Welcome To My Blog,This Will Be Mainly Used As A Diary For My Local Birding Patch At East Halton/Goxhill On The Banks Of The Humber Estuary,With Occasional Twitching And Visits Elsewhere Including Photos From Mine & Tracey's Walks Around Our Beautiful Countryside.
As i was on nights this coming week,i decided to drive over to the Idle Valley just over the border into Notts to pay the juvenile Baird's Sandpiper a visit.
After driving around grid locked traffic on the M180,i eventually made it over to my destination,Slayne's lane,part of the Idle Valley Washlands area.
A few cars were present and after seeing the smiling face of rarity finder extroadinaireLance Degnan and he said the bird was still present.
I parked up and got the scope set up and saw the bird straight away,unfortunately it was asleep.....damn it,but the scalloped upperparts were still a giveaway,even at long range
A nice chat with Notts birder Nick Crouch,while the Baird's eventually woke up ensued,in between some lovely views of the local Great-white Egrets,with 8 on show,being the most I've ever seen together.
Back to the star wader,after being flushed along with all the other waders present after an unseen raptor?,it flew back in with it's Dunlin buddies and actually fed for a while.
The more horizontal feeding stance and longer wings being apparent and the more distinct head pattern standing out,thank god for 60x Zoom Swaro scopes.
It's amazing to think that this bird has hatched somewhere on the Canadian tundra a few months ago and is now off course thousands of miles from where it should be.
After getting my fill of views of this,my 3rd Baird's Sandpiper,with my last being at Hatfield Moor on the 10th September 2016 and my first being the bird at Kirkby Pits In Lincolnshire on the 22nd September 2005,i travelled home to get some rest before the dreaded nightshift.
As i didn't get any photos or video of this bird,due to distance and weather conditions,i have included a few of the Hatfield bird i took in September 2016.
After getting home from an excellent days birding on the local patch,on the evening of the 16th, i saw on Birdguides that a Taiga Flycatcher had been re-identified from being a Red-breasted Flycatcher earlier in the day at Flamborough and then a similar scenario at Spurn,Were a Yellow-browed Warbler had been re-identified as a Two-barred Warbler!!!.
The decision was made to meet Tim next morning at Spurn for first light,as the TBGW was a lifer for me and then if the Taiga is still at Flam twitch that in the afternoon.
Overnight,it had rained a little,but the moon was peeping through the clouds as i set off for Spurn....i prayed it hadn't been clear skies there.
I parked up on arrival at the Canal and as it was still dark,i dozed in the car hoping i would be adding this visitor from the far east to my life list.
Another car parked up behind me and it was TC.
As it became light slowly,but surely,it was don the waterproof jacket and join the small crowd of locals near the bunkers at the entrance to the canal bushes.
We waited in anticipation and suddenly a small warbler flew over the top of us and i commented that it looked interesting,a minute or so later and there it was,my first Two-barred Warbler.
The immediate thing that struck me on first views,was how white and flaring the supercilium was and the second wing bar just stuck out like a sore thumb as well.
The bird soon disappeared again,but was on show again shortly afterwards,sometimes at point blank range allowing more scrutiny of the salient features..I just couldn't get over how striking a bird it was with the white appearance of the super and wing bars standing out more,due to the lesser amount of any black in the wing and head pattern when compared to the other Asian Leaf Warblers i have seen,the bill also looked quite sturdy also,what a belter of a bird!.
Another positive from watching the bird was hearing it give it's disyllabic call on at least 3 occasions,it sounded like 'Tsi-li' to me,being a totally different sound to the Green Warbler from Buckton or the many Greenish warblers i have heard call over the years,what an absolute privilege to see and hear a bird like this.
This is the 2nd record for Yorkshire of this far eastern species after a bird at Filey found by Craig Thomas,which stayed from 16th - 18th October 2006 and is the 10th record for Britain.
It is also my 6th new bird of the year after the Franklin's Gull at St.Aiden's RSPB,Elegant Tern At Cemlyn Bay,Green Warbler at Buckton,White-tailed Lapwing at Blacktoft Sands RSPB and the Long-toed Stint at St.Aidens RSPB,couple that with seeing the Black-browed Albatross at Bempton,3 times this year,a flock of 9 Bee Eater and an adult Lesser-grey Shrike,.....what a year in Yorkshire so far and for the RSPB reserves!
After enjoying the eastern cracker and learning the Taiga Flycatcher at Flamborough had departed overnight,Tim and myself had a walk around seeing a few nice birds which included my first Snow and Lapland Buntings of the autumn/winter and also my first Brent Geese of the same period.
The following photos are taken by Miles Cluff and he has very kindly let me use some of them for my blog.
1st Winter Two-barred Warbler - Photo Courtesy Of Miles Cluff.
1st Winter Two-barred Warbler - Photo Courtesy Of Miles Cluff.
1st Winter Two-barred Warbler - Photo Courtesy Of Miles Cluff
A couple of decent visits to the local patch along the banks of the Humber at East halton/Goxhill,with a few more additions to the patch yearlist putting me on 149 species with 2 and a bit months to go.
Saturday 16th
A good visit today starting as usual at Winter's Pond first thing,with some Mammalian sightings to start off with,2 Foxes,1 on Winter's itself and another hunting Voles in the stubble field near the car park entrance.
Two Roe Deer were also seen at the entrance to the Mitigation site,alway's great to see these.
It was quiet on the ponds again first thing,no doubt due to the continued shooting activities by a couple of idiots out of the village,but still the 2 Great-crested Grebe were still present and also a female Goldeneye.
I then made it up onto the floodbank and began to scan the Humber,quickly seeing 8 adult Whooper Swan on the mud towards the old Seaplane Jetty,as i slowly walked towards them,they obviously didn't like the strange person walking toward them and they were off and flew towards Killinghome haven.
Pink-footed Geese were heading in all directions and don't really seem to have settled into any pattern yet regarding feeding flocks.It doesn't help when they are being shot at either,i wish these arseholes would just leave them alone!.
As i walked back to Jean's cottage,2 Siskin flew over north,a new species for the patch year list.
I then walked along the mitigation area,seeing a lovely adult female Marsh Harrier hunting,followed by a lone male Stonechat and more Pink flocks.
Some good coverage of the Skitter area didn't really produce anything out of the ordinary,but i flushed an adult Water Rail as i walked and there was also15 Snipe and 5 Rock Pipits around the pools/haven area.
The resident pair of Mute Swans from the Beck,were here today,with their now fledged 9 cygnets and also 22 Avocet were feeding out on the estuary,my first decent sized flock for some time.
Now the gas pipeline has been completed,i decided to walk down past there and cover the fields/pig farm area as it looks really good for Buntings and Finches.
My hunch came true as i walked this area,with 2 Corn Bunting being seen with a flock of 14 Yellowhammers,the latter a rare bird on the patch.Also in the area were 55 Linnet,5 Tree Sparrow and a lone Lesser Redpoll.
The rest of East Marsh Road was a more mundane affair,but the lovely sight and sound of 100+ Rooks at the rookery,was great to see.
A flock of 173 Pinks were feeding in a stubble field near to Goxhill Haven,as i approached and a cracking count of 154 Turnstone along the shore,was my largest here for a long time.
The Sunflower field between the Haven and Dawson City was really productive last winter and again it is shaping up to be productive with 45 Greenfinch and 78 Linnet being seen.Hopefully it will have the desired affect and attract something rarer like a Little Bunting.
The area between Dawson and the Skitter,saw a few nice birds being logged and this included a pair of flycatching Stonechats.a Jay in the Long Wood and in the Ruins Pond area a flock of 14 'Pinging' Bearded Tit and my first Water Pipit of the autumn/winter passed overhead.
The latter flew into a field which slurry has been pumped onto at the rear of the pig farm and was also attracting a flock of 30 Black-tailed Godwit and 3 Ruff.
Saturday 23rd
A good visit again,in,unfortunately south or south westerly winds,produced a bit of vis-mig as on my last visit,with today providing me with another year tick,this time in the form of a Brambling.
The bird was in the little copse near the car park at dawn,with those distinct 'Eeep' calls,before it promptly flew north west towards The Grange.
These lovely Scandinavian breeding Finches are almost annual here and are a joy to see and hear.
Also here was an unbelievable count of 37 Coot,this might not sound exciting to some,but the previous visit had only yielded 4 birds and just goes to show how these birds migrate,this being a record count for the patch.
Also on the ponds were the 2 resident Cetti's Warblers blasting away that distinctive song,2 Pintail,198 Mallard,46 Gadwall and flocks of Pink-footed Geese including 320,430 and 267 birds all heading south west.
A scan from the floodbank,saw a single eclipse drake Goldeneye on the Humber,a single Rock Pipit over north and a flock of 14 Whooper Swans heading south distantly and also a Grey Seal provided some welcome interest away from the birds.
A walk along the Mit site saw nothing out of the ordinary being seen,but 33 Skylark,87 Goldfinch and 14 Reed Bunting provided a bit of interest.
As i didn't want to walk too far today,i just wandered up to the Skitter and spent a good while covering the area.This proved productive,with 2 lovely Twite flushed to start with from the shoreline,they then settled on the track down to the Humber from the floodbank and i managed to take some shaky video in the blustery wind of these gorgeous little Moorland Finches.I watched them from distance in the scope and then all of a sudden they were off and flew towards Goxhill Marsh,dropping back in about 500 metres away.
The Twite were my 149th species on the patch this year,not a bad total considering autumn migration hasn't been the best so far.
Other nicities included a single Water Pipit around the pools and a lovely Redhead Red-breasted Merganser which flew towards Killingholme along the tide edge and also another flock of Whooper Swans,with 13 this time heading in the same direction as the Merg.
A walk along Skitter Road/Marsh Lane saw little of interest being noted apart from a couple of roving Jay's and a flock of at least 350 Wood Pigeon.
A lovely couple of visits to the patch,just great to get out and about on my little part of Lincolnshire.
A visit to Bolton Abbey & Strid Woods along with Tracey and Clara,saw us having a lovely day out in some cracking weather.
In the morning after arriving,we got our boots on rucksacks together and walked through the woods and up to Bardon Tower and then back up to Cavendish Pavillion.
On today's visit we timed the visit just right as the weather was perfect and we spent much of our walk taking photos of the beautiful scenery.
The woodland is much quieter than when we visit in the spring,as all the lovely songsters such as Pied Flycatchers and Redstarts have long gone on their long migrations south,but we still managed to see Dipper,Grey Wagtail,4 Red Kite and 7 Common Buzzard,as well as the lovely Nuthatches & Coal Tits but the most numerous bird was Mandarin Duck with a huge count of 59 birds.
This latter count is the most Mandarins i have seen anywhere in the country,but i do have a soft spot for them with the males colourful plumage and the females are also really smart.
An interesting non-bird sighting was the remains of a couple of the invasive Signal Crayfish which an Otter had obviously caught and eaten on the river bank near Barden Aquaduct.
After completing the circular,we then walked up to Bolton Priory and the stepping stones for lunch,what a stunning area this is and is,in my opinion,worth every penny of the ten pounds entry fee.
On the way home we encountered even more Red Kites with 4 seen as we travelled through Harrogate and another 13 birds seen in a mile stretch near and around Wetherby services,the most i have seen for some time.
The following are my favourite photos from this lovely day out.
The Beautiful River Wharfe,At Cavendish Pavillion At The Start Of Our Walk.
A Lovely View Taken From The Barden Aquaduct.
Barden Aquaduct.
An Otter's Supper,The Remains Of A Signal Crayfish.
Just Beautiful Views From So Many Places Along The River.
The Famous Strid.
Stunning Autumnal Scenery At Every Turn.
Back To The Start Of The Walk.
The Stepping Stones With The Ruins Of Bolton Priory In The Background.
The previous evening a possible Temminck's Stint quickly turned into a Least Sandpiper at St.Aidens RSPB near Leeds,which i though to myself i would like to see,but wanted to go to the local patch as well.....they'll be another i tried to kid myself..I then checked my phone again later at work and F... the Least Sandpiper had been re-identified as Britain's 3rd Long-toed Stint,this was serious!.
I got up next morning,went to the local patch and waited on news of the Stint and bingo,it was still there,so it was abandoned ship and head up the M62 towards Leeds.
As i had already been to St.Aidens to twitch the adult Franklin's Gull earlier in the year,i knew exactly where to park etc. and the bird was almost in the same area i had seen the Gull,so it was going to be a frantic walk.
On arrival i quickly got the gear together and i was off,a few happy faces and the welcome words 'It's still here',made me relax a little.
I eventually got to where people were viewing the bird,but it was pretty distant to be fair,but the jizz of the bird could be appreciated as it fed along with a small flock of Dunlin.
From distance it gave the impression of a diminutive Pec Sand or Sharp-tailed Sandpiper and then the whole flock flew up,it flew around a few times with the Dunlin and then broke away following a flock of Lapwing and landed on Astley Lake.
I made my way around to Astley,but the viewing conditions were not great,with you having to find gaps in the reeds,to view through as the bird fed on a small island in amongst the Lapwing flock.
Here the bird was closer,but still not as close as i would have liked,i then settled down to study this mega rare bird.
For most of the time i watched it,it had a hunched posture as it constantly pecked at food on the surface of the mud,with occasional neck stretches when it was spooked,it was at these times it looked quite long necked.It's legs were yellowish and had really long tibia,which probably explained the unusual,hunched feeding action.
Overall the bird was quite dark,with the dark centred scapulars,dark,tightly streaked cap with super over the eye and a trace of a split supercilium also,short dark bill,mucky looking breast band,which just looked like a block of grey feathering,rather than streaking as on Pec.
The Primaries were completely cloaked by the long tertials,giving a short winged impression to me and in some poses the bird looked as if it's head was too small for its body.
I spent a good two and a half hours watching the bird,but i had,had enough of the crowd by this time and i decided to call it a day and headed back to the car and home.
Other highlights seen while on site included a lovely juvenile Bittern,a party of 4 juvenile Spoonbills giving a couple of nice flypasts and a juvenile Goosander.
This constitutes my first sighting of the species and also the 3rd record for Britain and the first since a bird at Saltholme Pool in Cleveland in September 1982.
The bird breeds in sparsely vegetated marshes in the subarctic regions of far eastern Siberia and winters in India to South East Asia,Taiwan and Australia.
A couple of visits to the local patch,with the 2nd being pretty good it has to be said.The following is what i saw over the two visits.
Saturday 2nd
An early start saw me arriving at Winter's for first light,getting the gear together for the day and heading along to the Humber bank,as the weather was looking promising for some seabirds on the Estuary.
On the walk to the bank,Winter's was fairly quiet to start,with the best sighting's going to an eclipse drake Pochard,a single Pintail,a few skeins of Pinks overhead and a hunting female Sparrowhawk.
A good scan from the floodbank,saw the best highlights being a Peregrine that crossed from Lincolnshire into Yorkshire and 2 Marsh Harriers,a female and juvenile passing over in the opposite direction,but little else was seen,so i retraced my footsteps back to the car.
While stood here,i noticed a Bittern directly across from the car along the edge of the small reedbed in the south west corner of the lake and it showed brilliantly,out in the open.While i was stood watching this,i turned around to see 9 adult Whooper Swans dropping in onto the lake....a nice flurry of activity i thought to myself!.
The Whoopers had a quick feed and bathe and they started trumpeting to each other and they were off again,heading south west,a beautiful sight indeed.
As the forecast was for rain from lunchtime onwards,i decided to head to the Skitter,along the mitigation site.
There was more water on here than my last visit and a few ducks as well,which included 42 Wigeon,52 Mallard and 48 Teal.
The Skitter was covered pretty well as usual,as this can be such a rewarding area,it was here that i saw the best bird of the day....a juvenile Long-tailed Skua!.
The Skua was picked up at half distance across the Estuary and gave some decent views being on show for at least 20 minutes.It was a dark juvenile and i watched as it flew along having a half hearted chase after a Black-headed Gull,which in turn chased it,typical LTS behaviour i thought.They just dont look as powerfull as their agressive cousins the Arctics,with a much more buoyant small Gull like flight.
After the star bird,a few Gannets were seen heading towards Saltend and i thought to myself,i will head back to the car and take shelter before the rain hits.On the way a lovely male Stonechat was seen flycatching along the edge of the Haven,my first of the autumn period.
I got back to the car,packed the gear away and drove around to the Skitter and got in position along the floodbank and just about on cue the rain arrived.
Over the next 3 hours this was my watchpoint and it was pretty productive to be fair with hightlights including 31 Gannets north and 25 south,3 Med.Gulls(2 Adults and a first winter),a single Guillemot and a Red-breasted Merganser,all these birds pushing up the estuary to escape the rough weather conditions at sea.
Before i left for home,i also saw a single Rock Pipit(The first of the autumn/winter period) and the lovely juvenile Whimbrel was still here also.
Saturday 9th October
Today another early visit to carry out my WEBS count was unfortunately cut short after i had completed it,due to a certain wader that had been found at St.Aidens RSPB near Leeds.
I still managed to see a Pintail,male Ruff and 3 Chiffchaff around Winter's,but amazingly none of the 5 Yellow-browed Warblers seen by an observer the day before,i want some of what he is smoking!!!!.
Another couple of visits to my little part of the Humber and i look forward to my next visit.
