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.
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| Another Colourful Sunrise Over The Humber. |
