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.
After seeing the incredible news that a male Walrus had been found resting in Scarborough Harbour,Tracey and myself made the journey up through the wolds to go and see this magnificent beast.
After a bit of frantic drive up through the Wolds,we met up with Tim and walked the short journey down to the Harbour to the sight of this huge,snoozing animal.
To actually see one up close was really something and he was massive,being probably 3 or 4 times the bulk of a bull Grey Seal.
On a few occasions he raised his head to see what all the fuss was about,with some very happy faces watching this superb animal.
This big male is obviously a long way from home and thought to be the same as seen in France,the Netherlands and Hampshire,experts believe him to be about 4 years old,so still only a youngster as they can live up to 40 years.
As the crowd got bigger we decided to go and have a look from the outer harbour wall,enjoying some nice views of the local wintering Purple Sandpipers and a few Red-throated Divers,Guillemots,a Grey Seal and a couple of Harbour Porpoise.
After saying goodbye to Tim,we made our way home through the Wolds after a fantastic few hours out seeing our first Walrus.
A good forecast and a free day today,saw Tracey and myself heading for Clumber Park and nearby Thoresby Hall.
As always on our visits here,one eye was on the birds and after a good look for Hawfinch around the chapeland unfortunately drawing a blank,we continued our visit around this cracking place.
The best sightings we managed were 13 Goosander,which consisted of 6 stunning drakes and 7 Redheads.They are such smart ducks and are always a pleasure to see.
After enjoying some food in the cafe we drove the short journey over to nearby Thoresby Hall and park.
A wander around the grounds became very fortuitous,when i came across a flock of 15 Hawfinch which were feeding in Hornbeams alongside the River Meden /deer park.
They were feeding in the trees and then dropping onto the ground,but were then flushed by the Fallow Deer and they flew off towards Perlethorpe and we did not see them again.
Thoresby Hall is a very impressive building and also the church of St.John the Evangilist at Perlethorpe.
This is an area we will certainly visit again in the future.
A lovely few hours out and about today,the following are my favourite photos from our day.
The Church Of St.Mary The Virgin,Clumber Park.
Clumber Park lake.
The Weir At Hardwick Village
Thoresby Hall
The Church Of St.John the Evangilist At Perlethorpe.
Winter's Pond,or East Halton Pit as some know it is a series,well three to be exact,of old clay workings which once upon a time was a working tilery which made pantiles for the building industry.Two of the lakes/pits are still open and visible,but the third is grown over now.
Today,it gets occasional visits from Angler's,but mainly people walking along the side of the main lake to the Humber floodbank,with the kind access allowed by the owner Jean Winter.
I have been visiting Winter's on and off since 1986,when i first took up birding,but in the last 6 years this has intensified with me concentrating efforts between here and Goxhill to record bird species and hopefully find a few rarities along the way.
Winter's has a long history of rare birds being found here,with Graham Catley finding Lincolnshire's first Black Kite here on 18.05.79.and the previous year,a male Little Bittern resided here from the 19th until the 29th April.
It wasn't until the 3rd April 2018 when i could stamp my mark on the site with a quality find in the form of a singing male White-spotted Bluethroat,which spent the day typically skulking in the hedgerow and adjacent field which runs paralell to the track down to the Humber and occasionally sang also.
The continued efforts to try and find some more or another rare bird did not happen until 15.01.22. when a Glossy Ibis made a flying visit,literally and then a Cattle Egret spent the day feeding on the grassland on the 14th May along with a singing male Redstart in the adjacent hedgerow.The Ibis and Cattle Egret were both personal find ticks also.
Next was a very brief Pectoral Sandpiper on 11th September,before it flew north towards the Skitter never to be seen again,but frustratingly still no BB rare.
This thankfully changed when i managed to find a very smart juvenile female Blue-winged Teal on the 15th October,which was associating with the local Shoveler flock.
It commuted between the main lake and the smaller rear lake at the back of the site and could be elusive at times,but stayed until 20th November.
This species is of Nearctic in origin breeding across North America and Canada.
Now the rarest bird to have graced this site,occurred on 31st December 2020,when Mike Pickwell visited and found a 'Funny looking wader' with yellow legs feeding on the grassland.
Unfortunately i was out for the day with my wife,but i communicated with Mike on what it could be,Lesser Yellowlegs perhaps,no!,i then sent GPC a message and he went to check it out,imagine my disbelief when he rang me back to say it was the White-tailed Lapwing!.
It had left Blacktoft on Christmas Eve and disappeared until Mike found the bird.
A frantic visit next day,saw the bird thankfully still around and it then spent the next 66 days either on Winter's or on it's favoured pool on East Halton Marshes next door.
It is the 7th record for Britain of this very rare wading bird,which breeds occasionally on the Black Sea coast Of Romania and further east and winters in Pakistan and India.
Apart from rare visitors,the site is an important one for Wildfowl and Waders,with it being particularly important for Icelandic Black-tailed Godwits which use the site to bathe and feed throughout September and October.
The constant effort of reading colour rings which the birds are fitted with on their legs to study their migration,has shown birds visiting from France,Iceland,Holland,Norfolk,Suffolk and Welwick on the Humber,as well as Frampton RSPB on the Wash.
A total of 26 species of wader have been recorded on site to date by myself and 1 of those,Avocet,has also bred.
Visiting Wildfowl species have included Red-crested Pochard,Garganey,Smew,Scaup,Red-breasted Merganser,Common Scoter,White-fronted,Egyptian and Brent Geese.
Other species which have made appearances,have included a wide array of families,such as Hooded Crow,Long-eared Owl,Twite,Black Redstart,Waxwing,Hen Harrier and Black Tern.
I have to date recorded a total of 157 species on and over the site,a decent total.
The site is not only good for birds though,with a fairly good list of Odonata,which includes a breeding colony of Small red-eyed Damselflies and occasional Hairy Dragonfly.
Mammals are also a regular feature of my visits and include daily sighting's of Roe Deer,the occasional Otter and Muntjac,with the much persecuted Fox and Badgers being seen also.
This site really is a special one and i hope it continues for many years to come,with the continued pressures from companies like AbleUK to develop land along the Humber.
The following are a selection of my fave photos and video clips of birds and the stunning sunrises and landscape of the site.
Another bumper compilation with the local patch yearlist now standing at an impressive 167 species,my best ever total.
The following is what i recorded on my 6 visits.
Saturday & Sunday 26th/27th November
Coverage of the whole patch on Saturday taking in Winter's,East Halton Skitter,East Halton Beck,Goxhill Haven and Marsh and back to Winter's,saw some great birds being seen and included a patch year tick in the form of a flock of 19 Russian White-fronted Geese(Albifrons).
The birds were first picked up on call as they flew over me while walking along Chapel Field Road at Goxhill,as they headed towards East Halton Skitter.
I later located them on a Winter Wheat Field adjacent to East Halton Marshes at dusk,enjoying some distant views of the birds.
Other species seen today,included GPC's stunning pale morph Common Buzzard which was watched 'worming' in a field adjacent to Witter Farms at Goxhill.
This bird is a proper stunner and is so confiding and i managed to take some superb video of it.
Other notables included 5 Common Scoter and 134 Goldeneye off Goxhill Haven,a Spotted Redshank also at Goxhill Haven,with another or the same bird at East Halton Skitter with 8 Ruff.
The day finished with a lovely adult Med.Gull coming into Winter's for a bathe before going to roost on the Humber.
An impressive 83 species were seen today,which is pretty good for the time of year!.
More of the same was seen on Sunday,which included the lovely Ruskies still,2 Barn Owl,a Kingfisher,Water Pipit and 3 Ruff at the Skitter,4 Stonechat and the first decent arrival of Winter Thrushes,which included 170 Fieldfare,22 Redwing,11 Song Thrush and 37 Blackbird.
Saturday 3rd December
A quieter visit today,compared to last weekend,but still enjoyable,with the Russian White-front's now tagged onto the local Greylag flock and were seen on Winter's today,a new personal species for the site.
It was great to be able to settle and study this presumed 2 pairs of adults with their 15 juveniles,the juv's are really appealing to me with their subtle ID characters of dark bill base and tip surrounding the orange bill,really smart birds!.
Other species seen included a pair of Ruff and a Barn Owl at the Skitter,2 Barnacle Geese with the Greylag flock still,a lovely Merlin along Marsh Lane,2 female Pochard on Winter's and the lovely sight of 7 Grey Partridge on fields next to East Halton Marshes.
Sunday 11th December
An early start as always today,saw a decent Goose day again on the patch,with the Russian White-fronted Geese still in residence,2 Barnacle Geese still with the Greylag flock,which numbered 450 birds today,26 Canada Geese and 1550 Pink Feet in the area also,the most for a few weeks.
On a Winter's a whopping count of 4 Pochard,saw a drake and 3 females present,a big number for here! and approx. 5000 Starlings coming out of the roost at dawn.
A pair of Stonechat and a Kingfisher were seen along the marshes at East Halton and some decent numbers of Thrushes were logged today and included 220 Fieldfare and 110 Redwing.
Saturday 17th & Sunday 18th December
With our coldest period of winter weather taking place over the last couple of weeks, Saturday's visit to the local patch was a nithering -5 at dawn,this coupled with a freezing South Easterly wind made it pretty cold to be fair.
The first birds i saw today were 2 Barn Owl,one over Winter's and a single hunting distantly at the Skitter.
Winter's was 90% frozen over apart from an area near the car park and all the birds were packed in here.
Amongst the flock,were a pair of Pintail,34 Gadwall,18 Shoveler,17 Wigeon and a female Pochard.
The Geese were around also on Winter's and included the now resident 19 Russian White-fronts,180 Greylag,2 Barnacle Geese with the Greylag flock,with a further 10 birds flying north along the Humber.
Its difficult to ascertain whether the latter are wild or not,as there are so many feral populations in the country,but are nice to see all the same.
After wandering around Winter's,i decided to cover the fields up towards East Halton village in the quest to try and find a patch Waxwing in amongst the flocks of Felfare's and Redwings,but no such luck infortunately.
All was not lost though,as i flushed a cracking Woodcock from its daytime roost,what a belting bird they are when seen in broad daylight,when you can study those stunning plumage details.
Also seen over the same fields,was a cracking Peregrine which caused havoc amongst the local Lapwings and Wood Pigs.
A wander around the Skitter pools and Skitter shore,saw 2 Water and a single Rock Pipit being seen along with 2 Marsh Harrier,27 Skylark and 45 Stock Dove were on the fields here.
Sunday was a repeat of the previous day,with the wind slightly less biting as Saturday.
A total surprise while driving along Marsh lane before dawn,saw a Jack Snipe nearly flying into the car,as it was flushed from the roadside dyke.
I have spent hours trying to find one at the Skitter and along the saltmarsh up towards Goxhill and then i go and flush one in the car!.
A good number of Redwing were logged today and mainly involved birds moving south along the Humber floodbank,with 35 At Winter's,184 along the marshes between Winter's and the Skitter and at least 30 at East Halton Skitter,an amazing sight to see and no doubt a cold weather movement as the birds search for Hawthorn's to plunder......still no Waxwing though unfortunately.
Another effort to find something around the Skitter pools,did the trick today,as a cracking male Snow Bunting was found feeding at the end of the track to the Humber,i tried to get near it for a pic,but it unfortunately had other ideas and duly bogged off along the saltmarsh towards Goxhill.
Well what a great series of visits again,what a cracking patch i've got and long may it continue.
Unusual Cloud Formation,Over East Halton & Killingholme,26th November.
Barnacle Geese Near Winter's Pond,26th November.
A Phonescoped Photo Of The Stunning Pale Morph Common Buzzard,Goxhill,26th November.
The Humber Floodbank,Near Dawson City,26th November.
Ruins Pond,26th November.
Skitter Road,East Halton,27th November.
A Stunning Sky At Sundown On The 27th November.
Sunrise Over The Humber On The 3rd December.
Watching The Humber From The Car,3rd December.
A Distant Record Shot Of Some Of The Local Roe Deer,3rd December.
A Partially Misty Start To The Day,11th December,Winter's Pond.
Fog & Sun Over the Humber,11th December.
Phone-scoped Shot Of The Sun Through The Mist,11th December.
Fog Rolling Back In At East Halton Skitter,11th December.
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