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.
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| The Flooded Saltmarsh On The 7th,Near To Dawson City. |
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| Ruins Pond,7th. |
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| Storm Clouds On The 31st October. |
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| Rainbow Over The Humber,31st October. |
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