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.
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| The Humber Floodbank Near Dawson City,Goxhill,29th. |
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| The White-tailed Plovers Favoured Pool On East Halton Marshes,30th. |
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