More Local Patching.....East Halton,Sunday 29th August & Saturday 4th September 2021.

 Another couple of great visits to the local patch,again concentrating my efforts between Winter's Pond and the Skitter.

29th August

After dropping Tracey at home,i got to the patch slightly later than normal,quickly got the gear together and i was off.

The weather looked promising,with a north easterly wind and rain overnight and i hoped something good would be waiting for me.

Winter's was fairly quiet with no new surprises and i made it up onto the floodbank to scan the Humber.

No Terns on view today,but a NFY species was seen,a lone Guillemot,splashing down off Kilingholme and drifting out with the tide.

After the look on the Humber,i decided to cover the Mitigation Site in case any migrants had dropped in over night and it wasn't long before i found my first Whinchat's for the year.

I watched as they flitted along the fenceline and then they were gone into the sea of thistles and dock.

Further on and looking on a harvested wheat field,i was treated to some lovely views of a much underrated species,the beautiful Stock Dove.

I watched as they feasted on the spilt grain from the harvesting operations,with a decent count being noted of 32 birds.

As i reached the Skitter,more coverage was given to this very productive area over recent weeks and as i neared the pools,i settled down quietly to watch at least 4 Water Rails,including a really showy adult and 3 juveniles,with 1 gorgeous juvenile Wood Sandpiper still in residence.

I must have spent a good hour enjoying these cracking birds and obtained some really nice video of both species.

Other species seen around the Skitter,included a lovely juvenile Kingfisher which landed briefly on the lock gates while i was videoing a gorgeous family of Swallows,as the adults brought food to the hungry chicks.

Amazing to think these little beauties will be travelling thousands of miles to South Africa before long.

A look for Sea Aster Bees in the vast swathes of flowering Sea Aster,resulted in me finding 1 individual,my first sighting of this relatively rare member of the Colletes group of Bees.

As i wandered back to Winter's,a juvenile Yellow-legged Gull was watched harassing the locals on the Humber mud,my 3rd already this autumn.

Saturday 4th September

The easterly theme continued on today's visit,with more watching from the floodbank at Winter's on a dropping tide this time.

Terns were seen from the off,mainly feeding between the Skitter and Killingholme,with 100 Common Tern and 4 Sandwich Terns seen today,which in turn must have attracted those pirates of the oceans,Arctic Skuas.

Three juveniles were watched today and after several sorties to rob their breakfasts from the Common Terns,all three settled on the Humber and drifted out on the tide.

Also seen from here,was my first multiple sighting of Harbour Porpoise on the Humber,with 3 seen together,including a lovely calf,just brilliant to see.

Also logged were 2 Grey Seal and a single Common Scoter.

Another wander along the mitigation site in another aborted attempt to find a local Wryneck,saw some nice sightings including another juvenile Whinchat,71 Linnet and 65 Goldfinch,but the best sighting went to a gorgeous 3rd calendar year male Marsh Harrier,with quite a dark head and beautiful grey tail,what a cracker!.

The Skitter,as on recent visits was very productive again,with 5 juvenile Greenshank,3 Common Sandpiper and 6 hyperactive juvenile Sanderling all making the most of the superb feeding for waders here.

A search around the pools,revealed a couple of juvenile Water Rails and it looks like the Wood Sand has finally moved on after entertaining for at least 3 weeks.

As today was fairly decent weather,another look for Sea Aster Bees really paid divedends,with me finding a couple of colonies and a getting some decent photos and superb views of these neat little Bees.It was really great to watch them delivering pollen to their nest chambers,with at least 20 found during the search.

As i walked back towards Winter's a lovely Wheatear was watched along the sea wall and 4 Common Sandpiper were on Winter's.

Another couple of brilliant visits to this cracking area.

Phonescoped Image Of The Juvenile Wood Sandpiper,East Halton Skitter,29th August.

Araneus diadematus,East Halton Skitter,29th August.

Record Shot Of The Juvenile Yellow-legged Gull,Near Winter's Pond,29th August.

Phonescoped Juvenile Swallows,East Halton Skitter,29th August.

Sea Aster Bee Nesting Site.

Sea Aster Bee.