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!.
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| Big Skies Over The Estuary & Along The Humber Floodbank Towards Quebec Cottages. |
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| Greylag Geese,Goxhill,5th. |
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| Record Shot Of some Of The Snow Buntings From The 5th. |
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