Patch Birding,Friday 13th And Sunday 15th August 2021.

A couple of good visits to the local patch at East Halton/Goxhill,with 3 NFY species added to the patch year list,putting me on 133 for the year.

 The following is what i recorded over these two excellent visits:

Friday 13th

A blustery,but warm day today,saw me starting as usual by parking at Winter's Pond,getting the required kit together and spending a full day covering the whole patch.

 Winter's first thing,was fairly quiet,but wildfowl numbers are slowly starting to build with 16 Canada Geese still in residence,22 Tufted Duck,8 Gadwall & 2 Shoveler.

 In the bushes,9 Willow Warbler was notable,as juvenile birds push through the area on their long migrations to Africa.

 Along the Humber shore up to Killingholme Haven,it was noticeable there was a good movement of Gulls along the Estuary,mainly comprising of Black-headed Gulls.

 Waders along here on the rising tide,saw 4 Avocet,52 Redshank,6 Ringed Plover and 15 Curlew being logged.

 The walk between Winter's and the Skitter,saw the first Chat migrant of the autumn being seen,with a female Wheatear giving the usual skittish views as it caught plenty of flies along the sea wall.

 Also along here,at least 9 Yellow Wagtail showed well as they also plundered the profusion of flying prey.

 The Skitter proved to be THE wader hotspot today,with 2 NFY species,a very brief Wood Sandpiper which was flushed by a hunting male Marsh Harrier and quickly disappeared onto the Humber along with 3 Greenshank.

 Also around the Skitter and pools,were 5 Common Sand,a Green Sand and 6 Avocet.

 On the fields,211 Golden Plover were seen and as i headed along the beck towards Goxhill,7 Little Egret were roosting in the beck side trees.

 Along the beck,Chapel Farm,Chapel Field Road and East Marsh Road,the usual suspects were seen,with varying numbers of Butterflies and Dragons being recorded,with 276 Rook,indicating a decent breeding season.

 Goxhill Haven was also quiet,but a confiding flock of foraging Turnstones entertained as i took some video of them.

 Back at the Skitter for the 2nd time today and the tide had dropped off significantly,with a whopping flock of 2576 Icelandic Black-tails taking advantage of the excellent feeding for them to moult through those fresh winter feathers.

 A good scan through the flock revealed 4 colour-ringed birds,unfortunately,i could only read one of the birds rings,due to the frustrating combinations of wind,heat haze and mud.The bird i managed to read was red over black flag and green over white,the bird i had seen at Winter's a week or so ago,which had been ringed at Long Bank near Spurn,by the Humber Wader Ringing Group.

 Also at the Skitter,was a gathering group of large Gulls,with at least 1 juvenile Yellow-legged Gull amongst them,new species number 3 for the year!.

 This species is no doubt more common than we think,it's just picking them out from the throngs of commoner species at this time of year.

 As i walked back to Winter's,the Wheatear was still along the sea wall and at Winter's itself,41 Sand Martin hawked for insects over the main lake.

Sunday 15th

A great start to the visit today,with me nailing the French colour flagged Icelandic Black-tail as it roosted on the grassland first thing.Previously i had only seen one leg,but today i got the full combinations of Orange flag over white on the left leg and red over orange on the right leg,it had been originally ringed at Moeze in France on 26.02.09. making it at least 12 years old.Looking through the birds sightings history,it seems to moult in the UK and then winter each year in France and it has been seen on 2 other occasions on the Humber 20.07.19. and 07.08.19.

 Other species today on the site included 2 Green sandpiper,1 Common Sandpiper,22 Tufted Duck still,2 Great-crested Grebe and a lovely Kingfisher.

 Along the Humber shore,some decent numbers of waders included 5 Whimbrel,8 Knot,21 Dunlin,11 Avocet,3 more Common Sands and 67 Ringed Plover,with a further 58 flying north,no doubt to roost at Read's Island at South Ferriby.

 The Skitter was very productive again today,with not 1,but 2 Wood Sandpipers on the pools,with 2 Greenshank still,Green Sandpiper and a juvenile Water Rail.

 As i walked,another Common Sandpiper was seen and 4 gorgeous,gingery plumaged juvenile 'Islandica' Black-tailed Godwits fed on the Humber mud,the first to arrive this autumn.

 A bonus find while wandering about,was a stunning Gold Spot Moth found roosting on a Thistle.

A cracking couple of visits and i look forward to my next outing on my superb little patch.

Ringing Details On The French Colour Ringed Icelandic Black-tailed Godwit.

Gold Spot Moth,East Halton Skitter.

Skitter Road.

Leaf Damage Caused By Horse Chestnut Leaf Miner.

Horse Chestnut Leaf Miner.

Painted Lady,Goxhill Marsh.

Wheatear Along The Sea Wall.

'Eagles' Over The Patch.

Stunning Patch Dawn Over Winter's Pond.