Steve's Birding,Wildlife & Walking Blog: Local Patching Update,Tuesday 7th & Saturday 11th November 2023.

Tuesday 7th

After getting back from our lovely trip to the Lake District the day previously,it was back to normality for Mrs R as she was back at work.

Thankfully though,i still had the rest of the week off and as the forecast was good today i headed for the patch and a full walk around covering East Halton and Goxhill.

I arrived at first light and as i left the car a stream of Pinks were leaving the marshes,presumably after roosting on there,which is certainly a first for here and goes to show they are really liking the developments on the site.

A total of 535 birds flew out and headed south west inland to some unknown field to feed for the day,what a great start to the visit.

On Winter's the usual 2 female Goldeneye were still present,but little else was seen apart from 9 Little Grebe and 22 Gadwall and a Chiffchaff was still in the bushes.

In the distance i could see the Cattle Egret flock,but wait a minute,6!.

The flock has now grown to 6 birds and it was really great to watch them as they followed the Cattle around,sometimes hitching a ride on the Cows backs,which was comical to watch.

Also on the marshes were 222 Greylag,the 2 Barnacle Geese still,23 Canada Geese,120 Lapwing,6 Pintail,approx. 400 Teal and at least 600 Wigeon.

It was really great to see other species beginning to use the area in good numbers,with an excellent count of 76 Redshank,a record count for the site and 122 Curlew were also recorded.

After looking on the marshes and Humber i decided to head up Marsh Lane and along Skitter Road and up to the Skitter.

Nothing too exciting was seen along here,but it was just great to walk in the lovely autumnal sunshine.

After arriving at the Skitter,a good tramp around the pools revealed 3 Water Pipit,the first of the winter period and at least 4 Rock Pipit along the rocky shoreline.

I then headed along the track alongside the gas compound and inland and then up along East Marsh Road and to Goxhill Haven.

Again little was recorded along here,but the search for Waxwings continues.

Nothing much at Goxhill Haven apart from bloody fisherman everywhere,saw me walking quickly past this area and up to Dawson City.

I stopped here and watched the tide drop off while i ate my lunch watching a lovely group of 43 Bar-tailed Godwit,18 Knot and 2 Grey Plover.

The grass pasture just past Dawson City,had a decent sized flock of 236 Curlew feeding on it,but no Pinks today sadly.

Further along Goxhill Marsh,the distinct chunter of Geese could be heard and a good sized flock of 850 Pinks were loafing and feeding on a field which has been left to fallow.

A good look through them revealed no other species with them sadly.

As i arrived at the Skitter,7 Whooper Swans(3 adults and 4 juv's) were sat at the Haven mouth,they looked pretty settled as i watched them through the scope,but for some reason they got up and flew west inland.

As i walked back towards Winter's another flock of Whooper's(7 adults and a single juvenile) arrived in off the Humber and settled down on one of the larger pools.

By now it was getting towards dark and distantly over the rough field next to Winter's,the lovely sight of 3 Short-eared Owls were watched as they hunted and the 8 Whooper's headed inland,a lovely end to the day.

Saturday 11th

Another early start today,thankfully saw the Female Long-tailed Duck still present this morning and she gave some lovely views.

A nice surprise found by a visiting birder,i was pleased she stuck around,always a nice bird to get on the local patch and the first female for a long,long time.It was also the first i have seen on the pits on my patch,all my previous records being on the Humber.

Also on Winter's were 13 Tufties,3 Pintail(2 drakes and a female),3 female Goldeneye,41 Gadwall and 11 Little Grebe,with 650 Pink-footed Geese leaving their now roost on the marshes.

A good scan of the marshes revealed 520 Wigeon,15 Shoveler,now 3 Barnacle Geese,360 Lapwing,55 Icelandic Black-tails,32 Redshank and a cracking count of 253 Curlew the most i have counted here.

Also overhead,an adult female Marsh Harrier and Peregrine,certainly kept the Waders and Ducks on their toes.

The water levels are looking better now and the management of the grassland is really paying dividends now,a big thanks to Mike and his team at the RSPB.

The 6 Cattle Egret were still here and also there were singles of Great-white and Little Egrets and 2 Grey Heron making for a brilliant sight to see.

After enjoying the birds on the marshes i headed up Marsh Lane and had a wander along Jericho Lane.Best birds along here went to a single Siskin and 2 cracking male Great-spotted Woodpeckers which were having a bit of a territorial dispute.

No real highlights were seen along Skitter Road,but it was nice to see a handful of Yellowhammer,a few Goldcrests and a small number of winter Thrushes.

A quick look along the beck,saw the lovely electric blue flash of a Kingfisher as it shot along looking for a fishing perch.

The tide had dropped off now and their were some great numbers of waders feeding at the Skitter which included a cracking count of 1565 Dunlin,with 2 Ruff,4 Knot,11 Bar-tailed Godwit,120 Lapwing,2 Grey Plover and a good count of 155 Avocet being counted.

As i reached Winter's again,i enjoyed some more superb views of the lovely Long-tailed Duck and after a short while 2 Short-eared Owls showed really nicely again and a Merlin flew past towards Killingholme Haven to no doubt catch it's tea from the huge Starling roost which was beginning to gather.

I guesstimate on the latter is at least 30,000 birds,but i may have underestimated,but still what a spectacular sight to see.