Local Patching....The Final Days Of 2019.

Two really good visits to the local patch to end 2019,with some cracking highlights,particularly on the 27th,the following is a summary of the 2 visits.

21st December

After arriving at Winter's Pond,nothing of interest was noted here,until i made it up onto the Humber floodbank to see the juvenile male Hen Harrier making its way across the mitigation site from the Skitter to hunt the rough field adjacent to Winter's,before it again disappeared,a good start and nice to see this stunning bird is still around.
 Nothing much between WP and the Skitter other than mentioned above,but a single Little Egret was noted again as on my last visit and a total of 9 Roe Deer.
 At the Skitter the usual suspects were in residence,with 4 Water Pipit being seen,a Siskin flew south and the lovely sight of 3 Grey Partridge were noted along the edge of the track leading to East Marsh Road.
 All the Winter Thrushes observed on my last visit along East Marsh Road had moved on,but 50 Collared Dove and 65 Rook were notable,the Rooks making early prospecting visits to their Rookery near the livery stables.
 A lovely Fox was watched hunting Voles along here and was watched pouncing on one,just great to watch!.
 It was high tide as i reached Goxhill Haven and a good scan of the Humber revealed a decent count of 226 Goldeneye,a drake Pintail,5 Gadwall and 140 each of both Mallard and Wigeon being seen off here.
 As i reached the sunflower field,the juvenile male Hen Harrier was there and he gave some stunning views,as he perched on one of the Sunflower heads,what a cracking bird.Other birds in this area included a 1st calendar year male Marsh Harrier which is just starting to acquire some grey feathering on the underwing,at least 300 Linnet,Common Buzzard and a singing male Cetti's Warbler.
 The Pink-footed Geese which have been feeding in the area for a couple of months now,were on the grass meadow which they have occasionally been seen on over the last few years,but unfortunately someone is shooting at them,after several decoys were in the field next door.Why people just can't leave these lovely birds alone is beyond me.A decent count of 1650 birds were present today.but it won't be for much longer!.
 Also seen in the area were 2 Bearded Tit in a bankside reedbed and 2 Cetti's Warbler were calling in the long reedbed near Firecrest Corner.

27th December

Today's visit was an exceptional one for the time of the year,with some cracking birds being seen.
 Winter's held the usual birds at dawn,with the only notable record being 3 female Goldeneye.
 The mitigation site was similar to my last visit,minus the Hen Harrier,but was replaced by an adult female type Marsh Harrier,which flew south towards Killingholme,a pair of Stonechat,22 Curlew and the regular Little Egret were noted
 The Skitter today,was pretty good it has to be said,with an unseasonal Green Sandpiper feeding in the Haven with the Redshank flock,a single Water Pipit,5 Rock Pipit,which was a sudden upsurge in numbers,a pair of Stonechat,2 Short-eared Owl and 1st calendar year Marsh Harrier.
 A walk along the shoreline up to Dawson City primarily to count waders and gulls on the dropping tide,resulted in some very pleasing counts which included 685 Black-headed Gulls,71 Great black-backed Gull,514 Curlew,856 Dunlin,3000 Lapwing and 53 Carrion Crow.
 A lovely surprise,as with the Green Sand earlier,was a cracking adult Little Gull watched feeding along the Humber shore with the Black-headed Gull flock,a superb record for the time of year. 
 Also notable among a good count of 51 Avocet,were 2 colour ringed birds,whose details i have sent away for verification and history.
 As i reached Dawson City,good birds just kept coming,with a stonking male Merlin perched in the hedge at the back of the reserve,what a little beauty and the first adult male i have seen for several years.Also at Dawson were and adult male,the 1st calendar year male from my last visit and a juv. female type Marsh Harrier and a male Cetti's Warbler singing briefly.
 A quick walk up to the Sunflower field revealed at least 300 Linnet still present with a sleeping female Common Scoter and 6 Goldeneye on the Humber.The former is no doubt the bird i saw on the 15th and my be associating with the Goldeneye flock off New Holland.

So what a cracking end to the patch watching year and i'm all set to start again on the 1st of January to kick off another year watching this superb area.