Final Countdown To 2021....Wednesday 30th December 2020.

The final visit to the local patch today for 2020,saw another productive visit being enjoyed and the patch year list not gaining anymore new species and finishing on an impressive 157 species.This is even more satisfying when you take into account i have missed 14 weeks coverage,due to Covid 19 restrictions.

Obviously the best finds fell to the unbelievable duo of Olive-backed Pipit and Dusky Warbler found together in the same 200 metre stretch of Saltmarsh/Hedgerows near to Dawson City nature reserve,just east of Goxhill Haven on the 8th November,with the Pipit staying until 15th.This followed hot on the heels of the Pallid Swift i found in the same area on 11th November 2018.

Anyway,back to today's visit,starting at a pretty cold Winter's first thing with the Tufted Duck flock building up to 34 birds now and the 1st winter male Scaup still in residence along with the 2 female Pochard.

Other numbers and species here included the 12 Mute Swans still,54 Gadwall,225 Wigeon,a singing male Cetti's Warbler,146 Greylag and a lovely adult female Marsh Harrier,the latter being seen also hunting the mitigation area and the Skitter pools.Along the shoreline up to the old seaplane jetty,450 Lapwing,177 Teal and 300 Dunlin were watched feeding and resting.

The Winter's to Skitter area and Skitter itself held a few good birds also,which included a colour ringed Redshank,with the combo of black ring over black flag on the left leg and yellow ring over lime ring on the right leg.I suspect it may be a bird ringed at Welwick Marsh in Yorkshire by the Humber Wader Ringing Group,but i'm waiting on confirmation.

Also here were 67 Redshank,630 Dunlin,18 Black-tailed Godwit,1 Avocet,3 Stonechat,2 Water Pipit and 200 Fieldfare.

The area between the Skitter and Dawson City held some good numbers of birds and included 1 Short-eared Owl,2 Cetti's Warbler,43 Great black-backed Gulls,5 adult Whooper Swan,182 Wigeon,117 Bar-tailed Godwit,a further 300 Dunlin(Certainly not part of the Skitter flock),34 Ringed Plover,2 Knot and a female Stonechat.

A total of 1350 Pink-footed Geese also flew west,with 350 feeding in a pasture close to Dawson City. 

A look around Goxhill Haven revealed a pair of Stonechat,80 Turnstone and 5 Common Scoter were seen distantly off Goxhill Tilery.

The return walk back to the car at Winter's saw no new additions to the above,but a very Spectacular,orange moon rise was seen over the Humber.

Another great visit and onwards and upwards to the new year list starting on the 1st January.

The Humber Sea Terminal In The Dark.

A Stunning Full Moon This Evening.

Sundown Over The Skitter Fields.

Sunrise Over The Industrial Skyline Of Killingholme,

The Humber Head Peatlands.....Boxing Day 2020.

A change of scenery today,visiting the NNR that encompasses Crowle & Thorne Moors,saw some nice bits being seen in the 8 hours on site.

I started proceedings by parking at the car park at Crowle,getting all the required kit together for the long walk and i was off.

It was fairly quiet,as expected along the first section of the walk,but a nice flock of 27 Lesser Redpoll made for a nice sighting,the largest flock i had seen for a while.

A couple of Buck Roe Deer were seen just before i crossed over the Bailey bridge and into gods own country,the first deer sighting of the day.

Will Pitts scrape held a few birds as always,with 63 Mallard and a gorgeous drake Goosander and in the bushes bird of the visit so far this morning,went to a precious Willow Tit,feeding with a mixed Tit flock.This species is spiralling out of control country wide and much work is required to understand what exactly is causing the decline.

A few more Lesser Redpolls were seen,before I made it to the Limestone Road and Blue Bridge.

A few nice birds around here included the Water Pipit that has been present for a while and was only seen in flight,as is the majority of sightings of this species,but thankfully they are usually quite vocal.

A pair of Stonechat were encountered nearby and added a lovely splash of colour from the dapper male,certainly brightening up this monochrome winter's day.

This was the first pair of a total of 6 birds being recorded during the visit,another additional pair and 2 individual males seen separately.

Much scanning of the surrounding areas as i walked revealed at least 6 different Marsh Harrier,including a smart 1st adult plumaged male(or 3rd calendar year) as some may call it and overhead a flock of 67 Pinks flew west.

it really was a joy to visit here again,with it's solitude and not a soul in sight,time to just be at one with the natural world and watch some great birds.

I eventually made it all the way back to the Crowle side of the NNR and back into Lincolnshire,seeing a Great-spotted Woodpecker and 3 more gorgeous Roe Deer,they really are a fave of mine.

After arriving back at the car and seeing i had walked just under 13 miles today,i travelled home with slightly aching legs,but it had certainly been worth the effort and i look forward to my next visit,hopefully in the not too distant future.

Thorne Moors 

Thorne Moors.

Local Patch Wax & Wildfowl,24th & 27th December 2020.

Another couple of visits to the local patch on the Humber,with 1 new addition to the year list,putting me on 157 for the year here.

The following is what i recorded on my two visits:

Christmas Eve,24th December

The usual early start this morning at WP,saw hundreds of Fieldfare's passing over and amazingly a single Waxwing was seen and heard as it flew over and towards the Mitigation area.Unfortunately,i could not relocate this bird later in amongst the throngs of Fieldfare.

I was really pleased with the Waxwing,as it is certainly not a great winter for them so far and continues the good run of birds here.

On the main lake the 1st winter Drake Scaup was still present along with 27 Tufted Duck,2 female Pochard,36 Gadwall,12 Teal and a whopping count of 207 Wigeon.

The latter count is the largest i have had here for Wigeon so far,with much larger numbers residing in the winter on the Yorkshire side of the Estuary.

The weather again today,left a lot to be desired and i got rained on several times,so by the time i reached the Skitter,i was a tad wet and didn't bother covering the pools.

Around the Skitter,were approx. 1500 Fieldfare,feeding on every Hawthorn they could find food on,but the bushes are quickly getting stripped now and a good majority of the birds from previous weeks,have moved on already to find new food sources.

A 1st calendar year Marsh Harrier tried it's best to lift my spirits and it briefly worked until the rain started again....another cocked up forecast from the Met Office!.

I then walked along Skitter Road and back to the car and home,to dry the kit out.

Sunday 27th December

A much more pleasant day weather wise today,with some nice sunshine and a fresh south westerly wind.

Winter's was again,as on previous recent visits,alive with wildfowl,with a huge count of 12 Mute Swans here.This is the most i have counted here so far,as the resident pair usually chase off any Swan that lands on here,but i think today,they were just overwhelmed!.

The 1st winter drake Scaup is still here and his plumage is slowly advancing towards being an adult with more grey feathering coming through on the mantle.

Other species here included a lovely pair of Goosander,the 2 female Pochard still,at least 20 Tufted Duck,67 Gadwall and 18 Shoveler.

The bushes and hedgerows held a pair of lovely Bullfinch,80 Fieldfare and 16 Blackbird.

Along the shoreline up to Killingholme,211 Teal and 400 Lapwing were feeding and loafing on the Humber mud.

As i walked towards the Skitter along the Humber floodbank a 1st calendar year Peregrine went shooting past,scattering birds in all directions,thus making the Skitter devoid of any waders or gulls,as they all flushed towards Goxhill.

The mitigation area held a few birds including a Common Buzzard,32 Carrion Crow,200 Fieldfare and 19 Blackbird.Also along here were 5 lovely Roe Deer, always a pleasure to watch.

The usual suspects were recorded along Skitter Road and Marsh Lane,until the adult Peregrine which is often perched up on the fields along here,flew past and over towards Red House Wood.

Another couple of great visits,i love my hobby!.

A Very Wet Sunday & Raptor Fest,Local Patching At It's Finest!,13th & 20th December 2020.

A couple of visits agin to the local birding patch along the Humber Estuary at Goxhill/East Halton.

No new additions to the year list this time,but plenty of great birding as always,with some great numbers and variety of Wildfowl,Thrushes & Starlings with some lovely raptors thrown in also.

13th December

An early start today parking at Goxhill Tilery,saw one of the most stunning sun rises i have seen this year,just filling the sky in tones of orange,red and yellow,just spectacular.

Just before it began to get light,i was treated to the sight of 2 Woodcock heading to roost and 2 male Tawny Owls calling to each other from their separate territories,a great start to the visit i thought.

I had come here again to check out the diving duck flock which winters off here,with today's visit revealing some decent numbers still.The best of which were 7 Scaup which had dropped down from the superb count of 29,along with 254 Goldeneye and 34 Common Scoter.

A walk along the shore here saw a lovely male Snow Bunting still being present,2 Rock Pipits,531 Pink-footed Geese heading west and a massive count of 980 Dunlin between the Tilery and Goxhill Haven.

Other niceities along here included 8 lovely Roe Deer and a singing male Cetti's Warbler.

Eventually the promised for rain set in and i got a bit of a soaking,so i walked back to the car to dry off.

I then decided to go over to Winter's and have a quick look,before the rain set in again.

A brief look over the main lake saw some good numbers present again,with 56 Gadwall,female Pochard,21 Shoveler,17 Tufted Duck and 57 Wigeon being logged and then the dreaded rain returned and that was it for the day....bugger!.

20th December

With a much better forecast than the previous weekend,i was again up and at it early,repeating my habits of the past few weeks visiting the Goxhill Tilery area in the morning,before moving over to Winter's/East Halton Skitter in the afternoon.

As it began to get light,it was obvious from the word go,that there were substantial numbers of Winter Thrushes around,with at least 310 Fieldfare and 150 Redwing making for great viewing.

As i walked towards the Humber floodbank,3 Roe Deer and 3 Brown Hare provided some nice mammalian distraction from the birds,with a Kingfisher peeping in Quebec.

A couple of good scans of the Humber revealed 328 Goldeneye,5 Common Scoter and just 4 Scaup today,but as the tide was coming in,birds were spread all over the place.

Along the shore and fields,2 Rock Pipit,Common Buzzard,and 37 Carrion Crow were noted and then i saw a Peregrine perched up on the gantry of one of the cranes at New Holland Bulk Terminal.

I watched this bird and then all of a sudden it took off after something and it soon became apparent it was a Stock Dove,when another bird joined it and i watched as this pair of Peregrines put on an amazing display as they twisted and turned,dive bombing this poor Stock Dove,but to my amazement and probably the Perg's it got away.

After this superb aerial display,i wandered back to the car and headed over to Winter's again as last week.

After getting the gear together and having a quick scoff and drink,i scanned over the main lake first.

Decent numbers of Wildfowl again today were present,with a slight increase of Tufties to 25,but in amongst them was a smart 1st winter Drake Scaup.This is the 5th bird i have recorded on Winter's this autumn/winter,with a female,1st Winter male,an adult female and 1st Winter female and now this young male completing the records.

Also on the main lake were 20 Shoveler,47 Gadwall,female Pochard and along the hedgerows,550 Fieldfare and 300 Starling.

I then decided to walk along the sea wall up to the Skitter,seeing the lovely male Merlin that has been present for 4 or 5 weeks now chasing Fieldfares and further over on one of the stubble fields,the regular female Peregrine was perched up.

A scan of the Humber saw 11 female/imm. Common Scoter bobbing along on the out going tide,no doubt part of the New Holland/Goxhill flock.

A good wander around the Skitter Pools and surrounding hedgerows up to Ruins Pond saw some really impressive numbers of birds,particularly Fieldfares and Starlings.

Numbers involved were probably under estimated,but there was at least 3600 Fieldfare,by far the largest number i have seen locally for a long time and at least 6000 Starlings,making for a spectacular sight.

Other species observed included 3 Marsh Harrier,Common Buzzard,3 Water and 2 Rock Pipit.

I decided to walk back along the edge of the Mit site on the way back to the car,which proved to be a brilliant decision,with me gaining the closest views i have ever had of a Merlin and this was a stonking male!.He posed on a pile of brash left from when the hedges were cleared,what a cracking little bird.

Also along here were a single Barn Owl hunting around Winter's and the rough field next door at dusk and another Water Pipit.

As i was about to leave,a huge flock of Starlings,probably in the region of 30,000 birds were wheeling around near Killingholme Power Station,making for a brilliant end to what had been a superb days birding again around this brilliant patch of mine.

Sunset Over Red House Wood On The 20th.

Phonescoped Image Of The Cracking Male Merlin On The 20th.

The Incredible Sunrise Over Goxhill On The 13th.

Goxhill & East Halton - More Local Patch Birding,Saturday & Sunday 5th/6th December 2020.

A productive couple of visits again over the two visits i made here,with 2 new species for the patch life list and obviously the year list putting me on 211(Patch Life List) and 154 for the patch year list.

The last few months it has to be said have been really good and it just goes to show what can be found with plenty of time put in,even on my small inland section of the Estuary and it makes you think what goes undiscovered in other areas.

Saturday 5th 

I decided to cover an area today west of Goxhill Haven,in roughly the area i had seen the 2 Snow Buntings in on the 15th November.This area has been kind to me in the past with sighting's including Bewick's Swan,Snow Bunting,Twite,Ring-necked Duck,Smew,Velvet Scoter and Long-tailed Duck amongst others being recorded.

I parked the car near Goxhill Tilery and had a quick look around Quebec and the bushes around the Tilery,with not much being seen apart from a Water Rail climbing about in some Hawthorns and a couple of Common Buzzards.

I then walked down the public footpath towards the Humber when i picked up a Diver flying west relatively high up and unbelievably it was a Great-northern!.

I watched as this beast of a Diver flew steadily west with that slow,direct,powerfull,flight Great-northern's have,with it's huge feet sticking out from it's tail,giving some decent views through the Swaro,what a cracker and very unexpected to be fair,even though there has been a large influx into the UK of late.This is a new species for my patch list and a very welcome addition it has to be said

About 5 minutes later,a 2nd calendar year male Marsh Harrier flew east towards Goxhill Haven with an entourage of Carrion Crows in hot pursuit.

As i walked along the shore a flock of 15 Snow Buntings flew past me towards New Holland and after flying around for about ten minutes they eventually settled.

I managed to get some distant video before they were off again and flying over the wet stubble fields between the Tilery and New Holland when they were joined by another flock of 18 birds,so 33 all together.They gave decent views on and off for the rest of the time i was present and i quickly found the reason why they were so jumpy,there were 2 Peregrines sat on the fields also.

As the main reason i had travelled up this way today was to view the wintering duck flock,it was pretty productive it has to be said,with 338 Goldeneye,48 Common Scoter and surprisingly 29 Scaup with 7 Tufted Duck also.Thanks to the flat calm conditions it was ideal for viewing these birds today and it brought back great memories of the huge Aythya flock which used to winter off here,which in turn attracted Ring-necked Duck,Red-crested Pochard,Smew,Long-tailed Duck,Velvet Scoter, & Eider.

There was a flock of mixed gulls feeding on the wet stubble also and a quick scan through them revealed a 1st Winter Caspian Gull.It was watched feeding and in flight on a few occasions and showed all the required features including pale based dark bill,dark eye,pale head with necklace of grey streaks on the nape,long grey legs,Nike stripe along the coverts(Folded wing) and baggy feathering on the undertail.This is another new species for the patch life list,which was turning out to be a superb day!.

As i walked back to the car i enjoyed amazing scope views of one of the Peregrines as it demolished what looked like a Black-headed Gull which it had caught,what a fantastic visit!.

6th December

Today i started proceedings at Winter's,parking at dawn in my usual place beside the main lake and to be fair it was alive with birds today.

A scan of the lake revealed 2 Scaup,an adult female and a 1st winter female with the Tuftie flock and they gave superb views as they swam around with their cousins,this being the 3rd record of the species here this year involving 4 birds.Other wildfowl included the afore mentioned 16 Tufted Duck,54 Wigeon,61 Gadwall,15 Shoveler,61 Teal  and a Barnacle Goose with 82 Greylags which noisely dropped in.

Around the bushes and hedges were 59 Redwing,34 Blackbird and a gorgeous female Sparrowhawk which eye balled me at close range as it sat on the fence near the car.

Along the shore here,a single Rock Pipit again and 28 Carrion Crows fed,with approx 10K Starlings bombing past me towards the Skitter and Goxhill Marsh.

I then headed inland along Marsh Lane and Skitter Road seeing more winter Thrushes and a large mixed flock of Corvids feeding on the stubble fields near Red House Farm/The Grange,with a flock of 15 Pied Wagtail feeding nearby.

Along the beck,34 Blackbird and 106 Fieldfare and 1500 Starlings were feeding in the bushes and on the fields and overhead a flock of 11 Barnacle Geese flew south west.The only highlight along Chapel Field Road were a pair of Stonechat watched on the gas pipeline site.

East Marsh Road and Goxhill Haven were relatively quiet and i walked towards Dawson City as the tide dropped to a fantastic mixed flock of waders and wildfowl.

The best were 2 lovely Drake Goosander which were sat on the shore preening giving some nice views.Also here were 24 Grey Plover,15 Bar-tailed Godwit,3500 Lapwing,2 Rock Pipit and another Stonechat.

Between Dawson City and the Skitter,it was pretty productive to be fair,with 3 Cetti's Warbler,another female Stonechat,a lovely Short-eared Owl watched hunting and 2 Barn Owls.The latter no doubt showing better now,due to the cooler weather of the past week or so,making them hunt earlier and for longer periods.

Finally as i walked back to the car at Winter's in the lovely twighlight,another female Stonechat was seen and i was treated to the lovely sight and sound of at least 700 Pink-footed Geese going to roost on the Humber.

A couple of really good visits again to the local patch,what a great place it is!.

Big Skies Over The Estuary & Along The Humber Floodbank Towards Quebec Cottages.

Greylag Geese,Goxhill,5th.

Record Shot Of some Of The Snow Buntings From The 5th.

The Local Patch,Saturday 28th November 2020.

 Another trip out today to the local patch at East Halton/Goxhill,saw another pretty decent visit being enjoyed,the following is what i recorded in the 8 hours here today.

After parking in my usual place at Winter's Pond and getting plenty of warm clothes on,i began to look around the site.

The first thing that was apparent as i walked,was the increase in Blackbirds here compared to my last visit,with at least 30 being seen along with 3 Song Thrush,a couple of Fieldfare and a handfull of Redwing.

On the main lake,a gorgeus drake Goosander cruised about showing off his pristine plumage,what a fine duck these big Sawbills are.

Also on the main lake were 17 Tufted Duck,12 Little Grebe,9 Redshank,28 Gadwall and 26 Teal,with the resident pair of Mute Swans and the usual adult Grey Heron also present.

As i walked past the chimney,there were a few waders and ducks along the shore towards the old seaplne jetty and included a further 117 Teal,300 Lapwing,50 Dunlin and a single Rock Pipit.

While going through these flocks,all hell broke loose as an immature Peregrine flew in and began chasing the waders,scattering birds in all directions,before it flew across the Humber and into Yorkshire.It is always an exhilerating experience watching these birds in action,supreme masters of the air!.

In the distance,approx. 2000 Pink-footed Geese were leaving their roosts for the day and some were crossing into Lincolnshire,with others heading further into Yorkshire.

Today instead of doing my usual routine,i decided to walk along the eastern perimeter of the mitigation area and not along the Humber floodbank as i normally do.This was in the hope i may flush a Jack Snipe or Woodcock,but after plenty of effort neither were found.

A decent selection of other species were seen and included 46 Carrion Crow,2 Marsh Harrier(Adult female and 2nd calendar year male),3 Stonechat(male and 2 females) an adult female Peregrine sat on the adjacent fields again and the best of the bunch,a single Snow Bunting which flew south,calling overhead.The latter continuing a good run of rarer Buntings visiting the patch.

My quest for a Jack Snipe continued at the Skitter,with a tramp around the pools at last producing the goods,as a single was flushed(Species 152 for the patch year list).It flew up in typical Jack Snipe fashion,with hardly any effort compared to Common Snipes towering escape flight when flushed,a welcome sighting indeed.

Other species around the Skitter and pools included a minimum of 5 Water Pipit,35 Common Snipe,a single Water Rail,juvenile Marsh harrier,9 reed Bunting and 3 Rock Pipit.

After covering the Skitter,i walked all the way up to Dawson City along the Saltmarsh,with some decent counts of species and highlights including 2 more Jack Snipe,with 1 giving superb flight views at close range,3 Stonechat(1 male and 2 females),221 Teal,38 Grey Plover,629 Dunlin,130 Wigeon,300 Lapwing and 39 Great black-backed Gulls.

I stopped at Dawson after all the hard work in the saltmarsh and had my lunch,were a single Treecreeper showed nicely and a Common Buzzard,40 Fieldfare and 200 Starling were seen also.

The walk back to Winter's was fairly miserable,as the promised fog began to close in and it was also drizzling,another fine weather forecast by the Met Office!.

A few birds broke up the walk and included 45 Redwing,another couple of Common Buzzards and 46 more Fieldfare.

Another enjoyable day visiting my little part of the Humber Estuary and i look forward to my next visit.

Another Colourful Sunrise Over The Humber.

Siberian Gems Take Two & Bunting Surprise,Sunday 15th & 22nd November 2020.

Another couple of excellent visits to the local birding patch between East Halton and Goxhill,the following is what i saw.

Sunday 15th

Today,coverage of the patch between Winter's Pond and Goxhill Tilery saw some excellent birding again,with 2 additions to the year list.

Winter's first thing held a few birds,with a pair of Pochard being the highlight,not a common bird here at all.

The Skitter area today,saw some lovely birds being seen on the 2 visits,with a juvenile Marsh Harrier in the morning and the male Merlin seen again as he shot past after some un-suspecting prey.

In the afternoon,a Short-eared Owl,2 Water Pipit and a very late Swallow were seen,the latter,a juvenile was my latest record of the species for some time it has to be said.

Good coverage of the Dawson City area,saw incredibly,the Olive-backed Pipit still being present,with it being flushed from the saltmarsh on 4 occasions and being seen perched up twice in the adjacent Hawthorns.This is the latest and longest staying Olive-backed Pipit for Lincolnshire and the 15th record overall.

A lovely,showy Siberian Chiffchaff found by GPC on the 9th,was thankfully still present today and gave some lovely views,with the bird singing also,a first for me.This is the second Sibe Chiff i have seen here,the first being in March 1989!.

Also in the Dawson area were 650 Pink-footed Geese,26 Grey Plover,450 Lapwing,61 Great black-backed Gulls and 250 Dunlin.

After a nice find by Chas Adland,it was great to see his Snow Buntings still present early afternoon,my first down here for a couple of years and they showed impeccably,a lovely adult and 1st winter male.

Sunday 22nd

A much quieter affair today until i made it back to the car to set off home,as a Lapland Bunting flew overhead and north,calling.A new species for the year and the first i have had down here for many years.

Other sightings around Winter's comprised of 4717 Pink-footed Geese leaving their roosts in Yorkshire and travelling over into Lincolnshire to feed.Today was part 2 of the Icelandic Goose survey and there was certainly more birds present than on the corresponding count in 2019.

An increase in Rock Pipits today,saw 1 on the shore infront of Winter's,1 at the Skitter and 4 along the shore between Dawson City and Goxhill Haven.

Also at the Skitter,5 Water Pipits were seen around the brackish pools,giving their usual flight only views,but plenty of calls as per and 5 Bearded Tit were also in the area.

A good walk of the saltmarsh and look around Dawson City,saw no sign of either the Olive-backed Pipit or the Siberian Chiffchaff unfortunately,but 3 Goldcrest and a Treecreeper were nice to see.

Stonechats also featured in today's visit,with birds at East Halton Skitter(1 fem.),Dawson City(2 fem.) and a pair between Dawson and Goxhill Haven.

A lovely Grey Wagtail was found at Witter Farm along East marsh Road and showed nicely on the roof of the farm,with 3 Little Egret pretending to be Cattle Egrets feeding nearby on worms in a cattle field.....one day!

Another feature of today's wander,was more Fieldfare's on the patch than previous visits,with flocks of 23(East Marsh Road),82(Chapel Field Road) and 84 along the Beck.

Finally,a very late Common Darter was seen at Chapel Farm,my latest ever record.

Sunset On The 15th,With Redhouse Farm In The Distance.

Sunrise On The 22nd.

The Rookery,Goxhill Marsh,15th.

Pink-footed Geese,Goxhill Marsh,22nd.

A Taste Of Siberia!.......More Local Patching,Saturday And Sunday 7th/8th November 2020.

As Tracey was working both days over the weekend,it gave me the opportunity to get out both days which was most probably the last roll of the dice to try and find something 'nice' in the forecasted south easterly airflow over the coming two days.The following is what i saw,with an incredible day on Sunday.

7th November

The forecast of fog wasn't too bad as i arrived at Winter's Pond after dropping Trace at home and i quickly got ready for my day on the patch.

On Winter's first thing,668 Greylag on the main lake and a flock of 7 Barnacle Geese flying north west,were the forerunner to a decent patch Goose day.

As i walked along Marsh Lane and Skitter Road,the usual suspects were encountered and as i reached East Halton Grange,the lovely sight and sound of at least 4000 Pink-footed Geese were feeding on stubble there.Sure enough the Barnacles had joined them and i carefully scanned through the flock just in case any other species were mixed in with them.

A few other birds around the Grange included 2 Mistle Thrush and a good sized flock of 600 Starling.

The Skitter as always provided some great sighting's,with the best being a stunning male Merlin perched up and then bombing down the beckside after its lunch,a lovely sight indeed.

Other nice sighting's logged included,3 Water Pipit around the Skitter pools,5 Stonechat,a juvenile Marsh Harrier,49 Avocet and a single Rock Pipit

On the Humber,a lone juvenile Gannet flew north,the second record of the year for me.

As time wore on,the spectacular sight of at least 6000 Pink-footed Geese heading to roost was just amazing to watch and hear and was a great end to the day.

8th November

Today's visit has to go down as one of the most incredible days birding i have had on my patch so far and i nearly didn't come down due to fog.

I met up with Jon after arriving a little late and we walked towards the Skitter along the flood bank seeing some great birds on the Mitigation area.This included a new for the year species,Woodcock.The bird was flushed as we walked and we watched as it crashed into undergrowth to roost out the rest of the day.

 Other good sighting's along here included 4 Stonechat,a juvenile Marsh Harrier,a single Water Pipit and a definite increase in numbers of Meadow Pipits and Reed Buntings.Surely there had to be something good lurking somewhere!.

 A good tramp around the Skitter area revealed a further 4 Water Pipit,16 Meadow Pipit and 2 Rock Pipit and also another 3 Stonechat.

 After saying goodbye to Jon as he headed back to his car,i carried on towards Dawson City,this proved to be a stellar decision.

 I was just walking past the entrance to Dawson when an explosive 'Spiz' call made me jump into action as a Pipit flew out of the trees and out into the saltmarsh.There was only one thing in my mind that this bird could be,but i was inland on my patch not at Spurn!.

I set my phonescoping kit up and steadily walked into the saltmarsh and the bird flushed again with two blasts of that distinct 'Spiz' call again as it dived into a nearby reedbed,this had to be an Olive-backed Pipit!.

I took my phone out and went to Hannu Janne's album of Eastern Vagrant birds and quickly selected Olive-backed Pipit,this had the desired affect as the bird flew out of the reedbed and began flying around me with a distinct 'Sitt' call before flying over to a bankside Hawthorn where i got my first perched views of my first self found OBP.

By this time i was shaking and was fumbling around trying to get my phonescoping kit out and record some video,to be honest i just could not believe what i was seeing.The bird showed really nicely before being flushed back into the Saltmarsh by dog walkers,as i quietly swore at them to go and f off somewhere else.I then left the bird where it had landed and waited for GPC to arrive.

When Graham arrived,we walked the saltmarsh again and the bird flew,this time without calling and dived into another reedbed,not the best views at all,but at least he had seen the bird.

As we searched for the Pipit,i saw a Phyllosc flycatching along the reed edge which i didn't really get a 100% look at and i thought it gave a 'tuck' call but soon lost the bird and said to Graham i had just had an interesting Phyllosc,but I couldn't relocate it.Hindsight is a wonderfull thing and i should have spent more time looking for this bird,but i was more interested in getting Graham onto the Pipit properly.

By this time it was beginning to get towards dusk and said goodbye to Graham and i began walking back to the car at East Halton and left Graham with the Pipit and the mystery Warbler.Imagine my surprise when Graham rang me to say the Warbler was a Dusky! and had been calling.....fu#*@ng hell!,there wasn't enough time to walk back for another search before dark,so i carried on towads the car.

The Pipit was mad enough,but 2 Sibe vagrants on my patch together,was just crazy and they were also probably roosting in the same reedbed.As far as i'm aware this is unprecedented on the estuary,with only one other record of Dusky Warbler at Blacktoft Sands RSPB some time in the 90's. 

Graham visited again next day and eventually located the Pipit,some 500 metres from where i had originally found the bird,but no sight or sound of the Dusky was had.

I steadily walked back to the car at Winter's to the sight and sound of flighting Pink-footed Geese and still in a daze at what had just happened.....birding bloody hell!.

Olive-backed Pipit,Dawson City Area,8th,Photo Courtesy Of Graham Catley.

Olive-backed Pipit,Photo Courtesy Of Graham Catley.

Olive-backed Pipit,Courtesy Of Graham Catley

This Photo Perfectly Illustrates What The Pipit Was Doing,Photo Courtesy Of Graham Catley.

The Area Of Saltmarsh The Olive-backed Pipit Flushed Into After I originally Found The Bird.

Sunset At East Halton,7th.

The Sky Full Of Pink-footed Geese Heading To Roost On The 7th.

Peacock Butterfly,East Halton Skitter,7th.

Pink-footed & Barnacle Geese,7th.

Winter's Pond,7th.

Looking Towards Killingholme,7th.

Castleton & Kinder Reservoir,Wednesday 4th November 2020.

With a second national lockdown looming due to the Covid19 cases around the country increasing exponentially,we decided to travel over to the stunning Peak District for the day.On today's visit to the area,we began by visiting Castleton,before travelling over to Hayfield to walk around Kinder Reservoir and the foothills of Kinder Scout.

The weather at Castleton was a bit mixed with sunny periods and low cloud,with similar conditions at Hayfield/Kinder,but at the latter,the weather cleared with a beautiful autumnal end to the day.

The following are a selection of my favourite photos from a superb day out in this cracking part of the country.

Hollin Head.

William Clough.

Kinder Reservoir.

Marepiece Wood,Bowden Bridge.

St.Edmond's Church.

Lose Hill.

Scenery Close To Mam Tor,Castleton.