Donna Nook, Saturday 26th October & Sunday 3rd November 2024

Saturday 26th October

After receiving a message from GPC that he had found a 1st Winter Black-faced Bunting on Friday 25th, it was an absolute no brainer to go and try to see this bird, as it was not only the 12th record for Britain, but also another county first for Graham and incredibly his 13th!!!!. 

Saturday morning came around and as i travelled towards Donna, few patches of mist soon subsided to a fairly clear sky.

The sunrise was stunning and i stopped along with Jon to admire it and take a few photos, before we began to search in hope for the Bunting along with a handful of others.

As we walked a few parties of Whooper Swans flew south totalling 24 birds and a single immature Spoonbill was also logged, my latest record.

Very few migrants were in the dunes, but quite a lot of Reed Buntings had us grilling every group in the hope we would find the Black-faced.

After a while GPC arrived and myself, Jon and Wayne Gillatt, Neil D and Dave H all spread out in the continued search for the star bird.

Just as we were about to give up, GPC received a phone call that the bird had incredibly been trapped at quad 3, approximately 2 miles south of Stonebridge Car Park and it was going to be released at the car park at 10am.

We all made our way to back to Stonebridge to a beaming Owen Beaumont as he arrived with the bird and quickly showed it to all present before he released the bird into the adjacent Hawthorn scrub.

Talk about being in the right place at the right time!. 

The bird flew off with a few tick calls on release and about ten minutes later appeared in the top of a Hawthorn showing briefly, before flying off slightly south of the car park, disappearing into thick scrub, and that was that for us.

It all happened so quickly, but i was very glad to have been in the area to see this mega. It was my second sighting of the species, after twitching the 1st at Pennington Flashes with GPC in March 1994, which was also the first record for Britain.

We stayed around the general area of Stonebridge after Tim and Arash arrived in case the bird was seen again and added some other nice sightings to the day list which included a Great-northern Diver sat on the sea, 3 Little Gull which flew south, Merlin, Peregrine, 5 Greenshank and a late Swallow making for a cracking day out.

The events surrounding the Bunting were very fortuitous and a big thank you must go to Owen for bringing the bird to show us all. 

Sunday 3rd November

After hearing Graham had relocated the Bunting again near to Pye's Hall on Tuesday 29th October, i thought to myself i would try again at Donna and spend the whole day on site and see what i could find.

A cloudier day today than on our last visit saw me covering the area between Stonebridge and Pye's during the day and putting together a very impressive day list which added up to a brilliant 78 species.

Highlights went to 13 Whooper Swan which flew south, the 2 immature Spoonbills still, 2 Greenshank, a 1st winter Spotted Redshank, 2 White-fronted Geese which flew south, a Red-breasted Merganser which flew north along the tide edge, 6 Great-white Egret, Peregrine, Kingfisher, female Hen Harrier and a Donna Nook tick for me, a Raven.

The latter showed brilliantly at Pye's with that awesome cronking call.

As the day wore on a few migrants began to arrive which included a couple of Woodcock which flew in off the sea, my first Fieldfare of the autumn and a handful of Redwings and Blackies.

A scan of the saltmarsh, located the bizarre looking leucistic Dark-bellied Brent Goose 'Lucy' which had wintered at Spurn the previous winter and she gave some great views as she fed out on the developing foreshore.

As i walked a well timed WhatsApp message from GPC to say a Pallas's Warbler had been found back at Stonebridge car park, ten minutes later and i was watching this stunning little Siberian sprite as it flitted about in the willow at the entrance to the car park.

It gave some cracking views and it even called on a few occasions with that canary like 'Chuee' call they have, what a belting bird to end the visit......well almost, as i watched the Pallas's a Black Redstart was seen on the roof of the house were the Pallas's was feeding, what a great day and this site really is a special one!.

Donna Nook Dawn, 26th October.

A Stunning Sunrise, 26th October.

Common Buzzard, 26th October.

1st Winter Female Black-faced Bunting, Note the distinct pink lower mandible, head pattern, Dunnock like mantle pattern and yellowish wash to the underparts.

Dozing Spoonbill, 3rd November.

Black Redstart Record Shot, 3rd November.

Local Patching Roundup - October 2024.

October is always the month i always look forward to every year with the prospect of finding something 'Nice' on the local patch and this was certainly the case this year, as last year and the year before that.

The following is a summary of sightings through the month of what i recorded on the local patch between East Halton and Goxhill, with 2 new species added to my life list here and the yearlist now standing on a decent 159 species.

Friday 4th 

The month began with an afternoon visit for a change, with not a great deal to report apart from a flock of 12 Common Scoter heading north along the Estuary from my watchpoint at Winter's Pond. This small flock consisted of 5 drakes and 7 females, always a species i enjoy seeing.

Also seen around Winter's were 5 Chiffchaff, 4 Tree Sparrow back in residence for the winter and on the Humber a single Ruff in amongst a flock of feeding Icelandic Black-tailed Godwits.

Friday 11th 

Another Friday visit today saw a fairly quiet visit until i walked along Jericho Lane in East Halton village, when i heard a single 'Dudluee' call and picked up a Woodlark flying overhead and across the fields towards Thornton Abbey!!!!!.

This species is a proper rarity here and only the 2nd recorded on the patch after GPC had a spring bird several years ago.

The remainder of the visit saw a few other nice birds being seen, which included a single flyover Brambling at Winter's and 12 lovely Whooper Swans dropping into there also, with the bushes around the site providing my latest local Willow Warbler to date, a Goldcrest, 2 Chiffchaff and overhead 2 Swallow.

Sunday 13th 

Some serious effort today walking all the way up to Dawson City and back saw a great days birding enjoyed.

I started off proceedings by listening for Owls between Redhouse Wood and East Halton Grange, with a single Little Owl and 3 calling male Tawny Owls heard, a great start.

When it got light, it soon became apparent that Pink-footed Geese were all over the place and an estimate of at least 15000 birds were in the East Halton/Immingham/Cherry Cobb area an amazing sight to see.

The 2 Barnacle Geese were still with the Greylag flock and 8 lovely Whooper Swans flew south overhead also.

Some great sightings around the East Halton Skitter area included the adult Greenshank still(I'm hoping this bird overwinters, as I've never had a winter record here), 2 Ruff, 2 Bearded Tit, 2 male Stonechat, 3 Redhead Goosander, 275 Teal and a Grey Wagtail overhead.

Best sightings on the marshes went to a single Peregrine, 5 Stonechat, the afore-mentioned Barnacle Geese and a hunting juvenile Marsh Harrier. 

Goxhill Marsh held the biggest surprise of the day, with a Reed Warbler seen and heard calling at Ruins Pond, my latest personal record of the species.

Also along this area were 7 Bearded Tit, a Great-spotted Woodpecker, 3 Goldcrest and a female Marsh Harrier.

Winter's highlights today included 26 Shoveler, 9 Moorhen, 24 Coot and 21 Little Grebe.

Friday 18th/Saturday 19th 

Friday 18th

Some great numbers of birds around Winter's on Friday saw 50 Shoveler, 34 Wigeon, 72 Mallard, a Drake Pintail, 20 Coot, Kingfisher and 14 Little Grebe on the ponds.

The bushes were fairly productive too, with a single Brambling overhead south, 14 Chaffinch, 3 Greenfinch, 2 Tree Sparrow, 3 Chiffchaff and 12 Song Thrush the best of it. A lovely Grey Wagtail was watched feeding along the Humber floodbank towards Killingholme, lovely birds.

East Halton Marshes was fairly productive today, with a Water Pipit the main highlight, but also 6 Stonechat, 31 Skylark, the 2 Barnacle Geese still, 2465 Pink-footed Geese and 49 Curlew.

At the Skitter the Greenshank was still present along with 2 Ruff, 71 Avocet and 3 Little Egret, with a record count of 11 Rock Pipits here exceptional.

Saturday 19th

Saturday saw a later arrival than usual due to heavy rain, as i walked around the small plantation at the car park, i heard a call I've been waiting to hear for so long down here, 'Tsoeest', 'Tsoeest' i couldn't stop grinning as i watched my first local patch Yellow-browed Warbler. The bird showed really nicely thankfully feeding in the plantation and adjacent Hawthorn hedgerow, what a lovely species these birds are, regardless of how much more common they are on the east coast these days in the autumn.

This is the commonest visiting Siberian passerine to the UK and usually winter's in South East Asia, and arrives here in varying numbers and this year it is shaping up to be a very good year for them.

It is a first for me here obviously and is the 228th species for my personal local patch list and the 171st species i have recorded at Winter's Pond.

The rest of the visit was immaterial now, but i still managed to see some other nice birds with Grey Wagtail, 20 Whooper Swans which flew south west, 16 Little Grebe, Kingfisher and Male Stonechat all being seen at Winter's.

On arrival back at Winter's after walking up to the Skitter, the Yellow-browed showed amazingly well feeding in a Oak Tree/Hawthorns/Privet hedge near the car park before dusk, what a great visit!.

Friday 25th

Pretty poor weather conditions in mizzle today saw me only staying until lunch time.

I walked up Marsh Lane and back around the fields from the village and back to Winter's. with the best bird being a cracking Woodcock watched flying from it's roost, what a beautiful species they are!.

Sunday 27th

A visit to Goxhill Haven first thing to see another species for the year list after birding buddy Chas Adland had found 2 Twite, saw me seeing these cracking little moorland Finches as they fed unconcernedly on grass seeds along the floodbank giving some superb views.

After enjoying the lovely Twite i headed over to East Halton.

A really good effort covering the areas between Winter's, Jericho Lane, Skitter Road and East Halton Skitter saw a really good 78 species being seen with no real surprises being recorded.

The best sightings went to the 2 Barnacle Geese still on the Marshes, a Green Sandpiper and Siskin at Winter's, and Ruff and Greenshank at the Skitter with 9 Stonechat also entering the notes.

A non bird sighting worth noting today, was a huge Conger Eel which was washed up dead on the shore opposite Winter's, even the Great black-backed Gulls were wary of eating it.

Well what a cracking month, i love this patch!

East Halton Sunset, 4th.

Sunrise At Winter's, 13th.

Solar Halo Over The Humber, 13th.

Full Moon, 18th.

Dawn At Winter's 18th.

Modelling The Big Swaro's, 18th.

East Halton Skitter, 18th.

Grey Heron, Winter's Pond, 19th.

In The Murk, East Halton, 25th.

One Of The Twite, Goxhill Haven, 27th.

A Huge Dead Conger Eel, East Halton, 27th.

Skitter Road, 27th.

East Halton Marshes, 27th.