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.