Arctic Waifs....Saturday 11th November 2017.

With a north westerly airstream and heavy showers overnight,i was hoping my WEBS count sections between Barrow Haven & New Holland may produce the goods today,the following is what i saw.

After arriving at dawn and getting prepared for my day in the field,i made my way along the mouth of Barrow Haven and began my survey.

Barrow Haven - New Holland

Species seen along this first section consisted mainly of species flying west,with 22 Chaffinch,1 Rock Pipit,10 Redwing,15 Reed Bunting,3 Greenfinch,5 Bullfinch and the highlight 2 Brambling all passing over.On the Humber 57 Redshank was a decent count and 2 beautiful adult Whooper Swans were the stars watched cruising along the shoreline here.

New Holland - Goxhill Haven

This is the largest section of my counting area and usually turns something up of note and today was no exception with some excellent sightings.
 The most notable,was a stunning flock of 15 Snow Buntings watched feeding along the shoreline between New Holland & Goxhill Tilery.These birds showed fairly well before they were eventually flushed by some moter cyclists and flew west up river,but i did manage a few shots thankfully.This recalls the single bird myself and Charlie had last year on November 20th in relatively the same area.
 Other niceties along here included at least 8 Rock Pipit,22 Meadow Pipit and a pair of Stonechat watched hunting along the hedgerow and bushes near the old boatyard near Goxhill Haven.
 On the river,43 Goldeneye were lovely to see off New Holland Pier,but sadly,are drastically down in numbers compared to years gone by and 12 Black-tailed Godwit fed near to Goxhill Haven itself.

The return walk saw a total of 8 Whooper Swans feeding in New Holland dock with the local Mute Swans and consisted of 3 adult birds and 3 juv's,hopefully they will stay around for the winter.In the same area a respectable count of at least 300 Mallard was a great sight to see also.

So not a bad return at all today,with just over 8 miles walked and some great birds seen,i will look forward to my next visit in December.

Dawn Breaks At Barrow Haven.

Looking Along The Shoreline Towards Goxhill Haven And Victoria Dock/Salt End In The Distance.

Part Of The Snow Bunting Flock Near Goxhill Tilery.

Adult Male Snow Bunting,Goxhill.

Adult Male Snow Bunting,Goxhill.

Adult Male Snow Bunting,Goxhill.

Goxhill Haven.

Roosting Redshank At High Tide Near The Old Boatyard At Goxhill Haven.

New Holland Boatyard.

Mallards In New Holland Dock.

Adult Whooper Swan,New Holland Dock.

Adult Whooper Swans,New Holland Dock.

Looking Towards New Holland Bulk Terminal.

Looking Towards The Humber Bridge From Near Barrow Haven.

A Sunny Barrow Haven Pits,A Complete Contrast To The Dawn Photo Above.

Burnsall To Grassington,What A Walk,Sunday 5th November 2017.

As visitors to my blog will no doubt know by now,that my wife Tracey and myself have a love of the Yorkshire Dales,so today a short blog with some photos from a fantastic walk along the banks of the River Wharf taking in Hebdon Suspension Bridge,Linton Falls & Grassington.
 Of course,as always,some lovely birds were seen and this included 3 Dipper,3 Kingfisher a couple of Grey Wagtail and at least 10 Goosander.
 The Dippers showed particularly well and included 2 singing males at Linton Falls and at Hebdon,but today the scenery was the star turn and it's not that often i say that over our feathered friends.
 The following are a selection of photos from our day.

The Start Of The Walk At Burnsall.

The River Wharf At Burnsall.

Fantastic Dipper Habitat Along Many Stretches Of The River.

A Glowing Horse Chestnut.

The River Wharf At Grassington.

The River Wharf At Linton Falls.

The River Wharf At Linton Falls.

Some Stunning Riverside Scenery Near To Hebdon.

Riverside Reflections At Burnsall.

The End Of The Walk Back At Burnsall.

Bonby Carrs,Saturday 4th November 2017.

After a fairly wet start to Saturday,the promise of the weather clearing saw me heading over to Bonby after lunch to see what avian delights i could find,the following sightings are what i encountered.
 After parking at my usual place beside the Soak Drain,i set the scope up and had a scan around,with nothing too exciting on view i began my walk towards the Ancholme.
 There seemed to be birds all over today,with a good sized flock of Starlings feeding in the wet pasture,totalling an approx. number of 3000 birds,an impressive sight and sound when they all took to the wing.It would be great to know where these beauties had originated,perhaps Scandinavia or maybe further east in Russia.
 The hedgerows seemed to hold more Reed Bunts and Yellowhammers as well and after spotting a couple of chunky Corn Buntings as on my last visit,i managed an excellent count of at least 35 birds today.The Bunts were all feeding in the wet stubble field as you walk down to the river and gave some nice views through the scope,i just love their 'Pit pit' flight calls,fantastic.
 Further on and scanning the wet pastures it was apparent wildfowl numbers had built up also with at least 400 Teal being seen and also the 10 Little Egret were still present.
 Best bird species of the day was seen next and as readers of my blog know,Whooper Swans are a personal favourite.Two birds flew in and past me as i neared the river and i managed a few flight shots as they passed me by and it looked like they landed,so more views later i hoped.
 Scanning of the river and bank side revealed a couple of Common Buzzards as they patiently watched from their perches for any movement below and overhead the first decent flocks of Fieldfare totalled at least 150 birds in several fragmented flocks.
 Walking back on the return leg towards the car,saw more of the same being recorded and thankfully the Whooper Swans were still present with them giving lovely views in the late afternoon light.A juvenile Marsh Harrier put in a brief appearance before it headed towards the river and off to roost no doubt at Whitton Sand or Reads Island.
 As i neared the car a flock of 80 Pinks flew in from the south and a quick scan revealed a White-fronted Goose in the flock and also a neck collared Pink.The former looked interesting and quite dark in appearance,with quite extensive belly barring,but to me the bill looked pinkish,very frustrating and massively cropped to see any detail on the back of the camera also,if only they had been closer.I also couldn't see any lettering on the Pinks neck collar.I will continue to look for these two birds throughout the winter and it would be nice to confirm the White-front as a Greenland,but I'm not certain it was one to be fair.
 Non bird sightings today included a massive count of 17 Roe Deer in the area and a single Brown Hare in the wet pastures at dusk made for a cracking visit,perhaps a tad frustrating regarding the Geese,but what a great place to visit.

Looking North Along The Soak Drain.

Part Of The Starling Flock.

The Two Adult Whooper Swans.

Some Great Cloud Formations Today.

A Great Scene As The Sun Disappeared Behind A Cloud.

The Pink Flock Containing The White-front & Neck Collared Bird.

White-fronted Goose Centre Of Photo.

Huge Crop Of The White-Front,Certainly Not Cut And Dried With Regards To ID.

Barton Wander & High Eske Visit,Sunday 29th October 2017.

The rare occurrence of being able to get out birding twice this weekend,saw me heading out to Barton for a change of scenery in the morning and also a walk with my sister up to High Eske NR in the afternoon,the following is what i,we saw.

As mentioned above,getting out twice was a bonus today and i headed over to Barton while Trace was catching up on her sleep after her night shift.
 I started proceedings by parking at the Pursuit Pit and headed west along the flood bank towards Far-Ings first.Quite a bit of vis-mig in the light northerly air flow saw at least 400 Wood Pigeons heading overhead and along the north bank of the Humber,with smaller numbers of Chaffinch and Starlings,but still no Hawfinches unfortunately.
 A nice feature of the morning also was the constant passage of Pink-footed Geese on their feeding flights from Read's Island,mostly heading east,but the odd flock flew across to the north bank and a few u-turned and headed back to their roost site at South Ferriby.A total of at least 1500 birds were observed which was a great sight to see and hear as they 'Wink winked' along their way.
 Another species which always brightens the visit along here,were the constant blasts of Cetti's song and without even trying hard i had encountered at least 6 males and a couple of spluttering females all calling from their scrubby and reedy hideaways.I did manage to see one birds arse end,a typical view i thought!.
 A single Marsh harrier flew over the river at Far-Ings,but little else was observed on Ness lake.The 'New Pits' were alive with birds,Wigeon,Teal,Tufties and some lovely fiery headed Pochard males all made for some lovely viewing,but sadly nothing of note.
 I then decided to walk up to Leggot's Quarry and back along the wold top back to the car,seeing at least 7 Redwing,a total of at least 15 Redpoll and a few Goldcrest.It was great to walk along Chowder Ness,Leggot's and Barton Cliff and it brought back some great memories,as in May 1994 i hit the jackpot along here finding an immature male Woodchat Shrike at Chowder on the 1st May and a few weeks later a stunning,singing male Golden Oriole in Leggot's.A bit of a purple patch for me and great to reminisce.
 Anyway back to reality and the normality of finding buggar all,i eventually made it back to the car,with the only addition to the rest of the morning being a Common Buzzard seen in Barton Cliff Quarry.

After lunch,Trace and myself travelled over to Beverley to meet up with my sis and Kev and we walked along the River Hull up to High Eske nature reserve and back from Tickton.
 We met up primarily for Kirst to try out her new camera and for me to offer any tips on how to use it(Don't know why she is asking me?).A few nice sightings in the now more blustery conditions included 2 Kingfishers,2 Common Buzzard and 7 Great-crested Grebe,but no sign of the Slav Grebe that has been about recently.

So a couple of outings today and still no Hawfinches,can't believe it to be honest,must try harder!.

Sunrise At Barton pits.

Wood Pigs On The Move At Barton.

North Ferriby,My Birthplace,A Long Time Ago.

Pinks Overhead At Leggot's Quarry.

The 'New' Pits Looking Good This Morning.

The River Hull At Tickton.

Common Buzzard Near High Eske N.R.

Rainbow At High Eske N.R.

'Lags' At High Eske N.R.

Gull's Following The Plough Near Tickton.