Troutsdale,Hackness & Wykeham Forest,Friday 11th February 2022.

After having the previous week off and already visiting the local patch 3 times,i decided to give the new motor a run out  and headed for beautiful Troutsdale,stopping briefly at Hackness Lake before travelling on up into the forest at Wykeham.

 After a nice drive over through the sleepy Yorkshire Wolds,i headed for a pretty frosty and cold Hilla Green which is situated in the lovely Troutsdale Valley(The valley below Wykeham Forest Raptor Viewpoint).

After getting several layers on and the birding kit together i began to explore,with the first bird i clapped eyes on being target number one for the day,Dipper.

The bird was only seen briefly and as i know these birds are sensitive to disturbance here,i didn't pursue it any further,but it was great to see my first for the year.

I then walked up the road past the small ox-bow lake,seeing another target for the day,Mandarin Duck.

Birds are not easy to see on here and they can be jumpy,but i did manage to count at least 18 birds the most i have seen at this site.

Also on here were at least 8 Teal.

I gave the surrounding woodland a good scan,but it was far too cold and early for any raptor action,but passerines kept the interest going with some lovely views of a pair of Marsh Tit and as i watched a lovely Mistle Thrush serenaded me as i passed by.

The sun was just breaking now over the top of the forest,what a fantastic morning to be out i thought to myself,i'm so lucky to be able to get out to places like this and it still is one of my favourite areas in North Yorkshire.

After a good hour or so,i walked back towards Hilla and had a wander along the bubbling River Derwent seeing a lovely Roe Deer having it's morning drink in the river,before it bolted after seeing me,giving that harsh,dog like bark,as it scolded me for disturbing him!.

Obviously the latter isn't true,this alarm call is just a warning to the other Deer in the area there is a threat,what beautiful animals they are.

After enjoying my wander around Hilla and Troutsdale i drove the short journey over to Hackness lake.

On arrival,a scan of the lake revealed at least 12 more Mandarins and also 5 Little Grebe,but not much else,so i got back in the car and headed up to the forest.

After driving up through North Moor and up to the viewpoint car park,i couldn't believe how many cars were here,the most I've seen in a long time.

As i got the gear together,a couple of Crossbills chipped by,a nice start to proceedings here,but expected really.

I quickly got settled in at the viewpoint bumping into fellow birder and twitter pal,Rob Robertson on a trip down from County Durham and also Leeds birder Bob Eckersley.

It wasn't long before we were watching our first Gos.as patrolling female flew along the woodland on the opposite side of the valley before she perched up in full view.

A bit distant in the haze,but i did manage to take some phonescoped video of her for posterity,filming her in flight was another matter,but i did manage to get some stuff of her,slowing the clip down so it was in slow motion for full affect,showing the flight of this big female.

We did get more views of her and her mate,plus at least one other pair and another single bird,but none were displaying due to the still conditions.It was still a privilege to see these magnificent birds of prey in this fantastic setting,just brilliant!.

Other birds seen from our viewpoint included a handfull of Crossbills,at least 7 Common Buzzards.

Before long it was time to travel home,but i had really enjoyed my visit to this stunning area of the home county and i will be back again soon,as i have promised Mrs R we will have a walk along Troutsdale.

Stunning Troutsdale.

The New Twitchmobile.

More Local Patching - 8th & 9th February 2022.

 A couple of visits to the local patch mid-week for a change saw 5 more species being added to the local patch year list,which now stands at 101 species.

Tuesday 8th

I started the visit today,in usual fashion,by parking at Winter's Pond and got my pack up and kit together for my day on the patch.

A cursory scan of the main lake,saw nothing too exciting to start with,so i wandered up to see if you know who was on it's favourite pool and sure enough it was,huddled out of the breeze behind a clump of sedges,it's usual habits when it is windy.

Also on view from my position was a gorgeous Barn Owl hunting along the reedy dyke which runs parallell to the mitigation area.A couple of interactions with the regular female Kestrel,saw it become more and more distant towards the Skitter,what a lovely start to the day.

I wandered back towards Winter's and just as i reached the small copse near to the car park,i could have sworn i heard a snippet of a Treecreeper calling.A quick burst of Treecreeper song from my sound library on the phone had the desired affect,as a Treecreeper showed nicely before disappearing further into the copse.

This is the first Treecreeper i have seen for the patch this year and the second record in consecutive years on here.

Some decent numbers of birds were now present on the main lake and included the adult Great-crested Grebe which is almost in full summer plumage now,56 Tufted Duck,67 Wigeon,female Goldeneye,82 Mallard and the 5 Pochard still.

I then decided to walk up towards the Skitter along the floodbank,with some pretty good numbers of birds taking advantage of the excellent feeding on the mitigation area.

Highlights and numbers of species included 118 Wigeon,87 Curlew,24 Islandica Black-tailed Godwit(A record count for the site),18 Shoveler,17 Redshank,550+ Starling,the Drake Pintail still,763 Lapwing and a singing male Cetti's Warbler.

The latter was singing in the borrow pit bordering the mitigation area,as you walk towards the Skitter.

The Skitter was quite productive today,despite it being high tide,with a small roost of waders on the side of the Haven.A quick scan through them revealed 4 Ruff with the Redshank,another welcome addition to the year list and great to see.

Other species included 2 Marsh Harrier hunting the pools,an adult female and a 2nd calendar year male,at least 2 Bearded Tit in the reedbeds and 2 Water Pipit together as i walked towards Ruins Pond.

The latter were flushed from a flooded pool along the side of the floodbank,a favourite with the species over the years.

As i headed towards Firecrest corner and passed by Ruins Pond,a sure sign of spring was a single Coot and Little Grebe on the pond and overhead the welcome sound of singing Skylarks was fantastic to hear,it really did feel like spring today!.

The very welcome 'Kleep' call of an Oystercatcher was heard next,as a single bird flew south along the Humber towards the Skitter,patch tick number 3 for the day.

The traditional Pink pasture had a decent flock on it today and i stopped to count them,with a respectable 1510 birds being present and i thought to myself it won't be long before these beauties are heading back to Iceland.

A look on the Humber from near to Dawson City saw 66 Goldeneye,50 Teal and 30 Wigeon drifting along on the outgoing tide.

While scanning,unbelievably,a Peacock Butterfly bombed past me and onto the reserve and shortly afterwards i saw a Buff-tailed Bumble Bee and i wondered what these poor insects are going to find to feed on at this time of year.

The only other notable sighting here was a Barn Owl which was unfortunately flushed from it's day time roosting site,a welcome sighting all the same.

Wednesday 9th

Today i decided to cover an area of the local patch i don't really get to visit that often,but one i have decided to try and cover more this year and it proved to be fairly productive with regards to common species,with some nice records.

I began by parking near to Goxhill Tilery,i then got all the gear together and headed along Syke's Lane,then up to Ferry Road,all the way along Ferry Road to Goxhill Haven,back along the floodbank to the Tilery and the car.

Sighting's mainly consisted of commoner species as mentioned before,but i did manage to find one species which was new for the patch year,a Chiffchaff.

It was observed around bushes which border the small ponds at the old boatyard between Goxhill Haven and the Tilery and gave some cracking views,calling quite often,a lovely sighting for the time of the year and quite unexpected.

Other niceities included more signs of spring,with a singing male Mistle Thrush showing really nicely,allowing me to obtain some nice video of him.

Before heading for home,i dropped in at Winter's to see the White-tailed Lapwing still in residence on it's favourite pool and also a welcome addition to the patch year list on the main lake at Winter's in the form of a pair of Goosander.

The Goosander pair put on a great show,as they preened and dozed on the grassland near the car park,just lovely to see and a great end to the day.

A couple of productive visits,with the exotic Peewit still in residence and great to see.

A Distant Storm Passing Over Hull Thankfully,Taken From The Floodbank Beside The Mitigation Site At East Halton,8th.

East Halton Marshes,9th.

Clumber Park & Rufford Abbey,Sunday 6th February 2022.

A trip out today with Mrs R and Clara,visiting these two lovely places saw us having a great day out despite the strong wind and a couple of showers.

In the morning we walked around the main lake in the usual circular fashion Tracey and myself do,seeing plenty of wildfowl on the lake which included 30 Goosander,the most i have seen here.

The best bird sighting though,went to Hawfinch,with at least 2 birds being seen around the Chapel and Courtyard areas,what cracking bird these are!.

After some well earned lunch,we visited Rufford Abbey and Country Park in the afternoon,which again was a pleasant visit,but not as productive bird wise as Clumber,but we did see 12 more Goosander.

The following are my favourite photos from our day.

Snow Drops.

Record Shot Of The Hawfinch Near The Courtyard.

Local Patching Update.....23rd,29th & 30th January 2022.

Another local patching update here,including 3 visits to East Halton & Goxhill,with some nice sightings and the wintering White-tailed Lapwing still in residence,the following is what i saw over the three visits.

Sunday 23rd January

An early start today saw me adding Little Owl to the year list before dawn,as a single bird was heard calling near to East Halton Grange,a good start to the day i thought.

As it was WEBS day, i counted Winter's first,covering the small pit at the back of the main lake first,then moving onto the main lake.

Highlights here today consisted of 61 Tufted Duck,29 Coot,the single adult Great-crested Grebe still,a singing male Cetti's Warbler and a female Goldeneye.

Overhead a female/2nd calendar year female Marsh Harrier put in an appearance,before moving onto the mitigation area.

A quick look along the shore up to North Killingholme Haven revealed a decent sized flock of 550 Lapwing.

The mitigation area was my next destination and some decent numbers of birds were present,albeit down on previous weeks.

The obvious highlight,was the White-tailed Lapwing seen on it's favoured pool,not many WEBS counts in the country can boast a White-tailed Lapwing on it!.

Other sightings on here consisted of 12 Gadwall,77 Wigeon,42 Curlew,2 little Egret and 2 Drake Pintail which flew in for a few minutes before flying off onto the Humber,the 2nd sighting of the species for myself on here this year.

The Skitter was next and some decent variety seen which included 179 Wigeon,127 Goldeneye,150 Dunlin,Common Buzzard,93 Curlew and singles of both Rock and Water Pipits.

A pair of Stonechat were also seen in their usual haunt along the side of the haven.

As i reached the floodbank,the welcome sight of a Peregrine flying in and settling on the fields,became year tick number 2 for the day and a look a through the scope revealed the bird to be a male.

Also on the inland fields were a flock of 44 Stock Dove,with 23 Jackdaw,adult Grey Heron and another Little Egret being added to the notes.

Goxhill Marsh held the usual suspects with a nice flock of 1336 Pink-footed Geese being seen in their usual pastures near to Dawson City,also in the area were 1400 Lapwing,Common Buzzard and 22 Pied Wagtails on the wet field behind the pig farm.

The Dawson City area was the next port of call,with the reserve holding hardly anything apart from a passing female Marsh Harrier,some serious management work is needed on this reserve,it is a poor shadow of what it used to be unfortunately.

On the Humber off here,were a single Great-crested Grebe sailing along on the out going tide,bit of an unusual record for the time of year and 10 Bar-tailed Godwit feeding on the newly exposed mud,became year tick number 3 for the day.

Saturday 29th January

Today i covered the whole patch walking up to Goxhill Haven,then back along East Marsh Road,Chapel Field Road,along the Beck and back along the mitigation area to Winter's,approx. 14 miles walked.

It was very hard going at times in the force 6-7 westerly wind,particularly at Goxhill Haven,but it was just great to be out again,despite only getting 5 hours sleep after my nightshift.

All in all though,some great sightings were had as always,the following is what i recorded.

Winter's had some good numbers of wildfowl today,with 89 Gadwall being a cracking count for here,along with 198 Wigeon feeding on the car park grassland.Also present were my highest count for the site of 64 Tufted Duck,29 Coot,Great-crested Grebe,16 Canada Geese,female Goldeneye and 2 stunning Drake Pochard,the latter,the second sighting of the species here this year.

Between North Killingholme Haven and the Skitter,highlights included 9 Black-tailed Godwit,294 Dunlin,9 Shelduck,55 Teal and 450 Lapwing.

The Skitter was given scant coverage due to the wind,but 625 Lapwing,31 Teal and 11 Curlew were noted.

Along Goxhill Marsh,some nice sightings included the lovely sight and sound of at least 1870 Pink-footed Geese as they passed overhead to their favoured field to feed with 12 Shelduck feeding on the wet field behind the pig farm.

The Dawson City area revealed 7 Grey Plover huddling together out of the wind along the shoreline,becoming my first sighting of the species for the year,such smart birds.

Also along here were 400 Golden Plover,550 Lapwing and 150 Dunlin,with a male Stonechat battling against the wind as he disappeared into one of the saltmarsh reedbeds to shelter.

Very little was seen at Goxhill Haven,as i passed by trying my best to stay standing straight in the gale force westerly,but 42 Wigeon,17 Teal and a single Black-tailed Godwit did there best to shelter in the Haven.

I then made the turn down East Marsh Road,with the wind at my back at last.A few notables along here included 1 new species for the year in the form of a single Tree Sparrow,with other species seen including 25 Collared Dove,16 Stock Dove and 3 Moorhen.

Chapel Field Road was equally quiet,but the local Corvids entertained,with 170+ Rooks and 33 Jackdaw making their prescence known as i passed by,with 2 lovely Common Buzzard entering the notes.

A welcome shelter behind Chapel Farm saw quite a decent number of birds being seen here and included another Common Buzzard,5 Long-tailed Tit,34 Chaffinch and 6 Greenfinch.

The beck was very quiet,with 6 Teal being the only notable sighting.

The last leg back to the car was along the mitigation area and included the star bird still along with 52 Mallard,67 Curlew,28 Teal,20 Dunlin and a single Meadow Pipit.

Sunday 30th January

Another early start before dawn,saw me adding my 5th species of Owl for the local patch this year,the first time i have ever achieved this here.

A duo of calling male Tawny Owls were heard,1 at East Halton Grange and 1 in Redhouse Wood,the former site also held the calling Little Owl still.

After arriving at Winter's, i quickly got the gear together and added another 2 Owl species,as 2 Short-eared and a Barn Owl hunted distantly on the mitigation area,so 4 species for the day was superb!.

I must admit i spent a long time today,perhaps as long as 4 hours watching the White-tailed Plover and it was seen in several areas,showing on Winter's as well before i left.

This bird is an absolute cracker and to think people are rubbishing it because it has wintered is absolute bol***** in my opinion,nothing is said when Terek Sandpiper,Western Sandpiper etc. winter,nuff said.

I obtained some cracking video,fairly close of the Peewit today as it fed on the first pool on the mit site,being out in the open for a change instead of being partially hidden behind vegetation.

Well what an amazing start to the year January has provided,with 3 patch lifers(White-tailed Lapwing,Cattle Egret & Glossy Ibis) along with Bewick's Swan,Long-eared Owl and Red-crested Pochard all adding some spice already,bring it on for the rest of the year and more nice finds hopefully,onwards and upwards.

The Humber Floodbank Near Dawson City,Goxhill,29th.

The White-tailed Plovers Favoured Pool On East Halton Marshes,30th.