WEBS Weekend & More Local Patching,Saturday 13th & Sunday 14th November 2021.

Two visits to the local patch this weekend provided more great local birding,the following is what i saw over the two days.

Saturday 13th

I arrived just before it was beginning to get light,to a bit of drizzle and slight mist,which wasn't forecast,oh well.

It soon stopped and as i was getting the gear on in the car,first a Woodcock shot across the car park and into the adjacent stubble field,followed by a cracking Short-eared Owl which flew over the car and proceeded to hunt the rough field just to the west of the car park,it then moved onto the mitigation site.

After getting the kit together,a quick cursory scan of the main lake,saw 2 lovely Redhead Goosander in residence along with 49 Tufted Duck,37 Coot and the 2 adult Great-crested Grebes.

More prolonged views of the Goosander showed one of the birds as being a 1st winter drake and the other a female and they showed nicely in the early morning light,the first records here so far this autumn/winter.

Other nice sightings here consisted of the drake Pochard still with his Tuftie buddies,a brief Kingfisher,7 Little Grebe and 3 lovely Pintail which headed onto the Humber.

Along the hedgerows and in the plantation area,it was apparent that there were quite a few Thrushes about,with a decent count of 34 Blackbird,with 4 Song Thrushes and a single Fieldfare also.

A scan along the Humber shore up towards Killingholme,revealed a few waders and ducks feeding,which included 130 Lapwing,34 Redshank and 103 Teal.

A female Common Scoter also flew up the estuary,which was nice to see,my first for a few weekends.

I decided to then cover the mitigation area and walk up to the Skitter along here,hoping for something nice to be found.

The 2 Barnacle Geese were still here with the 'Lag' flock,along with at least 43 Wigeon,42 Teal and 8 Shoveler.

Passerines included a good count of 100 Goldfinch,in flocks of 45,41 and 14,10 more Blackies,3 Mips and a pretty decent count of 40 Skylark spread over the site.

Upon reaching the Skitter,i decided to walk around the pools and up to Dawson City along the Saltmarsh,the usual suspects were encountered and included a good count of Snipe,with 40 being seen,5 Rock pipits,1 Water Pipit,a male Ruff,23 Avocet and a pair of Stonechat.

Further on and up towards Dawson City 77 Teal were seen,another Short-eared Owl was accidentally flushed from its daytime roost and a flock of 500+ Pink-footed Geese headed onto the fields they were feeding on,on the previous weekend.

Another male Stonechat was in one of the reedbeds,as i left the flooded saltmarsh,with another Rock Pipit being seen also.

Dawson City held a few birds which included my first flock of Redwing,with 10 being seen,a single Cetti's Warbler sang and a Little Egret fished on the very small area of open water where the hide used to be.

More of the same was seen on the return leg back to Winter's,apart from a good sized Cod which i was shown by a visiting fisherman and 2 Dark-bellied Brent Geese which did a couple of circuits of the mitigation area and promptly flew off towards the Skitter.

An hour spent around Winter's before i left to pick Mrs R up from work,saw a 1st calendar year Marsh Harrier hunting around the rear pit and it flushed all the wildfowl onto the main lake.

A good look through them didn't reveal any unusual species,but i managed a record count for the site of 93 Gadwall,along with 138 Wigeon and 28 Shoveler

Sunday 14th 

An almost still morning as i arrived today at Winter's and after getting the drink and pack up in the rucksack and plenty of warm clothing on,a quick look on the mitigation area as it started to get light,saw 2 Short-eared Owl hunting distantly,presumably the 2 birds from the previous day.

A minimum count of 1875 Pink-feet flew out of the roost at Paul Holme Strays,considerably more than the day before.

A bit more diversity in the species around the bushes at Winter's included 2 each of Siskin and Lesser Redpoll,along with 38 Blackbird,4 Song Thrush and 5 Redwing.

The Song Thrushes being the oily plumaged continental birds we so often see at this time of year,just stunning!.

The mitigation area held a few nice birds which included the now resident duo of Barnacle Geese,60 Mallard and a singing male Cetti's Warbler in the ditch bordering the site.

Some good coverage of the Skitter saw a superb array of sightings today,which included 2 Dark-bellied Brent's again,which flew up the estuary after touching down at the Skitter briefly,a pair of Stonechat again,2 Water Pipit around the pools and at least 10 Rock Pipit today,including a flock of 6.

An inspired walk along the track passed the gas compound,saw me finding one of the rarest birds I've seen on the patch this year,a Willow Tit.

It was seen associating with a small Tit flock and is the first i have recorded on the patch since 2019.

Also along the same area were a Chiffchaff and 3 Jay squawked in the nearby wood along the beck.

Back to the Skitter and watching the saltmarsh i picked up a stunning female Hen Harrier hunting and she gave some cracking views before flying along the shore towards Dawson City,what a great day i was having!.

More sightings around the Skitter before heading back towards Winter's,included 32 Avocet,one of which was colour-ringed with the combination of Lime over a silver ring on the left leg and green over yellow on the right leg and i'm still awaiting details on the bird.

Also on the Humber here,was a flock of 4 Goldeneye(1 drake and 3 female's) and 250 Teal along the shore up towards Goxhill and 197 Dunlin.

A watch for 30 minutes or so from the floodbank at Winter's saw 7 Common Scoter flying up the estuary,with the flock comprising of 2 gorgeous drakes and 5 females and 3 Goldeneye were on Winter's,an adult drake,1st winter drake and a female.

The last hour or so of light before i left for home,saw a superb raptor and Owl show on the mitigation area which included 2 Short-eared Owl,2 Common Buzzard,2 Kestrel,a male and female Sparrowhawk,male and juvenile Marsh Harrier and a cracking Merlin,the latter watched mobbing one of the Short-eared Owls and also just for good measure a Green Sandpiper dropped in on one of the pools...what a superb end to the day and another brilliant couple of visits to my superb patch.

Fiery Morning Sky On The 14th.

Lapwing In The Early Morning Light On The 14th.

Grimsby Dock Tower Taken From Near Winter's Pond On The 14th.

Autumnal Colours On This Field Maple At East Halton Skitter On The 14th.

Phonescoped Drake Teal,East Halton,14th.

Phonescoped Short-eared Owl In Almost Darkness On The 14th.

Local Patching Update,Sunday 31st October & Sunday 7th November 2021.

A couple of visits to the local patch at East Halton/Goxhill,with the 31st October being particularly productive with me adding 5 year ticks to the patch year list,putting me on a respectable 154,pretty decent considering the autumn hasn't been the best on record.

The following is what i recorded over the 2 visits:

31st October

A very wet forecast for today from 9ish onwards until 1pm,as we were battered by a gale force south easterly and heavy rain,had the desired affect,pushing some seabirds up the Estuary.

To start i met up with Jon at Winter's and we made our way down to the floodbank while it was still getting light,to count the Pink-feet coming out of the roost at Paul Holme Strays as part of the Icelandic Goose Survey.

A total of 994 birds came out,a fairly low count compared to previous years,i wonder where the rest of the bird are this year?.

All was not lost though as a couple of year ticks were added as we watched,3 Dark-bellied Brent Geese which flew north up the estuary and a cracking juvenile male Hen Harrier which flew out of the mitigation area and across to Yorkshire.The latter was a nice surprise and continued the trend of birds passing through the patch in October/November.

A few bits on Winter's included a lovely drake Goldeneye and 3 Pintail,with the pair of adult Great-crested Grebe's still here and now fully moulted into their winter plumage and later in the day,some fantastic views of Icelandic Black-tailed Godwits feeding on the grassland near the car park.

As the rain arrived,i decided to go and park on the Humber bank at the Skitter and watch the estuary on the rising tide.This proved very fruitful with several good birds.

Seabirds kept coming and going in the banks of heavy rain and included new birds for the patch year in the form of a single Bonxie and Red-throated Diver,with other species including a Juvenile Arctic Skua,6 juvenile Gannets,Guillemot and an adult Kittiwake.

While sat in the car a flock of waders came into view and a quick scan through them revealed a cracking juvenile Curlew Sandpiper,a species i thought i had missed on the patch this year.I even managed to get some nice video of the bird as well.

Eventually the rain stopped and i drove back up to Winter's to meet Jon again,on the way seeing a Badger trundling along the road near the Beck,a great daytime sighting!

From Winter's we walked up to the Skitter and back,just in case the Curlew Sand was still around,but it had moved on.The wind had also swung around to the south west,now and the seabirds had dried up,as so often happens here.

A scan of the mitigation site last thing,had me finding a cracking female/imm. Merlin and a male Stonechat,a cracking end to a brilliant days birding on the patch.

7th November

A much more difficult visit today meeting up with Jon in strong westerly,then south westerly winds making it hard going at times.

It was still an enjoyable day,with some effort put in,i still managed to pull out a few decent birds.

The best of which were 4 Brambling found with a mixed Finch flock down Goxhill Marsh,one of the birds being an adult male and was an absolute cracker!.

Nearby was a good sized flock of 720 Pink-footed Geese feeding on a Winter Wheat field,giving some lovely scope views and i thought to myself they wont be on here long when the farmer sees them.

Goxhill Haven and Marsh held a few waders on the dropping tide,which included 500 Lapwing,16 Grey Plover and smaller numbers of Dunlin,Ringed Plover,Turnstone,Bar & Black-tailed Godwits.

The saltmarsh near Dawson City had flooded and was alive with Black-headed Gulls,with a minimum of 720 in the area along with 37 Geebs.

A single male Ruff was seen here also,with a further 2 seen flying north at the Skitter.

Small numbers of wildfowl on Winter's still held the 2 adult Great-crested Grebe,8 Little Grebe,a drake Pochard,a pair of Goldeneye and 37 Coot.

Highlights from the mitigation area today included 2 un-ringed Barnacle Geese,45 each of Stock Dove and Goldfinch,54 Curlew and 5 Marsh Harrier were watched going to roost near to Goxhill Haven.

Another couple of enjoyable visits to the patch.

Sunrise On The 7th.

The Flooded Saltmarsh On The 7th,Near To Dawson City.

Ruins Pond,7th.

Storm Clouds On The 31st October.

Rainbow Over The Humber,31st October.

Flamborough Flycatcher & Stunning Chat......Saturday 6th November 2021.

 After hearing the incredible news that another Taiga Flycatcher had been discovered at Flamborough,only 19 days after the last bird at the Lighthouse Headland,my priority was to see this bird and finally add it to my Yorkshire list.

After finishing my nightshift at midnight on Friday night,i travelled home and got a few hours sleep.

I woke up at 5,got the car loaded up and off i set to Flamborough full of anticipation that the Flycatcher was still going to be present,as it had been seen until dusk Friday evening.

There was also the prospect of seeing my 5th Red-flanked Bluetail as well at South Landing,so a great double was on offer.

On arrival at Flamborough,there were quite a few people present and we all made our way to where the bird had been seen.

I spent a good while looking along with Lee Johnson and after an hour and a half it wasn't looking good and we all split up to look around,after re-grouping Lee spotted the Bluetail near the picnic tables,so all was not lost and i watched my 5th Bluetail as it flitted about around the bushes and scrub trying it's best to evade the attentions of one of the local Robins.

After enjoying some views,i decided to do a circuit of South Landing and after getting to the top of the steps at the eastern end,i again checked for any bird news and the Taiga Fly had been refound!.

I made my way around to the whale bridge area to find the crowd assembled and so ensued the next 4 hours or so of watching the Flycatcher mostly above our heads as it caught several Bluebottles,but i did manage to get some decent phonescoped footage of it as it appeared at eye-level for about ten minutes.

After getting my fill of this cracking little Flycatcher,i decided to try and get some more views of the stunning Bluetail.

Talk about active,it never kept still,but the weather was probably playing a part in that with the strong wind and number of people present,but it gave some cracking views in the binos at relatively close range at times,what a beautiful bird these gorgeous Chats are.

With patience though,both birds gave themselves up on today's visit and made for a very enjoyable twitch and nice to see so many people connecting including several good friends.

The Flycatcher constitutes the 6th record for Britain of this far eastern species,but more incredibly,the 2nd of the year at Flamborough,proving this really is a special place for this species,after the first for Britain was also found here in April 2003.

Because i did not get any video or photos of today's Bluetail,i have attached a video clip i took of the species last year at Kilnsea,near Spurn.

After a great morning/early afternoon,i travelled home contented at seeing two more cracking birds in Yorkshire.

South Landing Scenery.