A decent month, with some nice birding moments and the very sad sight of a dead Common Dolphin at Goxhill Haven.
Saturday 13th
A good count of 82 species during today's visit to East Halton, with some nice highlights.
Winter's Pond held some nice birds which included a lovely Great-white Egret, an eclipse Drake Pintail, 36 Sand Martin, 2 juvenile Little-ringed Plover, a Kingfisher and a Grey Wagtail and Greenshank flew south overhead.
A calling Green Woodpecker was in Redhouse Wood, with a Jay nearby also and a single Siskin flew south west.
A good count of 17 Chiffchaff were also recorded today, with birds including 1 along Marsh Lane, 9 at Winter's Pond, 4 along Jericho Lane in East Halton village and 3 along East Halton Marshes.
Sunday 14th
A visit to Goxhill today, covering the areas between the Haven and Dawson City, then up to the Tilery and then back along Neatgangs Lane and along Ferry Road to the car.
A few nice waders included a Whimbrel which flew west at the Haven, a Greenshank feeding on the ponds near the old boatyard and 7 Bar-tailed Godwit.
A juvenile Yellow-legged Gull flew south at the haven, my first for a few weeks and a juvenile Kingfisher provided a welcome splash of colour to the mornings sightings.
Some nice bits seen around Dawson City included a Grey Wagtail which flew south, 3 Siskin which also flew south, a Willow Warbler and 2 Marsh Harriers.
A few other niceties included a late juvenile Sedge Warbler along Neatgangs lane, 34 Barn Swallows around the Haven and the first 2 Goldcrest of the autumn. Overhead, a Lesser Redpoll flew west at Goxhill Tilery Ponds, a NFY species, not a common one on my local patch.
Sunday 21st
A visit to Goxhill Haven today on the high tide, in the hope of seeing some seabirds in the north westerly airflow, really didn't produce, with only a flock of 10 Common Scoter and a single juvenile Gannet entering the notes. A juvenile/1st Winter Caspian Gull flew west here and my first local Pink-footed Geese were seen, with 73 birds being counted.
The bird sightings were overshadowed today though, with the very sad sighting of me finding a dead adult female Common Dolphin. The animal was found washed up on the tide edge, just west of the Haven. This is my first sighting of the species on the Humber and is quite a rare visitor to this side of the country, with the species usually being found in the deep waters off the Atlantic coastline.
The animal was reported to the Natural History Museum and was picked up for autopsy purposes.
Saturday 27th
A decent count of 74 species today, covering the East Halton part of the local patch, saw some cracking birds being seen.
First thing, a decent count of 618 Pink-footed Geese came out of their roost in Yorkshire, a great sight to see and also hear.
Around Winter's, the best of the sightings went to a new patch species for me, as a Tree Pipit flew south overhead. This is my 6th species of Pipit for the local patch, with Meadow, Water, Rock, Richard's and amazingly Olive-backed being the other species. Other nice records around the site included 21 Wigeon, 33 Tufties, 163 Teal, 11 Moorhen, a Great-white Egret, 13 Little Grebe, a Grey Wagtail and a late Reed Warbler.
Along Marsh Lane, a lovely pair of Stonechat were watched flycatching with 2 more males being seen later on the marshes, a calling Green Woodpecker was along the old railway, no doubt the bird which has been around for a few weeks now.
The final goodies of the day, saw a nice surprise, as a Little Stint was briefly seen at the Skitter and then flew north and shortly afterwards, a lovely, early Snow Bunting was found.
The Snow Bunting showed impeccably, allowing some nice close views and was tentatively identified as a 1st Winter male. This is my earliest record here for many years.
So not a bad series of visits, with the local patch list now on 156 species.
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| Sunrise At Goxhill Haven, 14th. |
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| Roe Deer, Goxhill Haven, 14th. |
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| The Very Sad Sighting Of This Stunning Adult Female Common Dolphin |
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| A Lovely, Unusual Cloud Formation Over The Humber At East Halton, 27th |
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| Great-white Egret, Winter's Pond, 27th |
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| Snow Bunting, East Halton Skitter, 27th |
