
The next species wasn't really a highlight,other than it was incredibly,the first i had seen this year on the patch,a Drake Shoveler.He was watched with a small flock of Mallard and Teal around the Skitter,making the 2nd new addition to the year list on today's visit.
Finally,another long awaited species to make an appearance this year,a Great-crested Grebe,was watched loafing about on Winter's Pond as i made a brief visit before heading home.This species is always absent from the patch in the winter months,so it was nice to see this bird in full breeding plumage ready for the new breeding season.
Other sightings included a bit of a movement of Oystercatcher's,with 14 birds flying out east,8 sheltering from the weather at East Halton Skitter and a single bird at Winter's on the grassland adjacent to the car park.
The only non-bird highlight went to a whopping bull Grey Seal which i hadn't seen since last November/December time.

Sunday 17th

A much more spring like day today,with a little light passage of birds moving west up the estuary and the first proper spring migrants beginning to appear.
Vis-mig included 2 White Wagtail which flew west at Goxhill Haven,the first records of the year and which were quickly followed by at least 4 Siskin,which consisted of 1 bird which flew north and 3 which flew west,also at Goxhill Haven and again the first records of the year,with smaller numbers of Linnet,Goldfinch and meadow Pipits.
Also moving west,were good numbers of Common and Black-headed Gulls,with smaller numbers of Herring Gulls and the first real push of Lesser black-backs of the year also heading west.
Grounded migrants included my first Chiffchaff of the year,a singing male in Dawson City and a Short-eared Owl was hunting the mitigation site at dawn.

Saturday 23rd

A dull start weather wise today,broke into warm sunshine around mid-morning and it is really starting to feel like spring proper now.
Highlights on today's visit went to 2 more species,new for the year,the first of which was an out going winter visitor,the lovely Whooper Swan.To start with 13 birds were seen on the Humber early a.m.,before another single was found on the mitigation site with a couple of Mute Swans,the latter is most probably the bird that has been present on and off all winter.
The second highlight,was a Red Kite watched soaring distantly over Grange Farm at East Halton before it drifted off inland over Goxhill.It seems a long,long time ago since i saw my first for the patch on the 31st March 1988,in the days when the species was a genuine rarity in the country and down to only a hand full of birds breeding in the valleys of central wales.
Other goodies noted today included a single Short-eared Owl flushed from around the Skitter pools,a Barn Owl hunting around the mitigation site at dawn and 3 Chiffchaff(1 at Winter's Pond & 2 along the beck).
A cracking count of 90 Carrion Crow near Winter's was the most i had seen down here for a long time and a male Cetti's Warbler showed fantastically also,singing out in the open.
Non-bird highlights today consisted of 15 Roe Deer and 3 Small Tortoiseshell Butterflies.

Not a bad few visits,but I'm hoping for a repeat of last years early spring find at Winter's,but i can't see lightning striking twice!.

Winter's Pond At Dawn On The 17th.

The View Along The Humber Bank Just West Of Winter's Pond On The 17th.

East Halton Beck,Taken On The 17th.

Adult Black-headed Gull,Goxhill Haven,17th.

A Flock Of Common Gulls Heading West On The 17th.

Looking Along The Estuary Just East Of Goxhill Haven.

The Coastguard Helicopter Heading Back To Kirmington On The 17th.

Looking Along The Floodbank From Just East Of Dawson City On The 17th.

The Skitter Pools Taken On The 17th.

Skitter Road Taken On The 17th.

Adult Whooper Swan On The Mitigation Site On 23rd.

And A Flyby By The Beautiful Whooper Swan On The 23rd.

Wind Turbines Heading Out Towards The Estuary Mouth On The 23rd.

Early Morning Light On The 23rd.

Hoverfly Sp. Eristalis tenax,East Halton Skitter,On The 23rd.

Male Yellowhammer,Goxhill Marsh,Taken On The 23rd.

East Halton Skitter,Taken On The 23rd.

Small Tortoiseshell,Winter's Pond,Taken On The 23rd.

Thursday 7 March 2019

The Local Patch....Saturday 2nd March 2019.

With the prospect of some great weather today,i headed over to the local patch to see what i could find and attempt to add some more species to the ever growing patch year list,the following is what i saw over the 6 or so hours on site.
I started as always at Winter's Pond,with a small increase in Little Grebe's noted,at 7 birds and 2 Canada Geese still present from my last visit,no doubt part of the same flock.Also present were 5 Pochard,which included 3 drakes and 2 females.
I decided to head down the side of the mitigation site first and it wasn't long before i saw the usual 4 Roe Deer as they stood browsing as i passed by.
Not a lot was noted on here today,apart from a Common Buzzard seen in an adjacent wood and i could hear a male Great-spotted Woodpecker drumming at Red House Wood.
It was still overcast from dawn and to be fair not many birds were singing,including the resident Skylarks from my last visit.
I then headed down towards the beck and inland towards Chapel Farm with a single Little Grebe and a pair of Teal along the beck and a singing male Treecreeper at Chapel Farm.
More of the same as i headed along East Marsh Road and again as on my last visit i was scolded by the Rooks as i passed by the Rookery,i just love their calls,a sure sign spring is on it's way.
As i neared Goxhill Haven,2 Common Buzzards were noted and at the Haven itself small numbers of Shelduck,Redshank and Teal were seen,the latter in pretty good numbers compared to previous years as noted all along the shore between here and Winter's.
As i walked along the flood bank towards Dawson City,at last i managed to find something new for the year...an Oystercatcher.These local birds move away from the upper estuary in the winter months,heading for the outer reaches and the nearby coast,but return around now for the breeding season,always nice to see and another harbinger of the warmer months to come.
Again,as earlier,very little was seen between Dawson and the Skitter,with 3 Common Buzzard,a singing Cetti's Warbler,4 Brown Hare and my first Comma of the year entered in the notebook,the latter a welcome sight and brightening the day for sure.
As you guessed by the butterfly sighting,it was glorious wall to wall sunshine and as i neared the Skitter for the second time today a singing male Redshank greeted me,just great to hear again.
The Skitter provided a few nice sightings which included 12 Redshank,31 Black-tailed Godwit,79 Teal and the best of the bunch a pair of Avocet.It would be really nice if the latter stopped to breed and it could well be a returning pair to the area,as i had a pair here around the same time last year.
Well today i walked 9.5 miles for not much return sightings wise,but it was just great to get out and about in some nice weather again,i love this hobby!.