A decent start to the new year patch list,saw me on a good 91 species after 3 visits,the following is what i saw.
Sunday 1st January
A pre-dawn search for Owls,was impossible today in the strong south westerly wind,so i moved over to Winter's and waited for Jon to arrive and for it to get light.
The marshes adjacent to Winter's were alive with birds and the faithfull Russian White-fronts were still here and 2 Barnacle Geese also,2 Whooper Swans didn't hang around after seeing the strange creatures watching them.
450 Greylag and a good count of 1650 Pink-footed Geese completed a great Goosey start to the new year.
Other birds here included a distant Barn Owl,5 Ruff,11 Black-tailed Godwit,4 Stonechat and an impressive 2500 Lapwing.
We carried on up to the Skitter and gave the area some good coverage,seeing more new birds for the year which included 4 Grey Partridge,Water Pipit,55 Stock Dove,a Peregrine and a cracking adult male Marsh Harrier.
A wander up to Goxhill Haven added Tree Sparrow and Coot to the year list.
Monday 2nd January
The last day of my holidays saw Tim and myself having a great start pre-dawn adding Tawny Owl and Little Owl to the year list,with 2 Barn Owl,(1 at WP and the usual bird at the Skitter) and a Short-eared Owl also at the Skitter making 4 species of Owl for the day a superb effort.
The Marshes held 5 Ruff again,the 19 White-fronts,2 Barnacle Geese and a few Redshank and Black-tailed Godwits.
On Winter's,2 drake Pochard were new for the year and really great to see.
We walked along the floodbank up to the Skitter seeing a nice flock of 43 Avocet and a lovely Kingfisher adding some nice colour to the visit.
A walk along Goxhill Marsh saw us seeing 3 Marsh Harrier,7 Stonechat,2 Bearded Tit which were new for the year and the Aythya hybrid was still on Ruins Pond.
A prolonged watch from the shore infront of Dawson City saw several species being added to the year list and included Grey Plover,Bar-tailed Godwit,Rock Pipit and Water Rail,with a single Redhead Goosander heading west towards Goxhill Haven.
The final new bird for the year as we arrived back at Winter's was a Little Egret,a scarce bird of late here.
Sunday January 8th
The forecast for rain today by 2pm saw me just covering the East Halton square of the patch(Winter's to the Skitter,along Skitter Road,then Marsh Lane back to WP).
First thing at WP saw a female Pochard and Kingfisher on the main lake and also 4 1st winter Coot which have arrived.
I also gained some nice views of the regular Barn Owl which i presume is a female,going by the darker plumage tones,perched up along the far side of the main lake,a real beauty.
Next door on the Marshes,3 adult Whooper Swans,the 19 White-fronts and 2 Barnies were all still present and correct along with the 5 Ruff still.
A wander along Marsh Lane and then over Station Hill and along the horse paddocks nearby,saw me adding Mistle Thrush to the year list.
Nothing much along Skitter Road was seen,most probably due to Able UK digging the fields up and the local farmer ruining one of the best hedgerows along here.
A few nice sightings at the Skitter included a cracking male Bullfinch which was new for the year,a female Marsh Harrier hunting the pools,which in turn flushed 3 Water Pipit and a Rock Pipit.
Also here were 31 Avocet and at least 75 Stock Dove.
A solid start to the patch year list.
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| Sun Rise Over The Humber At Winter's Pond,Monday 2nd Jan. |
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| Interesting Cloud Formation,East Halton,Monday 2nd Jan. |
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