Local Patching Update,March 11th,19th And 25th 2023.......

Three visits to the local patch covered here,with some spring migrants arriving at last and a cracker of a day on the 25th,the following is what i saw.

 Saturday 11th March

A fairly steady visit today,with a few winter visitors still hanging on,the best of which were 27 Russian White-fronted Geese still visiting the Winter's area.

Other sighting's around here and on the marshes included 245 Wigeon,5 Pochard on Winter's,2 Ruff and 2 Oystercatcher.

A flock of 35 Redwing were along Skitter Road still,no doubt feeding up before heading north or east.

Sunday 19th March

A really pleasant visit today in some warm weather for a change saw a good movement of Buzzards,with 16 birds being observed.This consisted of a mix of local and passage birds,the locals soon seeing off the intruders,with much calling and displaying.just great to see.

The continued efforts watching the sky today,paid divedends as my first Merlin for the patch year was seen as it bombed after a Starling flock on the marshes.

Potentially the rarest sighting of the day went to another Falcon,as a stunning white morph Gyr Falcon was seen being hounded by a Carrion Crow flock along the old railway at East Halton village.

This was most definitely one of the escaped birds from a mass escape a few weeks ago in Derbyshire.

Back to more credible visitors and there were still 20 Russian White-fronts in the Winter's area today,stopping off for a drink and bathing session on the main lake.

Its been really great to have these lovely Geese around all winter.

Other notables during the day included 8 singing male Chiffchaff,male Stonechat,1 Water Pipit and a big count of 76 Carrion Crow.

Saturday 25th March

Today was a pretty wet visit to the patch,but what a day bird wise!.

First goodie seen was a male Wheatear feeding on the grassland on the marshes and it certainly brightened the visit,what a great bird these lovely Chats are,this site being particularly good for them.

Continual scanning of the Humber and Winter's certainly paid off today despite the shower's as in a dry spell,i picked up  a huge bird approaching from the east,in the bins it looked like a Crane or Stork,i got my scope on it and imagine my disbelief when it WAS a White Stork i was watching!!!!.

I watched as it flew in off the Humber,with a couple of flaps of those huge wings,it then looked like it was gliding in to land between East Halton village and Killingholme Haven,but after much subsequent searching afterwards it sadly drew a blank.

This is the first record for the patch and also a Lincolnshire tick for myself.

It was interesting to note,that a Dutch ringed bird was seen this evening on the Cam Washes in Cambridgeshire,so could well have been the same bird.

While looking for the Stork i picked up a distant small wader which looked like a LRP,sure enough as it got closer my first Little-ringed Plover of the year flew past me calling as it passed by,just fantastic to see these lovely waders returning.

Some decent passage along the Humber flood-bank today included only small numbers compared to other sites,but included 35 Linnet,24 Chaffinch,44 Meadow Pipt,7 Pied Wagtail,my first White Wagtail of the year and also 3 Siskin which were new for the year also.

Final goodie of the visit was a spanking adult Spoonbill feeding on the marshes briefly before it was flushed by a moron on an off-road bike,another great edition to the days birding and year list,just a shame it hadn't stayed longer.

Today was pretty damn good and certainly worth putting up with the rain showers with  5 species new for the year and a patch lifer to boot.it's what local patching is all about,roll on my next visit.

Dawn At Winter's On The 11th March.

A Phone-scoped Shot Of A Lovely Fox From The 19th March.

Skitter Road,19th March.

Blackthorn Blossum,19th March.

Skitter Pools,19th March.

Incoming Storm On The Marshes,25th March.

Ladybower Reservoir,Derwent Dam & The Great Ridge,Sunday 26th March 2023.

A brilliant day out today with Tracey and Clara visiting a few places in the Peak District.

We started proceedings at a pretty cold Ladybower Dam so we could show Clara the amazing sink holes and thankfully they were in pretty decent flow.

This is a very popular place for visitors,so the early start certainly paid off and we pretty much had the place to ourselves which was great.

A quick drive up the road to Fairholmes and we took Clara to her second place for another sight and sound off her bucket list,seeing the superb Derwent Dam in full flow.

When the reservoir is full,it overflows over the dam wall and is great to see,although not as impressive as the sink holes.

The final place we visited was Castleton and we walked a circular starting just outside Castleton village walking up to Mam Tor,then up to Hollins Cross and back on ourselves to the summit of Mam Tor and then back to Castleton village for some well earned food.

This area really is a favourite of mine and despite the cloud i enjoyed the walk immensely.

A few nice birds were seen during the day and included 24 Whooper Swans heading north and a couple of lovely Ravens at Mam Tor.

The following are a selection of photos from this brilliant day out.

Lord's Seat

Trace & Clara At The Summit Of Mam Tor.

Rushup Edge And Lord's Seat.

The Great Ridge,Back Tor,Lose Hill And Win Hill.

Mam Tor.

Mam Tor

Back Tor & Lose Hill.

The Gang At Derwent Dam.

Derwent Dam.

Ladybower Dam Sink Holes.

North Lincolnshire,Saturday 18th March 2023.

A couple of free days again this weekend,saw me heading to a few sites in the north of the county today to enjoy some birding and hopefully a few animals and insects as well with the warmer weather of late.

I had agreed to meet up with Dave today and we started off by visiting a lovely site to show Dave his first ever Woodlarks.

After heading onto the site,it wasn't long before we enjoyed superb views on the ground and above us of several Woodlarks,including three males which proceeded to chase each other.

It was brilliant to be enjoying their lovely melancholy songs again,it really does take some beating in my opinion.

When we had enjoyed our fill of these beautiful heathland songsters,we travelled over to Messingham Sand Quarries for the remainder of the day,which proved a good decision.

As we began to walk around the reserve,i managed to find a few insects in the form of Seven-spot and Pine Ladybirds and several Bumble Bees of two species,White and Buff-tailed.

As we walked passed the old dipping platform area,we came across the first of at least 20 Common Toads,as several males jostled to mate with a poor female,which was unfortunately getting smothered in a mating ball by at least 5 males.

We spent a good portion of our visit between the Duck and Wader hides and saw some nice birds to be fair which included a lovely flock of 12 Brambling,a female Marsh Harrier,a single Avocet,Green Sandpiper and then a flock of at least 10 Sand Martin,my first proper summer migrants of the year.

Plenty of scans through the breeding Black-headed Gulls,revealed no surprises unfortunately.

By now it was lunch time and Dave headed home,while i drove around to look at the sheep fields and new workings area.

This proved a good decision,as i was scanning the opposing woodland,i heard a Raven calling and one dropped in on the fields at the side of the new workings,it was later joined by another bird,so are most probably a young inexperienced pair,as most adults are sitting on eggs by now.

Shortly after enjoying the Ravens a lovely Peregrine flew by and gave some nice views.

Other bits around here included 12 Common Buzzard,a single Pink-footed Goose and 5 Egyptian Geese.

I finished the day on a respectable 74 species and this along with all the other sightings made for another great visit to the area.

Phone-scoped Black-headed Gulls,Messingham Sand Quarries LWTR.

Phone-scoped Cormorants,Messingham Sand Quarries LWTR.

Male Common Toad,Messingham Sand Quarries LWTR.

Heathland Landscape.

Wykeham Forest,Sunday 12th March 2023.

A extra free day due to Mrs R being at work today,saw me heading north to one of my fave areas in the country to search for our beautiful big Accipter,Goshawk.

The journey up through the Wolds was a bit worrying as the weather wasn't great and as i arrived at Wykeham it was thick fog/low cloud.

Thankfully it wasn't long before it began to clear.pheeww!.

After about 20 minutes i was on to my first Gos,as a big 2nd calendar year female flew along the forest edge opposite,giving some decent views.

As the weather improved further,the first of at least 12 Common Buzzards began to fly,finding a thermal to ride and putting on a nice display.

At one point 6 birds were up together,with much calling and displaying/sparring,really great to watch.

In between looking for raptors a few other distractions included several Crossbills which 'Chipped' overhead as they passed by and 40+ Siskin,in several flocks which included a couple of singing and displaying males,with their bat like display flights.

More scanning of the valley and forest ensued and the fantastic sight of 3 Gos up together included an adult male which was semi displaying and 2 females.

As i have said in the past,these birds are just awesome to watch,such powerfull birds and a real privilege to see.

After enjoying some good views of my target species for the day,headed back south and home as it began to rain.

What A Stunning View.

Burnsall To Linton Falls,Sunday 5th March 2023.

After a very enjoyable gig the previous evening seeing the superb Slow Reader's Club in leeds,we enjoyed a hearty brekkie before travelling the hours journey into the Yorkshire Dales National Park to complete one of our fave walks along the River Wharfe,between the lovely village of Burnsall and Linton Falls.

After parking along the roadside in Burnsall,(if you get here early enough,there are a few places),we got our boots on and kit together and plenty of warm clothing and set off on our walk.

The first noticeable thing was how low the water level was on the River,a bit worrying considering its only early spring.

Some pleasant sunshine as we walked was most welcome and it wasn't long before we saw our first nice bird,a lovely male Dipper.

He was singing in a favoured nesting spot for the species in past years,at Loupe Scar and we enjoyed some fantastic views of him.

More goodies between Burnsall and Hebden followed in the form of 3 Kingfisher,11 Goosander a pair of Mandarin Ducks,a Little Egret and 5 Grey Wagtail,but it is always the scenery that steals the show here for me.

As we neared Linton a whopping flock of 131 Oystercatchers were encountered,no doubt birds arriving from the coast to breed on their inland territories along this beautiful river,but this is by far the largest number i have seen along here.

More views of the same birds on the return leg from Linton Falls and more excellent views were had of the Dipper again also.

Well what a cracking area this is,certainly one of my favourites in the country and we both look forward to visiting here again before long.

Linton Falls

Some Of The Oystercatcher Flock at Linton.

The River Wharfe At Hebden.

The Old Suspension Bridge At Hebden.

Loupe Scar,Burnsall.

Local Patching Update......January/February 2023.

 Due to several factors,one of which was of being ill with covid and a few trips away,the following will be a summary of visits to the local patch.

January

Sunday January 15th

Highlights on the 15th included 26 Russian White-fronted Geese still being around the Winter's Pond area,with a good count of 3250 Pink-footed Geese between East Halton Skitter and Goxhill Haven.

A decent year tick was found at the Skitter,when i managed to find a Jack snipe on the saltmarsh,with 4 Barn Owls in the area and 2 Water Pipit.

Sunday 29th January

A good visit today with 70 species logged,highlights included 25 Russian White-fronts still,2250 Pinks,a pair of Pintail on the marshes which were new for the year,and a good flock of 6 Pochard at Winter's.

Some decent numbers of waders on the mitigation area included 1600 Lapwing,26 Redshank and 81 Curlew.

2 Bearded Tit,a single Water Pipit and 5 Stonechat were also seen.

February

Saturday February 4th

A jump in numbers of our Russian White-fronted Goose flock to 41,was a welcome sight,along with the 2 Barnacles still,309 Wigeon on the marshes,2 Grey Partridge,40 Avocet,Barn and Little Owls were also seen.

1 NFY species was logged,just as i was about to leave for home,in the form of a Green Sandpiper on the marshes,a welcome sighting.

Sunday February 12th

A surprise addition to the year list regarding the time of year,saw a single Brambling calling as it flew west over the car park at Winter's,a nice sighting and not a species i usually see locally in winter.

Also seen today,were 34 White-fronts still,1450 Pinks,2 Barn Owl and a single Water Pipit.

Sunday 26th February

A drop in the numbers of White-fronts for me today,saw myself only seeing 18,but a good sized flock of Pink-footed Geese were logged and included 3251 birds,the largest count of the winter.

Some decent numbers of Wildfowl were also seen at Winter's/East Halton marshes and included 335 Wigeon,216 Teal,29 Shoveler,71 Mallard and 4 Pochard.

Other bits included a single Barn Owl,Kingfisher,Water Pipit and 2 Ruff.

Reporting will be back to normal now going forward.

Winter's Pond.

Goxhill Marsh.

Sunrise Over The Humber.

Muntjac Prints From Along East Halton Beck.

A Freshly Dead Wood Mouse At East Halton Skitter,Perhaps Dropped By An Owl Or Kestrel.

Sunrise Over The Humber.

Early Morning At Winter's Pond.