Sunday 19th November
An early start today arriving before first light to check for Owl's,paid dividends,with 3 calling male Tawny Owls,2 in the Redhouse Wood area and 1 at The Grange,with a bonus Woodcock seen near The Grange also made for a great start to the day.
As it got light another lovely sighting went to a Barn Owl hunting along Marsh Lane as i got my kit together,the first I've seen for a good while on the patch.
After getting my pack up in the rucksack and some warm clothes on a quick scan of the main lake at Winter's saw the lovely female Long-tailed Duck still here.
Other birds here included 3 Goldeneye,12 Little Grebe,9 Tufties and a flock of 5 Brambling which flew west towards East Halton village.
A look on the marshes saw some great numbers of birds again,with 5 Barnacle Geese present,2 Oystercatcher a nice surprise,4 Ruff,approx. 480 Wigeon,185 Curlew,67 Mallard,450 Lapwing,4 Cattle Egret still and 38 Black-tailed Godwit.
The latter Black-wits had a colour-ringed bird in amongst them which had been ringed on the 1st September 2019 at Snettisham in Norfolk and one of which i have seen on one occasion before here in September 2022.It has the combinations of an orange ring on the left leg,with yellow - white-white on the right leg.
A search around the cottage and gardens/plantation area resulted in 3 Cetti's Warblers being recorded,4 Tree Sparrow and half a dozen each of Redwing and Blackbirds.
I then decided to walk along the floodbank up to the Skitter to see what was around as the tide was rising.
A good tramp around the Skitter Pools revealed at least 6 Water Pipits and 4 Rock Pipits,but no Jack Snipe unfortunately and only low numbers of Snipe,but 2 pairs of Stonechat were logged here.
Nothing much along Goxhill Marsh was recorded apart from another pair of Stonechat and as the tide dropped off,22 Goldeneye on the Humber,600 Golden Plover,a Peregrine,305 Curlew,650 Pink-footed Geese and 24 Bar-tailed Godwit entered the notes.
As i wandered back towards Winter's a cracking Merlin was watched hunting along the Humber floodbank chasing Waders before heading onto the marshes,a great bird to see on any visit.
Before leaving for home more views of the 4 Cattle Egrets and a lovely Short-eared Owl made for a great ending to the visit.
Sunday 26th November
A meet up with Suzanne today,saw us having a pretty decent day to be fair,with some great numbers of wintering birds.
To start with we spent a good amount of time looking on the main lake at Winter's with some nice birds present here today which included a single Great-crested Grebe,2 Drake Pochard,the Female Long-tailed Duck still present,a lovely Drake Goosander which made a brief visit and 2 Goldeneye.
A single Tree Sparrow was seen near the cottage along with 20 Redwing and 5 Blackbird.
The marshes held some good numbers of birds today with a whopping count of 69 Barnacle Geese being seen.This comprised of now 7 birds with the Greylag flock and a further 62 which flew north,the latter could be part of an arrival on the east coast or wandering feral birds.
Other species here included a record count of Curlew for the site of 332 birds,a superb sight!,also here were a pair of Stonechat,juvenile Marsh Harrier,3 Ruff and 35 Redshank.It also looks like the Cattle Egrets have moved on as there was no sign today.
The Skitter area saw a single Snow Bunting being seen and heard as it flew over towards Winter's,but could not be relocated unfortunately and a cracking adult male Marsh Harrier,2 Rock Pipit and 29 Avocet.
On the Humber here,a single Drake Common Scoter was seen with a further 5 females flying along the Humber south towards Killingholme.
Sunday 3rd December
A freezing visit today with snow overnight and dull conditions all day saw some difficult conditions for birding.
All was not lost though with some really good counts again from the marshes which included 7 Barnacle Geese,a Grey Plover,2 Knot(Both new site species),550 Lapwing,Turnstone,183 Dunlin,80 Black-tailed Godwit and 154 Golden Plover.
Winter's had some nice birds which included 53 Shoveler,44 Gadwall,41 Teal,250 Wigeon,53 Mallard 3 Goldeneye and 6 Pochard.Unfortunately,the Long-tailed Duck has now moved on after it's 3 week stay.Around the bushes here were 13 Blackbird,14 Redwing,Song Thrush and Goldcrest.
A walk up along Marsh Lane,Jericho Lane and along Skitter Road saw a few nice sightings and counts of birds which included a superb count of 131 Stock Dove along Marsh Lane as well as 21 Yellowhammer,both really great to see and 2 female Stonechat and a couple of Tree Sparrow.
A good number of Corvids at The Grange included a Jay,45 Jackdaw and 55 Rook.
The Skitter area provided a few nice birds also and included a Grey Heron,Little egret,1300 Dunlin and 37 Avocet.
As i made it back to Winter's for the second time today,i noticed 3 Cattle Egret following the Cattle around on the marshes,new birds maybe,or perhaps the previous birds returning?.
As i reached the car park area at Winter's,a quick look on the marshes near the entrance proved an excellent decision as a stonking female Hen Harrier flew towards me and proceeded to give some superb views as it hunted the rough field next to Winter's.
What a cracking bird and end to the visit,species number 159 for the patch this year.
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| Colour-ringed Icelandic Black-tailed Godwit From East Halton Marshes On The 19th November. |
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