A couple of pretty decent and enjoyable visits to the local patch over these two Saturday's,with the 22nd April being particularly productive,the following is what i saw.
Saturday 15th
As always,an early start for first light at Winter's in pretty cold conditions it has to be said,saw very little being seen apart from 2 Barn Owls hunting after the previous nights rain,with 1 along Marsh lane and the other at the northern end of the marshes,a nice start to proceedings.
After getting plenty of layers on i was off and wandered down to the Humber flood bank.
The main lake was very quiet first thing,apart from the now resident pair of Mute Swan's and a few Tufties.
As i reached the flood bank i began scanning the Humber and quickly picked up two female Common Scoter drifting along on the tide,my first sighting of the species for the year,a good start.
Not long after seeing the Scoter the distinct sound of that stunning wader the Whimbrel,saw me enjoying scope views of 4 birds as they passed by me and landed on the shoreline towards the Skitter.
When you think that these birds have just arrived from their wintering grounds,perhaps as far away as Benin and Togo in West Africa and are on the way to northern Scotland or perhaps Iceland,you become to appreciate what tough birds they are.
I walked up along past the chimney here and another first for the patch year quickly followed the Scoter's in the form of a Willow Warbler singing in the Hawthorns,a favoured area for the species in both spring and autumn.
When i hear a Willow Warbler,i know spring is here proper.
Other species singing in the adjacent area included singles of Sedge Warbler and Blackcap and at least 5 Chiffchaff.
Another scan over the man lake saw a nice Hirundine flock now feeding,which consisted of 14 Swallows,11 Sand Martin and my first House Martin of the year.
It was great to see these lovely insect eaters and they gave some nice views.
As i was just about to walk back to the car a single Brambling flew over north,my second of the year here so far.
After wandering around Winter's,i dumped the scope in the car and decided to walk up to the village and check the horse paddocks,before walking up along Skitter Road to the Skitter.
Some lovely views of a Buck Roe Deer and a Fox along the old railway added some interest to the days sightings,but i didn't see anything new for the year until i had a single Lesser Redpoll along Back Lane.
Nothing new was seen along Skitter Road apart from a couple of Great-spotted Woodpecker at The Grange,with one of the birds drumming.
A good look around the Skitter,saw another first for the patch year being seen in the form of my first singing Whitethroat and this male showed nicely,giving some lovely views as he sang and displayed,what a lovely species these birds are.
Other species of note around the Skitter included 4 Ruff,4 Avocet and 26 Pink-footed Geese still hanging on.
After looking around the Skitter,i walked back to the car along the marshes and this proved a good decision,with some great sightings including,now 2 Spoonbill(Adult and 3rd calendar year),9 Wheatear and 5 Wigeon still.
The Wheatear count and 2 Spoonbills in spring,are pretty good records for here.
Saturday 22nd
A misty start at first light,saw the main lake at Winter's being semi visible and i hoped the fog would clear.
Few birds were on show,apart from the resident pair of Mute Swans again and a small flock of Tufties,but singing in the small wood near the car was a male Brambling.
I recorded a bit of song on my phone and after much trying eventually managed to see this little skulker.
A pretty decent record and the first bird i have ever had singing on the patch.
After enjoying the wheezing little songster,i made it down to the flood bank and at first could only see half way across the estuary,but slowly but surely it began to clear a little.
First goodie,was a single Greenshank that flew overhead until i watched it distantly landing on the marshes,my first record for the year and this was quickly followed by 2 Whimbrel which followed in the same direction.
The scrub at the back of the old chimney held the usual suspects again today,with 2 singing male Willow Warbler,3 each of singing male Blackcap and Chiffchaff,now 2 singing male Sedge Warbler,but still no Cuckoo unfortunately.
Back to watching the Humber and the tide was now beginning to drop off and after scanning i picked up a flock of 11 Little Gulls flying out south towards Killingholme,really high up and this was followed by a lovely surprise in the form of 2 Fulmar which flew around in circles just off the shore at Winter's,giving cracking views,before heading towards Salt End.
Next was the sound of a Green Sand calling and i headed along the edge of the main lake to see 5! Green Sands together feeding along the shore,before they flew onto the marshes.
What a cracking spring record this was,with only single birds usually seen here in spring if any some years.
As i went to look on the rear pond a single Siskin flew over north and then a male Reed Warbler began to sing his scratchy song from the nearby reedbed......today was shaping up into a superb day's local patching.
Over the main lake there were now 27 Swallow,21 Sand and 6 House Martins putting on a fine display and the male Brambling was still singing away.
A wander along the marshes added even more goodies to the day list,with my first flock of Yellow Wagtails feeding in amongst the cattle,with 8 birds being noted.
Also here were a male and female Wheatear,male Little-ringed Plover and overhead my first Swift of the year headed north.
Final nice bird of the day,was a Peregrine which flew over the fields towards Killingholme.
Well what a cracking couple of visits,with the Winter's area yielding 75 species on the 22nd and a decent 125 species for the patch year so far.
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| Buck Roe Deer,East Halton,15th April. |
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| Hoverfly sp. Leucozona leucorum,East Halton Marshes,15th April. |
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| Distant Pic Of The Spoonbills From The 15th April. |
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| A Misty Humber From The 22nd. |
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| The Local's On The Marshes. |
