Red-eyed Vireo.....Easington,East Yorkshire,12th October 2019.

There i was just enjoying my first half an hour or so on the patch when all twitching hell breaks loose as Tim rang me to say there's a Red-eyed Vireo at Easington near Spurn!....i thanked him in between several expletives as i ran-power walked back to the car.
 I was soon burning rubber and heading through Hull towards where the bird had been found in Easington village,parking up rather rapidly and grabbing my gear before being greeted by several familiar faces saying it had just been seen...thank christ for that!.
 It wasn't long before i was watching my first Red-eyed Vireo as it gleaned aphids from the sycamore it was feeding in,what a cracking looking bird,with its large flaring supercilium,greenish upperparts and yellowish undertail coverts.
 Over the next 3 hours i watched the bird on and off and enjoyed some lovely views,it seemed to particularly like returning to a Dog Wood bush to eat the berries,perhaps something they eat in their breeding grounds in North America.
 It's amazing to think where this bird has originated,a minimum of 3000 miles away an incredible feat for a bird which was only hatched in the summer months,bird migration is just incredible!.
 Tim eventually arrived with Arash and they both eventually gained some great views of the bird and i thanked Tim again for the call,with less swearing this time.
 This is only the second record of the species for Yorkshire,but amazingly the second record for the Spurn recording area after a bird which was trapped and ringed at the Warren on 30th September 1990.

More Patching,5th,6th and 13th October 2019.

Another compilation here,on the last 3 visits to the local patch,i will eventually get back to doing daily accounts,but it's been manic just lately with twitching,holidays etc.,the following will be the highlights followed with some photos,in usual style.

5th October

The usual start today at Winter's Pond,saw a single Green Sandpiper and 11 Dunlin being the highlights,with the usual suspects being present which included 9 Shoveler,6 Little Grebe,6 Gadwall,8 Wigeon,6 Cormorant and 16 Teal.

 The walk along the bank towards the Skitter was broken by a single juvenile Arctic Tern making it's way north along the estuary and 4 Avocet feeding on the out going tide.Two Rock Pipit gave some lovely views as they fed along the shoreline here and 66 Pinks headed inland.

 At the Skitter,a bulky,beast of a gull landed on the mud after flying past me and revealed itself as a 2nd Winter Yellow-legged Gull,a new record for the patch year list and a most welcome one as well.Other highlights included 1 Avocet,5 Bar Wit,21 Shelduck and 90 more Pink Feet headed west.
 For the final part of my visit today,i decided to walk down the edge of the mitigation site and was pleasantly surprised to see 1,then 2 and eventually 6 Stonechat together along one of the fences bordering the pasture.This little 'flock' comprised of 5 males and 1 female,what a brilliant sighting,i thought to myself.Also on and around here were 52 Carrion Crow,12 Meadow Pipit,3 Grey Heron and 2 Common Buzzard.

6th October

A complete contrast today,with rain and a south easterly breeze,so i decided to watch from the car at the Skitter and to be fair it was pretty productive with me adding 4 new species to the patch year list.
 Birds were moving straight from first light,with 2 juvenile Gannet and a Red-throated Diver heading south along the estuary with a group of 9 Arctic Terns heading in the opposite direction,with 2 feeding off Paul Holme Strays as the tide dropped off.
 Some time later a male and female Common Scoter and a party of 7 Scaup headed north,but then a flock of 48 Common Scoter headed in the opposite direction and later the Scaup did so as well...it seemed today,a few species had been moving in the dark,which makes sense,particularly for the Scoter,as they are known to migrate at night as well as day.
 The final addition to the year list,was a single Guillemot which also flew south out towards Killingholme.
 Other bits and bobs seen,consisted of 59 Teal,a single Pintail and 7 Wigeon.
 A good visit today considering the weather,but i thought more wildfowl might have been moving considering the conditions.

13th October

Another complete wash out this morning,in very heavy rain at times,so more car watching was the order of the day and i spent the morning watching the river again.
 Highlights went to a few nice birds with 3 Goosander being the first species of note to enter the notebook,this single drake and 2 redheads headed south towards Killingholme.
 Next to be seen,was the fantastic spectacle of at least 2500 Pink-footed Geese crossing from the north bank as they headed to fields near the Skitter to feed on stubble and were a feature of the visit,with flocks flying about all morning.
 A surprise was 6 Swallow and 3 House Martins feeding around the stand of Sycamores at the Skitter,before heading north along the estuary towards Goxhill.
 Back to the River and first a Guillemot flew up to the Skitter and landed on the water before drifting out on the out going tide and then a flock of 22 Whooper Swan flew towards Killingholme,a lovely sight to see,my favourite bird species.
 Other bits included a single Rock Pipit,2 Common Buzzard and 4 Avocet all watched at the Skitter.

Phonescoped Images Of The Yellow-legged Gull From The 5th.

A Few Record Flight Shots Of The Yellow-legged Gull From The 5th.

Little Cracker.....Blacktoft Sands RSPB.....17.09.2019.

On occasions working night shifts does have it's advantages,today was certainly one of them,as when i woke up at lunch time,a quick check on Birdguides and a message from birding buddy Tim,telling me there was a Little Crake at Blacktoft Sands RSPB.
 A fairly quick exit of the house was quickly executed and i was on the road and about 50 minutes later i was on site.
 I arrived to the expected packed hide overlooking Townend Lagoon and eventually managed to get a seat,now was the waiting game of seeing the bird.
 Eventually the bird appeared briefly and this was the scenario over the next hour and a half i was on site,but piece by piece i managed some fairly distant views of this new species for myself and only the second record for Yorkshire of this diminutive species,the last being seen at Spurn in 1946!.
 It was tiny and certainly lived up to it's name being similar size to a Song Thrush and being slightly smaller than it's cousin the Spotted Crake,which amazingly was also on site.
 After gaining my fill of views and obviously being slightly weary from my nightshift,i travelled home to catch up with more sleep before my next shift,but was really glad to have seen this super little bird.

Female Little Crake,You Can See Clearly The Green Bill And Almost Make Out The Reddish Bill Base  On These Very Distant,Heavy Crops,Which Was Noticeable Through The Scope.

Female Little Crake.

Juvenile Male Ruff.

Local Patching.....September Update.

As i have been really busy of late and not had chance to post weekly,here is a compilation of sightings from the local patch and obviously a selection of photos from each day visited.

8th September

Winter's Pond today,held the usual post breeding flock of Greylag's,with 500 birds present and a single Green Sandpiper fed around the edges of the main lake,with 4 Little Egret here also,a big number for the site.
 From the shore,2 Bar-tailed Godwit,130 Teal and 2 Pintail flew north along the estuary.
 Between WP and the Skitter,more Teal passed by north,with another 250 birds and also passing in the same direction were my first Pink-footed Geese of the autumn period with 10 being seen,a very welcome sighting!.
 Also along here a good count of 57 Redshank,13 Turnstone and the first Goldcrest of the autumn in the bushes,with a juvenile Marsh harrier hunting the mitigation site.Also on the site,were the female Roe Deer with her twins,what a lovely sight.
 The Skitter was alive with birds today and the best of which were 43 Knot,12 Avocet,12 Bar-tailed Godwit,3 Grey Heron,300 Golden Plover,another Marsh Harrier,this time an adult female and 42 Shelduck.A Great-spotted Woodpecker in the plantation was the first i have seen here this year.
 Between the Skitter and Dawson City 4 Common Buzzard,included 3 migrant birds which passed east over the estuary,a single Cetti's Warbler calling in the borrow pit near Ruins Pond and 52 Curlew entered the notebook.
 Nothing was noted on Dawson City itself,but on the shore a new bird species for the year was logged,Sanderling.Six birds were observed on the sandbank off here and are the 26th species of wader to be recorded on the patch this year.Other notables included 16 Bar-tailed Godwit and 9 Pintail.
 Along the salt marsh edge walking back towards Long Wood,9 Bearded Tit showed brilliantly and allowed some opportunities to try and get some photos.The males rank as one of our most stunning birds in my opinion,little beauties.
 After reaching the Skitter again,a walk along the edge of the mitigation site produced 2 Chat species,with both singles of Stonechat and Whinchat being recorded.This is the first time here,that i have recorded both species at the same time and was a great end to a decent patch visit today.

15th September

Plenty of activity on Winter's Pond at dawn today with Ruff,2 Knot,Green Sand Piper,622 Greylag and a Grey Wagtail flying north west.The latter was the first sighting of the year for the patch.
 Overhead passage continued in good form,with 2 immature Spoonbill heading north along the estuary,the 3rd record for the year of this increasing species,which is certainly becoming a welcome sight.
 The Skitter held the usual suspects,with 6 Little Egret,168 Golden Plover,44 Knot and 48 Shelduck,with a 'New' Marsh Harrier,a first adult male hunting the salt marsh here.
 Between the Skitter and Ruins Pond,3 Ruff with a flock of 238 Golden Plover was nice to see,a pair of Bearded Tit,61 Curlew and a single Whimbrel also entered the notebook.
 The Dawson City area produced only the 2nd record of the year of Willow Tit,with a single bird observed along the borrow pits here and 61 Pink-footed Geese flew south inland,with a single Treecreeper on the reserve itself.
 Back to the Skitter and a whopping count of 1104 Black-tailed Godwit was achieved and made for an impressive sight.Also along here were 2 juvenile Wheatear,7 Avocet and 34 Dunlin.

21st September

The usual start at Winter's Pond today,a little later than normal,after a quick sleep after my night shift,saw male Cetti's Warbler,34 Coot and 100 Pink-feet entering the notebook.
 Because it was high tide,i decided to cover the inland fields for a change first seeing a cracking old type adult male Marsh Harrier hunting the rough field next to Winter's,giving some lovely views.
 Nothing else was seen along Skitter Road until i passed Grange Farm and picked up a Hobby hawking dragonflies distantly over Langmere Wood,i continued to watch and amazingly another 2 joined it.This could mean local breeding,who knows,i was just pleased to add the species to my patch year list and enjoy watching them with their superb aerial prowess.
 The Skitter area provided me with plenty of sightings to add to the notebook on today's visit,with 128 Knot,juvenile Common Sandpiper,350 Golden Plover,3 Ruff,4 Avocet and a 'New' colour ringed Black-tailed Godwit with the combination of yellow ring over a white ring inscribed with a number 8 on the right leg and green over lime on the left leg.This bird is an adult female and was first ringed at Skagafjaroarsysla,Siglufjorour in Northern Iceland on 10.07.2012. and has subsequently been seen at Belfast RSPB in Northern Ireland,Castle Espie In Northern Ireland,the Tagus Estuary in Portugal and Killingholme and Immingham on the Humber,returning each year to Iceland to breed.What a superb insight into the birds life history.
 Between the Skitter and Winter's,2 cracking sighting's were seen and both new species for the year.The first was 2 cracking adult Arctic Skuas,a dark morph and pale morph bird watched moving north along the estuary,giving some lovely views through the new Swaro scope and the second sighting involved a Little Stint bombing past me with a flock of Knot.This becomes the 27th species of wader for the year.
 Considering the amount of time put in today,it was certainly a productive one,with 3 new species for the year.

28th September

On today's visit,it was a tale of two halves,as the weather put a bit of a spanner in the works.
 Things started well at Winter's with the usual juv/female Goldeneye,14 Wigeon and a pair of Pochard being the notables,with an adult female Marsh Harrier passing along the estuary,south
 As in recent years,Pink-footed Geese have been roosting on Paul Holme Strays and passing over the river to feed on recently harvested cereal fields and this morning,the very impressive sight and sound of at least 2100 birds fed on fields next to Winter's.These are one of my favourite bird species and i look forward to every autumn when our little Icelandic friends return.
 After watching the Pinks,the weather began to take a turn for the worse and i quickly headed to the car.
 The rest of my visit today was spent sheltering in the car,parked at the Skitter watching the river and haven,which was pretty productive to be fair.Highlights went to a mixed flock of 20 Terns,which contained 18 Common and 2 Arctic which passed north along the estuary,the first returning Rock Pipit of the autumn/winter period,6 Avocet,50 Dunlin and a juvenile Common Sandpiper,no doubt the bird from my last visit.
 Other notables when the sun eventually came out again,included a juvenile Hobby which arrived from the north bank and began to hawk dragonflies along the Humber flood bank before disappearing inland and a pair of Stonechat watched along the sea wall.
 Another productive visit bringing a good September to a close.

Juvenile Common Buzzard,8th September.

Buck Roe Deer Attempting To Hide,8th September.

Female Bearded Tit,Near Dawson City,8th September.

Female Bearded Tit,Showing How Agile The Species Is,8th September.

Male Bearded Tit,8th September.

Male Bearded Tits,8th September.

Male Bearded Tit,8th September.

juvenile Whinchat,8th September.

Winter's Pond,15th September.

Immature Spoonbills Heading North,15th September.

Juvenile Knot,East Halton Skitter,15th September.

Pink-footed Geese Over Winter's Pond,15th September.

Pink-footed Geese Arriving From The North Bank,28th September.

Pink-footed Geese,28th September.

Stormy Skies Over East Halton Skitter,28th September.

Impressive Sky,East Halton Skitter.