Steve's Birding,Wildlife & Walking Blog: Local Patching Roundup

Sunday 1st

A good start to the month saw a good count of 74 species seen between Winter's and the Skitter, with highlights in the form of 2 Arctic Skua which flew north along the Humber after chasing a juvenile Kittiwake.

Continued watching of the Humber during the day added a few other nice maritime species which included a juvenile Little Gull which flew south, 2 Arctic Tern, 2 Sandwich Tern and 11 Common Tern which all flew out south also.

Always expected at this time of year, were 16 Common Scoter, with 11 flying north and 5 south and in the afternoon, 2 Greenshank and 3 Ruff flew south.

Winter's held a few nice birds today, which included a Great-white Egret, 2 Green Sands, a juvenile Little-ringed Plover and 4 Swift.

A wander up to the Skitter saw the highlights consisting of Marsh Harrier, Ruff, 4100 Icelandic Black-tailed Godwits and 58 Avocet.

Saturday 7th/Sunday 8th

Two visits over this weekend saw more goodies being seen.

Saturday saw a misty start to proceedings, but 2 nice birds were quickly found on Winter's, the first a 1st Winter Caspian Gull, resting on the spit on the main lake before flying onto the Humber with 2 Herring Gulls. This is the first sighting of the species for the site and the first for 5 years i have seen on the ground on the patch.

The second highlight was a lovely juvenile Garganey, which didn't really show closely and spent most of it's time on the far side of the main lake, a good record all the same, and nice to get one in autumn here for a change.

A watch from the floodbank, saw a few bits over the Humber which included an Arctic Skua, 3 Common and a Sandwich Tern.

A Sanderling flew past north, my second of the year here.

A wander past the chimney saw me finding my 168th species to be seen by myself at Winter's in the form of a juvenile Whinchat and it showed really nicely before disappearing onto the marshes.

This completes an impressive list of Chats for the site which includes Robin, Redstart, Black Redstart, Stonechat and White-spotted Bluethroat.

Sunday saw another brilliant days birding and included a similar array of species as Saturday, with the Juvvie Garganey still being at winter's. Other species on the site included singles of Green and Common Sandpipers, a Ruff and a Whimbrel which flew south overhead, with 4 Pochard, 26 Wigeon and 4 Swift also here.

On the Humber 42 Common Scoter drifted out on the tide and 2 year additions to the patch list were seen, a single Black Tern which flew south and a couple of juvenile Gannets which flew north.

A wander along Marsh Lane, saw a single juvenile Whinchat being seen, perhaps the previous days bird from Winter's.

Final nice bird of the visit, was a juvenile Hobby hawking insects high over East Halton Skitter.

The best non bird sighting of the visit went to a lovely Otter watched on Winter's early morning, a real pleasure to see.

Saturday 13th/Sunday 14th

A quieter visit than last weekend on Saturday, saw a welcome highlight, as my first returning Pink-footed Geese of the autumn were watched in the Winter's area, with 335 being watched.

It was really great to see these cracking birds arriving back on the estuary, my soundtrack to the autumn/winter period here, really special!.

On Winter's itself, 5 Green and 1 Common Sandpiper were feeding around the margins of the main lake along with a good count of 68 Swallows.

On the Humber, a single juvenile Gannet flew north and a juvenile Hobby was watched over East Halton Marshes, with the final highlight being 3 juvenile Stonechats along Marsh Lane.

Sunday saw me covering the whole patch in some decent weather and recording an impressive 86 species.

From a local patch perspective the rarest sighting went to the flock of 15 Sanderling watched feeding off Dawson City on the Humber shore, by far my largest flock down here.

Other nice bits included an adult Med Gull, Whimbrel and a Peregrine at East Halton Skitter, with singles of Swift, Green Sand, Common Sand and Ruff at Winter's.

Saturday 21st

A decent visit today saw Winter's being the focus of all the sightings during the day with the main highlight being my first patch record for the year of Cattle Egret, with a single adult feeding on the grassland near the car park. It strangely avoided the cattle on site and preferred to catch Craneflies in the long grass instead.

Other species seen at Winter's included a whopping count of 36 Little Grebe, a site record count, along with 56 Teal, 10 Wigeon, 13 Moorhen, a Ruff, 2 Green Sands and a Pintail.

Saturday 27th

Today's visit was mainly spent watching from the car due to the strong northerly and showers.

Pink-footed Geese were definitely on the move, with 3465 being counted moving north along the estuary.

Also 10 Barnacle Geese were also seen moving north, perhaps part of a movement seen along coastal watchpoints along the east coast.

The expected movement of seabirds didn't really materialise, but northerlies are not really the best here for seabirds. I still managed to see 5 Common Scoter, 2 adult Kittiwakes, 4 Arctic Tern and 6 juvenile Gannets.

A Peregrine flew across the Humber from Yorkshire, followed by a female Sparrowhawk.

On Winter's a juvenile Garganey was seen, perhaps the bird from a few weeks ago, but i think this one looked a fresher plumaged bird.

Well a good months birding was enjoyed and now i look forward to see what October will bring.