New Year's Day
As is tradition in birding circles,i began the new year with a full day on the local patch attempting to see and hear as many species as possible during the 9 hours i was on site.
The first new species of the year went to Blackbird,while listening and searching for Owls and Woodcock in the dark.This might sound crazy,but it did pay dividends with 3 singing male Tawny Owls being located and also a much sought after Little Owl calling at East Halton Grange.
I then made my way around to Winter's Pond and waited for it to get light,again listening for more calls to add.
As it got light,Winter's was again the place to be with several good birds to bring in the New Year with.
Highlights included the semi-resident 1st winter male Scaup,a pair of Goosander and a lone adult Whooper Swan,the latter no doubt the solitary adult bird i have recorded here over the last 3 consecutive winters.
Other birds here included a whopping site count of 28 Mute Swans,the most i have recorded and a new personal species for the site,a Treecreeper seen along the main hedge down to the Humber floodbank.
The usual suspects were seen around the Skitter and i happily added both Water and Rock Pipits to the year list,a flock of 40 Black-tailed Godwit and a male Stonechat.
A walk up to Dawson City saw the best birds including 3 each of Marsh Harrier and Common Buzzard and on the Humber at least 12 Common Scoter were still present with the Goldeneye flock.
After lots of effort today,i ended up on a very decent total of 86 species,with common species such as Cetti's Warbler,Barn & Short-eared Owl missing.
A really pleasing start to the new year list and i was looking forward to the next chapter.
3rd January
I started as always today at Winter's again,where else,as it keeps turning up some nice birds and there are always plenty of Wildfowl on show.
Today was no exception,with again,the 1st Winter male Scaup being present,the pair of Goosander here again and 2 year ticks in the form of Cetti's Warbler and Kingfisher.The Cetti's was the resident territorial male and only heard blasting out that distinctive song,the King on the other hand showed nicely as it caught a fish and then proceeded to batter it for a few minutes before enjoying its well earned breakfast.
I then decided to walk down the Mitigation area,when the first of the days rain passed overhead.It did provide some great photo oppertunities though,with some cracking rainbows.
To be fair,due to the rising water levels on here,there were a lot of birds using the site and included a single Water Pipit,860 Lapwing,9 Redshank,10 Snipe,a 1st calendar year Marsh Harrier and 3000 Starling.Also observed on the site and adjacent fields were 9 Roe Deer giving their usual brilliant views.
The Skitter area was again pretty productive for waders,with a good count for the time of year of 264 Black-tailed Godwit,also here were 720 Dunlin,3 Rock and 3 Water Pipit,22 Snipe and an adult female Marsh Harrier.
After the Skitter,i put in some serious effort to try and find a Jack snipe,walking along the saltmarsh up to Dawson City,with no reward unfortunately,but sightings included 2 more Rock Pipit,7 Snipe,7 Common Scoter and on the landward side of the floodbank,2400 Pink-footed Geese and a Treecreeper were seen.
A good look through the Pinks unfortunately didn't reveal any other species mixed in with them.
As the tide dropped off,more waders became more obvious and 4 Grey Plover,18 Knot,500 Dunlin and 34 Ringed Plover were logged.
As the rain had set in,with it drizzling on and off all the way back to Winter's it was less than an enjoyable walk back,but after reaching Winter's for the second time today,it was nice to see the Goosander pair at relatively close range as they fished for their supper.
A great couple of visits,with me on 88 species for the year and i'm looking forward to my next outing here.
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| Incoming Storm Clouds Over The Humber. |
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| Another Stunning Rainbow. |
