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