Steve's Birding,Wildlife & Walking Blog: Avocet Surprise And The Big Corvid Finally!......7th & 15th December 2019.

More local patching here,over two dates,which provided some superb sightings and included a surprise wader count and two more additions to the patch year list,one a long awaited addition to the local patch life list,the following is what i recorded over the two visits.

7th December

I decided today,just to walk up to Goxhill Haven and back and it provided me with some cracking sightings as always.
First thing on Winter's,a lone Whooper Swan was present,initially being harassed by the male of the resident pair of Mute Swans and it made me wonder if this is the lone adult which turned up the previous winter also.
Also here,were the male Cetti's Warbler singing occasionally,68 Teal and an adult Grey Heron.
The area between Winter's and the Skitter was pretty productive to be fair today,with some good numbers of Fieldfare,with at least 211 entering the notebook,with some good numbers of Waders using the flooded pasture field at the Skitter.Today it held 58 Curlew,33 Redshank,224 Lapwing and a single Bar-tailed Godwit,really good to see some birds finding an extra food source with the recent flooding here.A single Water Pipit flew along the shore past me and onto the Mitigation Site here,with plenty of habitat for it to explore that is for sure.
At the Skitter,the biggest surprise of the day was seen,a huge flock of Avocet,well for here anyway,with it containing 101 birds.These must have been displaced from the South Ferriby/Read's Island area,as they are now wintering here.The flock contained 2 colour ringed birds,but they were just too far away to get the combinations correct.
Also around the Skitter area were 2 Rock Pipit along the shore,a further 3 Water Pipit around the pools and 2 Short-eared Owl which were inadvertently flushed from their day time roost as i walked through the long grass.The latter birds are the first i have seen down here all autumn/winter.The only other notable was a single female Stonechat.
Goxhill Marsh was a bit devoid of birds to be fair today,with the only record entering the notebook being 27 Redwing and a possible Raven over the duck farm,was frustrating to say the least.
On towards Dawson City and the resident male Cetti's Warbler was singing away as i passed by and 2 Bearded Tit pinged in a bank side reedbed.A little further along towards the Haven and i encountered another male Cetti's warbler singing in the borrow pit opposite Klondyke,so three for the day along here was pretty good.
The Finch flock in the Sunflower field near Klondyke was pretty impressive,with at least 50 Greenfinch,20 each of Tree Sparrow and Chaffinch and a huge flock of at least 250 Linnets.The Greenfinch count is the most i have seen anywhere for years it has to be said.
The return walk back to the car saw more of the same being recorded and another attempt to read the Avocets colour rings was fruitless as it was now high tide and they had disappeared to roost.

15th December

Another all day visit today covering Winter's,the Skitter,East Marsh Road,Goxhill Haven and Goxhill Marsh,saw a superb day's birding being had with 2 year list additions and one patch lifer,the following is what was recorded in the 8 hours on site.
After arriving just before first light and getting plenty of warm gear on,a quick scan over the surrounding area for any Owls,saw 2 Barn Owl heading across the fields towards East Halton village,while 5 Roe Deer quietly browsed in the rough field next to Winter's.
Wildfowl wise,Winter's was very quiet,with the only notables being a juvenile Marsh Harrier,Common Buzzard and 2 Canada Geese.
Between Winter's and the Skitter,it was equally quiet,compared to my last visit,but a few waders were using the flooded field at the Skitter,with 140 Dunlin,39 Curlew and 3 Redshank being noted.
The Skitter area as always received plenty of attention,with highlights consisting of 3 Water Pipit,a female Stonechat,2 juvenile Marsh Harrier hunting the Saltmarsh and a single Short-eared Owl.A flock of 67 Wigeon were loafing on the Humber off here,no doubt the birds which feed on the sandbank off Dawson at low tide.A surprise was a single Barnacle Goose flushed from the pools,which headed north along the Estuary.
A change of scenery today,saw me heading inland past the the new gas pipeline and along East Marsh Road,with some decent numbers of winter thrushes being recorded,with 142 Fieldfare and 107 Redwing being logged.
A scan from Goxhill Haven looking for winter duck species,saw 23 Goldeneye being seen and a single female Common Scoter dozing as it drifted on the out going tide.
The finch flock near to Klondyke is building nicely,with 67 Greenfinch and at least 300 Linnet today,with smaller numbers of Chaffinch and Tree Sparrows.
The sandbank off Dawson was really productive on today's visit,with 39 Ringed Plover,212 Dunlin,3 Grey Plover,374 Curlew,5 Bar-tailed Godwit,60 Avocet and 6 Turnstone being logged.Gull's also featured in some good numbers with 62 Great black-backed Gull,300 Common Gull and 400 Black-headed Gull.
While watching this superb melee of birds,the murmer of Pink-footed Geese could be heard and sure enough the flock seen earlier were all on their favourite grass meadow.A good count of 3600 birds were seen today,a decent increase on recent weeks,but i could not locate any other species in amongst them.
While watching the lovely Pinks,i heard a familiar call and looked up to see 2 Raven flying overhead,over the Pinks and towards East Marsh Road and they looked like they landed on fields on the opposite side of the road.To put this sighting into context,it is probably the first time the species has been recorded at Goxhill and is certainly a new species for the patch,a long awaited one it has to be said and i was well chuffed to have seen them.The bird i had in the same area on the 7th was no doubt a Raven after today's sighting and i hope they stay around for the winter.
After the excitement of the Ravens,came another cracking species,with a juvenile male Hen Harrier watched flying along the Saltmarsh edge,before returning in the opposite direction back towards the Skitter.This bird has eluded me for the past few weeks and i was really pleased to finally connect with him.
The walk back towards the Skitter and another look here for the Avo flock,saw 2 Rock Pipit being added to the day's notes,with the 4th Common Buzzard being logged for the day and 70 more Fieldfare.
The final leg of the visit along Skitter Road and back to Winter's saw another sighting of the stunning Hen Harrier,as he flew across fields near Grange Farm and 2 Jay called in Red House Wood as i passed by.
Final sighting of the day went to the 3rd Stonechat to enter the notebook,with a single male seen along the approach road to Winter's a nice end to a fantastic local patch visit.