Wild Weather,Seabird Mega & More Local Patching.......21st,27th & 28th November 2021.

More visits to the local patch over three days/2 weekends,with some proper wintery weather and storm Arwen delivering a proper seabird to the patch on the 27th,the following is what i saw over the three visits.

Sunday 21st

A brisk northerly/north westerly airflow and showers saw me starting the visit today parked on the floodbank at the Skitter first thing.

Highlights from my viewpoint here included 3 female Common Scoter loafing on the Humber and 3 Whooper Swans,2 distantly flying down the estuary and a single flying along the mitigation area.I wondered if this latter bird,is the same single which has been visiting the patch for the past 3 years,always on his or her own.

After the early rain had subsided,i drove around to Winter's,got wrapped up and the water proof on and began my visit proper.

A good selection of birds on the main lake included 67 Wigeon,9 Little Grebe,27 Coot,16 Shoveler and a good count of 76 Gadwall.I also managed a good count of 12 Cormorant,the most i have recorded on the site in one go.

After looking around Winter's i decided to cover Marsh Lane and Skitter Road,with no real surprises seen,it was just nice to cover a different area of the patch for a change.Highlights went to 12 Reed Bunting in a flock along Marsh Lane and 2 lovely Common Buzzard in and over Redhouse Wood were having some sort of dispute,with lots of mewing calls.Two doe Roe Deer were also seen along the edge of the wood,just lovely to see as always.

After dodging a large shower,i eventually arrived at the Skitter and spent a good amount of time looking around the pools etc.

Best birds seen here were 6 Twite,which flew towards Goxhill Marsh,the second record of the autumn of this lovely moorland Finch and also the resident pair of Stonechats showed uncharacteristically well,unfortunately it was too windy to try and get some video of them.

The usual suspects of 2 Water Pipit were seen in flight as usual around the pools,with 16 Avocet,3 Knot,2 Rock Pipit and 300+ Dunlin around the haven.

Saturday 27th

An all day watch from dawn until at least 3pm from the floodbank at the Skitter in the car as storm Arwen battered us with a force seven northerly and heavy rain,saw that travelling out in extreme conditions can pay divedends and i wasn't totally mad.

First blood from the seabird world went to 2 Pomarine Skuas as they chased gulls off Killingholme Haven,providing me with my first sighting of the year of this species and my fourth species of Skua for the year here,but better still was to come.

While scanning the estuary,i had 2 tantalising glimpses of a Petrel lifting off the waves very briefly and at first i was convinced it was a Leach's,but the viewing was certainly not easy in the heavy wind and rain,i prayed it would show again.

Thankfully,I then saw the bird again,this time there was no doubting what it was,as a Storm Petrel flew close by along the tideline past my position,to say i was chuffed to see this bird was an understatement.A new species for not only the local patch,but also for Lincolnshire as well!.

I saw the bird a further 2 times and even managed to get some pretty decent video of it with my phonescoping set up,what a little cracker!.It just amazed me how this diminutive seabird just flew into a howling northerly with such energy and when you think they are not much bigger than a House Martin,they are defintely made of steel!.

This species is a pretty rare bird in Lincolnshire,with some years not even recording any birds in the county at all and it began to sink in what a great find it was.....thankyou storm Arwen!.

Other sightings from my viewpoint included a Redhead Goosander,female Common Scoter and a single Sanderlng.

Sunday 28th

A much calmer affair today with a force 4 north westerly,saw me watching the estuary from Winter's to start with in the hope some seabirds or wildfowl may be re-orientating after the previous days wild weather.There had also been some light snow overnight and a good frost covered the ground,making driving a bit hairy in places.

First goodie was a cracking drake Long-tailed Duck which flew up the estuary at mid distance,a welcome addition to the year list and another great bird to see.

Also from my viewpoint here,a single juvenile Gannet flew up the estuary and then back out again,a single female Common Scoter was seen again as the previous day and an adult Kittiwake slowly flew out towards Killingholme.

Other bits seen included a good passage of 'Big' Gulls,which included 322 Herring,15 Great black-Backs and smaller numbers of Common and Black-headed Gulls.

After a good 2 hours,enough was enough and the cold got to me,so i decided to walk up to the Skitter.

A good look around here,saw the best sighting going to 4 Pale-bellied Brent Geese as they flew out south towards Killingholme,a decent sighting for here,as Pale-bellied birds are far less common than there Dark-bellied relatives.

Also around the Skitter,the resident pair of Stonechats had survived the previous days storm and an adult female Marsh Harrier also passed by towards Goxhill Marsh with a full crop.

In the Haven,75 Teal,250 Dunlin and a handfull of Redshanks fed in the relative shelter and along the bushes a few winter Thrushes included 5 Redwing,a single Fieldfare and 23 Blackbird making the most of the winter crop of Hawthorn berries.

A wander along the mitigation area back up to Winter's saw a further 2 Marsh Harrier being seen and included a 2nd calendar year male and juvenile/1st winter bird.

Other sightings included another pair of Stonechat,180 Starling,88 Rook and 4 Roe Deer.with the 2 Barnacle Geese still being present with their noisy Greylag cousins.

On my return to Winter's for the second time today,saw a lovely Woodcock being seen as it flew out of the ditch i was walking along and 150 Wigeon,single Great-crested Grebe,70 Mallard and 52 Gadwall were counted.

The Great-crested Grebe,i thought had gone,but may have been on the rear pit on my last visit.hopefully they will breed next spring.

A fantastic trio of visits to the local patch,with the Storm Petrel being the obvious stand out sighting,this puts me on 213 species for the patch life list and the Long-tailed Duck putting me on a patch year list record of 158 species.Lets hope i can reach the 160 species target i set myself for the year list 4 years ago.

Red House Wood,21st.

Ivy,A Very Important Shrub In Late Autumn/Winter,21st.

Lovely Autumnal Colours On This Hazel Leaf,21st.

The Grange And Skitter Road,21st.

The Grange And Skitter Road,21st.

In Coming Storm,Skitter Road,21st.

More Wild Weather At The Skitter,21st.

In Coming Storm Over The Mitigation Area,21st.

 

Watching The Humber From The Car,27th.

My Viewpoint On The 27th.

The Humber Floodbank Looking Towards North Kilingholme Haven,28th.

The Skitter Haven,28th.

WEBS Weekend & More Local Patching,Saturday 13th & Sunday 14th November 2021.

Two visits to the local patch this weekend provided more great local birding,the following is what i saw over the two days.

Saturday 13th

I arrived just before it was beginning to get light,to a bit of drizzle and slight mist,which wasn't forecast,oh well.

It soon stopped and as i was getting the gear on in the car,first a Woodcock shot across the car park and into the adjacent stubble field,followed by a cracking Short-eared Owl which flew over the car and proceeded to hunt the rough field just to the west of the car park,it then moved onto the mitigation site.

After getting the kit together,a quick cursory scan of the main lake,saw 2 lovely Redhead Goosander in residence along with 49 Tufted Duck,37 Coot and the 2 adult Great-crested Grebes.

More prolonged views of the Goosander showed one of the birds as being a 1st winter drake and the other a female and they showed nicely in the early morning light,the first records here so far this autumn/winter.

Other nice sightings here consisted of the drake Pochard still with his Tuftie buddies,a brief Kingfisher,7 Little Grebe and 3 lovely Pintail which headed onto the Humber.

Along the hedgerows and in the plantation area,it was apparent that there were quite a few Thrushes about,with a decent count of 34 Blackbird,with 4 Song Thrushes and a single Fieldfare also.

A scan along the Humber shore up towards Killingholme,revealed a few waders and ducks feeding,which included 130 Lapwing,34 Redshank and 103 Teal.

A female Common Scoter also flew up the estuary,which was nice to see,my first for a few weekends.

I decided to then cover the mitigation area and walk up to the Skitter along here,hoping for something nice to be found.

The 2 Barnacle Geese were still here with the 'Lag' flock,along with at least 43 Wigeon,42 Teal and 8 Shoveler.

Passerines included a good count of 100 Goldfinch,in flocks of 45,41 and 14,10 more Blackies,3 Mips and a pretty decent count of 40 Skylark spread over the site.

Upon reaching the Skitter,i decided to walk around the pools and up to Dawson City along the Saltmarsh,the usual suspects were encountered and included a good count of Snipe,with 40 being seen,5 Rock pipits,1 Water Pipit,a male Ruff,23 Avocet and a pair of Stonechat.

Further on and up towards Dawson City 77 Teal were seen,another Short-eared Owl was accidentally flushed from its daytime roost and a flock of 500+ Pink-footed Geese headed onto the fields they were feeding on,on the previous weekend.

Another male Stonechat was in one of the reedbeds,as i left the flooded saltmarsh,with another Rock Pipit being seen also.

Dawson City held a few birds which included my first flock of Redwing,with 10 being seen,a single Cetti's Warbler sang and a Little Egret fished on the very small area of open water where the hide used to be.

More of the same was seen on the return leg back to Winter's,apart from a good sized Cod which i was shown by a visiting fisherman and 2 Dark-bellied Brent Geese which did a couple of circuits of the mitigation area and promptly flew off towards the Skitter.

An hour spent around Winter's before i left to pick Mrs R up from work,saw a 1st calendar year Marsh Harrier hunting around the rear pit and it flushed all the wildfowl onto the main lake.

A good look through them didn't reveal any unusual species,but i managed a record count for the site of 93 Gadwall,along with 138 Wigeon and 28 Shoveler

Sunday 14th 

An almost still morning as i arrived today at Winter's and after getting the drink and pack up in the rucksack and plenty of warm clothing on,a quick look on the mitigation area as it started to get light,saw 2 Short-eared Owl hunting distantly,presumably the 2 birds from the previous day.

A minimum count of 1875 Pink-feet flew out of the roost at Paul Holme Strays,considerably more than the day before.

A bit more diversity in the species around the bushes at Winter's included 2 each of Siskin and Lesser Redpoll,along with 38 Blackbird,4 Song Thrush and 5 Redwing.

The Song Thrushes being the oily plumaged continental birds we so often see at this time of year,just stunning!.

The mitigation area held a few nice birds which included the now resident duo of Barnacle Geese,60 Mallard and a singing male Cetti's Warbler in the ditch bordering the site.

Some good coverage of the Skitter saw a superb array of sightings today,which included 2 Dark-bellied Brent's again,which flew up the estuary after touching down at the Skitter briefly,a pair of Stonechat again,2 Water Pipit around the pools and at least 10 Rock Pipit today,including a flock of 6.

An inspired walk along the track passed the gas compound,saw me finding one of the rarest birds I've seen on the patch this year,a Willow Tit.

It was seen associating with a small Tit flock and is the first i have recorded on the patch since 2019.

Also along the same area were a Chiffchaff and 3 Jay squawked in the nearby wood along the beck.

Back to the Skitter and watching the saltmarsh i picked up a stunning female Hen Harrier hunting and she gave some cracking views before flying along the shore towards Dawson City,what a great day i was having!.

More sightings around the Skitter before heading back towards Winter's,included 32 Avocet,one of which was colour-ringed with the combination of Lime over a silver ring on the left leg and green over yellow on the right leg and i'm still awaiting details on the bird.

Also on the Humber here,was a flock of 4 Goldeneye(1 drake and 3 female's) and 250 Teal along the shore up towards Goxhill and 197 Dunlin.

A watch for 30 minutes or so from the floodbank at Winter's saw 7 Common Scoter flying up the estuary,with the flock comprising of 2 gorgeous drakes and 5 females and 3 Goldeneye were on Winter's,an adult drake,1st winter drake and a female.

The last hour or so of light before i left for home,saw a superb raptor and Owl show on the mitigation area which included 2 Short-eared Owl,2 Common Buzzard,2 Kestrel,a male and female Sparrowhawk,male and juvenile Marsh Harrier and a cracking Merlin,the latter watched mobbing one of the Short-eared Owls and also just for good measure a Green Sandpiper dropped in on one of the pools...what a superb end to the day and another brilliant couple of visits to my superb patch.

Fiery Morning Sky On The 14th.

Lapwing In The Early Morning Light On The 14th.

Grimsby Dock Tower Taken From Near Winter's Pond On The 14th.

Autumnal Colours On This Field Maple At East Halton Skitter On The 14th.

Phonescoped Drake Teal,East Halton,14th.

Phonescoped Short-eared Owl In Almost Darkness On The 14th.

Local Patching Update,Sunday 31st October & Sunday 7th November 2021.

A couple of visits to the local patch at East Halton/Goxhill,with the 31st October being particularly productive with me adding 5 year ticks to the patch year list,putting me on a respectable 154,pretty decent considering the autumn hasn't been the best on record.

The following is what i recorded over the 2 visits:

31st October

A very wet forecast for today from 9ish onwards until 1pm,as we were battered by a gale force south easterly and heavy rain,had the desired affect,pushing some seabirds up the Estuary.

To start i met up with Jon at Winter's and we made our way down to the floodbank while it was still getting light,to count the Pink-feet coming out of the roost at Paul Holme Strays as part of the Icelandic Goose Survey.

A total of 994 birds came out,a fairly low count compared to previous years,i wonder where the rest of the bird are this year?.

All was not lost though as a couple of year ticks were added as we watched,3 Dark-bellied Brent Geese which flew north up the estuary and a cracking juvenile male Hen Harrier which flew out of the mitigation area and across to Yorkshire.The latter was a nice surprise and continued the trend of birds passing through the patch in October/November.

A few bits on Winter's included a lovely drake Goldeneye and 3 Pintail,with the pair of adult Great-crested Grebe's still here and now fully moulted into their winter plumage and later in the day,some fantastic views of Icelandic Black-tailed Godwits feeding on the grassland near the car park.

As the rain arrived,i decided to go and park on the Humber bank at the Skitter and watch the estuary on the rising tide.This proved very fruitful with several good birds.

Seabirds kept coming and going in the banks of heavy rain and included new birds for the patch year in the form of a single Bonxie and Red-throated Diver,with other species including a Juvenile Arctic Skua,6 juvenile Gannets,Guillemot and an adult Kittiwake.

While sat in the car a flock of waders came into view and a quick scan through them revealed a cracking juvenile Curlew Sandpiper,a species i thought i had missed on the patch this year.I even managed to get some nice video of the bird as well.

Eventually the rain stopped and i drove back up to Winter's to meet Jon again,on the way seeing a Badger trundling along the road near the Beck,a great daytime sighting!

From Winter's we walked up to the Skitter and back,just in case the Curlew Sand was still around,but it had moved on.The wind had also swung around to the south west,now and the seabirds had dried up,as so often happens here.

A scan of the mitigation site last thing,had me finding a cracking female/imm. Merlin and a male Stonechat,a cracking end to a brilliant days birding on the patch.

7th November

A much more difficult visit today meeting up with Jon in strong westerly,then south westerly winds making it hard going at times.

It was still an enjoyable day,with some effort put in,i still managed to pull out a few decent birds.

The best of which were 4 Brambling found with a mixed Finch flock down Goxhill Marsh,one of the birds being an adult male and was an absolute cracker!.

Nearby was a good sized flock of 720 Pink-footed Geese feeding on a Winter Wheat field,giving some lovely scope views and i thought to myself they wont be on here long when the farmer sees them.

Goxhill Haven and Marsh held a few waders on the dropping tide,which included 500 Lapwing,16 Grey Plover and smaller numbers of Dunlin,Ringed Plover,Turnstone,Bar & Black-tailed Godwits.

The saltmarsh near Dawson City had flooded and was alive with Black-headed Gulls,with a minimum of 720 in the area along with 37 Geebs.

A single male Ruff was seen here also,with a further 2 seen flying north at the Skitter.

Small numbers of wildfowl on Winter's still held the 2 adult Great-crested Grebe,8 Little Grebe,a drake Pochard,a pair of Goldeneye and 37 Coot.

Highlights from the mitigation area today included 2 un-ringed Barnacle Geese,45 each of Stock Dove and Goldfinch,54 Curlew and 5 Marsh Harrier were watched going to roost near to Goxhill Haven.

Another couple of enjoyable visits to the patch.

Sunrise On The 7th.

The Flooded Saltmarsh On The 7th,Near To Dawson City.

Ruins Pond,7th.

Storm Clouds On The 31st October.

Rainbow Over The Humber,31st October.

Flamborough Flycatcher & Stunning Chat......Saturday 6th November 2021.

 After hearing the incredible news that another Taiga Flycatcher had been discovered at Flamborough,only 19 days after the last bird at the Lighthouse Headland,my priority was to see this bird and finally add it to my Yorkshire list.

After finishing my nightshift at midnight on Friday night,i travelled home and got a few hours sleep.

I woke up at 5,got the car loaded up and off i set to Flamborough full of anticipation that the Flycatcher was still going to be present,as it had been seen until dusk Friday evening.

There was also the prospect of seeing my 5th Red-flanked Bluetail as well at South Landing,so a great double was on offer.

On arrival at Flamborough,there were quite a few people present and we all made our way to where the bird had been seen.

I spent a good while looking along with Lee Johnson and after an hour and a half it wasn't looking good and we all split up to look around,after re-grouping Lee spotted the Bluetail near the picnic tables,so all was not lost and i watched my 5th Bluetail as it flitted about around the bushes and scrub trying it's best to evade the attentions of one of the local Robins.

After enjoying some views,i decided to do a circuit of South Landing and after getting to the top of the steps at the eastern end,i again checked for any bird news and the Taiga Fly had been refound!.

I made my way around to the whale bridge area to find the crowd assembled and so ensued the next 4 hours or so of watching the Flycatcher mostly above our heads as it caught several Bluebottles,but i did manage to get some decent phonescoped footage of it as it appeared at eye-level for about ten minutes.

After getting my fill of this cracking little Flycatcher,i decided to try and get some more views of the stunning Bluetail.

Talk about active,it never kept still,but the weather was probably playing a part in that with the strong wind and number of people present,but it gave some cracking views in the binos at relatively close range at times,what a beautiful bird these gorgeous Chats are.

With patience though,both birds gave themselves up on today's visit and made for a very enjoyable twitch and nice to see so many people connecting including several good friends.

The Flycatcher constitutes the 6th record for Britain of this far eastern species,but more incredibly,the 2nd of the year at Flamborough,proving this really is a special place for this species,after the first for Britain was also found here in April 2003.

Because i did not get any video or photos of today's Bluetail,i have attached a video clip i took of the species last year at Kilnsea,near Spurn.

After a great morning/early afternoon,i travelled home contented at seeing two more cracking birds in Yorkshire.

South Landing Scenery.

Baird's Sandpiper & The Idle Washlands - Monday 18th October 2021.

As i was on nights this coming week,i decided to drive over to the Idle Valley just over the border into Notts to pay the juvenile Baird's Sandpiper a visit.

After driving around grid locked traffic on the M180,i eventually made it over to my destination,Slayne's lane,part of the Idle Valley Washlands area.

A few cars were present and after seeing the smiling face of rarity finder extroadinaire Lance Degnan and he said the bird was still present.

I parked up and got the scope set up and saw the bird straight away,unfortunately it was asleep.....damn it,but the scalloped upperparts were still a giveaway,even at long range

A nice chat with Notts birder Nick Crouch,while the Baird's eventually woke up ensued,in between some lovely views of the local Great-white Egrets,with 8 on show,being the most I've ever seen together.

Back to the star wader,after being flushed along with all the other waders present after an unseen raptor?,it flew back in with it's Dunlin buddies and actually fed for a while.

The more horizontal feeding stance and longer wings being apparent and the more distinct head pattern standing out,thank god for 60x Zoom Swaro scopes.

It's amazing to think that this bird has hatched somewhere on the Canadian tundra a few months ago and is now off course thousands of miles from where it should be.

After getting my fill of views of this,my 3rd Baird's Sandpiper,with my last being at Hatfield Moor on the 10th September 2016 and my first being the bird at Kirkby Pits In Lincolnshire on the 22nd September 2005,i travelled home to get some rest before the dreaded nightshift.

As i didn't get any photos or video of this bird,due to distance and weather conditions,i have included a few of the Hatfield bird i took in September 2016.

Two-barred Warbler - Spurn - Sunday 17th October 2021.

After getting home from an excellent days birding on the local patch,on the evening of the 16th, i saw on Birdguides that a Taiga Flycatcher had been re-identified from being a Red-breasted Flycatcher earlier in the day at Flamborough and then a similar scenario at Spurn,Were a Yellow-browed Warbler had been re-identified as a Two-barred Warbler!!!.

The decision was made to meet Tim next morning at Spurn for first light,as the TBGW was a lifer for me and then if the Taiga is still at Flam twitch that in the afternoon.

Overnight,it had rained a little,but the moon was peeping through the clouds as i set off for Spurn....i prayed it hadn't been clear skies there.

I parked up on arrival at the Canal and as it was still dark,i dozed in the car hoping i would be adding this visitor from the far east to my life list.

Another car parked up behind me and it was TC.

As it became light slowly,but surely,it was don the waterproof jacket and join the small crowd of locals near the bunkers at the entrance to the canal bushes.

We waited in anticipation and suddenly a small warbler flew over the top of us and i commented that it looked interesting,a minute or so later and there it was,my first Two-barred Warbler.

The immediate thing that struck me on first views,was how white and flaring the supercilium was and the second wing bar just stuck out like a sore thumb as well.

The bird soon disappeared again,but was on show again shortly afterwards,sometimes at point blank range allowing more scrutiny of the salient features..I just couldn't get over how striking a bird it was with the white appearance of the super and wing bars standing out more,due to the lesser amount of any black in the wing and head pattern when compared to the other Asian Leaf Warblers i have seen,the bill also looked quite sturdy also,what a belter of a bird!.

Another positive from watching the bird was hearing it give it's disyllabic call on at least 3 occasions,it sounded like 'Tsi-li' to me,being a totally different sound to the Green Warbler from Buckton or the many Greenish warblers i have heard call over the years,what an absolute privilege to see and hear a bird like this.

This is the 2nd record for Yorkshire of this far eastern species after a bird at Filey found by Craig Thomas,which stayed from 16th - 18th October 2006 and is the 10th record for Britain.

It is also my 6th new bird of the year after the Franklin's Gull at St.Aiden's RSPB,Elegant Tern At Cemlyn Bay,Green Warbler at Buckton,White-tailed Lapwing at Blacktoft Sands RSPB and the Long-toed Stint at St.Aidens RSPB,couple that with seeing the Black-browed Albatross at Bempton,3 times this year,a flock of 9 Bee Eater and an adult Lesser-grey Shrike,.....what a year in Yorkshire so far and for the RSPB reserves!

After enjoying the eastern cracker and learning the Taiga Flycatcher at Flamborough had departed overnight,Tim and myself had a walk around seeing a few nice birds which included my first Snow and Lapland Buntings of the autumn/winter and also my first Brent Geese of the same period.

The following photos are taken by Miles Cluff and he has very kindly let me use some of them for my blog.

1st Winter Two-barred Warbler - Photo Courtesy Of Miles Cluff.

1st Winter Two-barred Warbler - Photo Courtesy Of Miles Cluff.

1st Winter Two-barred Warbler - Photo Courtesy Of Miles Cluff

Local Patching 16th & 23rd October 2021.

A couple of decent visits to the local patch along the banks of the Humber at East halton/Goxhill,with a few more additions to the patch yearlist putting me on 149 species with 2 and a bit months to go.

Saturday 16th

A good visit today starting as usual at Winter's Pond first thing,with some Mammalian sightings to start off with,2 Foxes,1 on Winter's itself and another hunting Voles in the stubble field near the car park entrance.

Two Roe Deer were also seen at the entrance to the Mitigation site,alway's great to see these.

It was quiet on the ponds again first thing,no doubt due to the continued shooting activities by a couple of idiots out of the village,but still the 2 Great-crested Grebe were still present and also a female Goldeneye.

I then made it up onto the floodbank and began to scan the Humber,quickly seeing 8 adult Whooper Swan on the mud towards the old Seaplane Jetty,as i slowly walked towards them,they obviously didn't like the strange person walking toward them and they were off and flew towards Killinghome haven.

Pink-footed Geese were heading in all directions and don't really seem to have settled into any pattern yet regarding feeding flocks.It doesn't help when they are being shot at either,i wish these arseholes would just leave them alone!.

As i walked back to Jean's cottage,2 Siskin flew over north,a new species for the patch year list.

I then walked along the mitigation area,seeing a lovely adult female Marsh Harrier hunting,followed by a lone male Stonechat and more Pink flocks.

Some good coverage of the Skitter area didn't really produce anything out of the ordinary,but i flushed an adult Water Rail as i walked and there was also15 Snipe and 5 Rock Pipits around the pools/haven area.

The resident pair of Mute Swans from the Beck,were here today,with their now fledged 9 cygnets and also 22 Avocet were feeding out on the estuary,my first decent sized flock for some time.

Now the gas pipeline has been completed,i decided to walk down past there and cover the fields/pig farm area as it looks really good for Buntings and Finches.

My hunch came true as i walked this area,with 2 Corn Bunting being seen with a flock of 14 Yellowhammers,the latter a rare bird on the patch.Also in the area were 55 Linnet,5 Tree Sparrow and a lone Lesser Redpoll.

The rest of East Marsh Road was a more mundane affair,but the lovely sight and sound of 100+ Rooks at the rookery,was great to see.

A flock of 173 Pinks were feeding in a stubble field near to Goxhill Haven,as i approached and a cracking count of 154 Turnstone along the shore,was my largest here for a long time.

The Sunflower field between the Haven and Dawson City was really productive last winter and again it is shaping up to be productive with 45 Greenfinch and 78 Linnet being seen.Hopefully it will have the desired affect and attract something rarer like a Little Bunting.

The area between Dawson and the Skitter,saw a few nice birds being logged and this included a pair of flycatching Stonechats.a Jay in the Long Wood and in the Ruins Pond area a flock of 14 'Pinging' Bearded Tit and my first Water Pipit of the autumn/winter passed overhead.

The latter flew into a field which slurry has been pumped onto at the rear of the pig farm and was also attracting a flock of 30 Black-tailed Godwit and 3 Ruff.

Saturday 23rd 

A good visit again,in,unfortunately south or south westerly winds,produced a bit of vis-mig as on my last visit,with today providing me with another year tick,this time in the form of a Brambling.

The bird was in the little copse near the car park at dawn,with those distinct 'Eeep' calls,before it promptly flew north west towards The Grange.

These lovely Scandinavian breeding Finches are almost annual here and are a joy to see and hear.

Also here was an unbelievable count of 37 Coot,this might not sound exciting to some,but the previous visit had only yielded 4 birds and just goes to show how these birds migrate,this being a record count for the patch.

Also on the ponds were the 2 resident Cetti's Warblers blasting away that distinctive song,2 Pintail,198 Mallard,46 Gadwall and flocks of Pink-footed Geese including 320,430 and 267 birds all heading south west.

A scan from the floodbank,saw a single eclipse drake Goldeneye on the Humber,a single Rock Pipit over north and a flock of 14 Whooper Swans heading south distantly and also a Grey Seal provided some welcome interest away from the birds.

A walk along the Mit site saw nothing out of the ordinary being seen,but 33 Skylark,87 Goldfinch and 14 Reed Bunting provided a bit of interest.

As i didn't want to walk too far today,i just wandered up to the Skitter and spent a good while covering the area.This proved productive,with 2 lovely Twite flushed to start with from the shoreline,they then settled on the track down to the Humber from the floodbank and i managed to take some shaky video in the blustery wind of these gorgeous little Moorland Finches.I watched them from distance in the scope and then all of a sudden they were off and flew towards Goxhill Marsh,dropping back in about 500 metres away.

The Twite were my 149th species on the patch this year,not a bad total considering autumn migration hasn't been the best so far.

Other nicities included a single Water Pipit around the pools and a lovely Redhead Red-breasted Merganser which flew towards Killingholme along the tide edge and also another flock of Whooper Swans,with 13 this time heading in the same direction as the Merg.

A walk along Skitter Road/Marsh Lane saw little of interest being noted apart from a couple of roving Jay's and a flock of at least 350 Wood Pigeon.

A lovely couple of visits to the patch,just great to get out and about on my little part of Lincolnshire.

 

Bolton Abbey & Strid Woods,What A Beautiful Day Out......Sunday 10th October 2021.

A visit to Bolton Abbey & Strid Woods along with Tracey and Clara,saw us having a lovely day out in some cracking weather.

In the morning after arriving,we got our boots on rucksacks together and walked through the woods and up to Bardon Tower and then back up to Cavendish Pavillion.

On today's visit we timed the visit just right as the weather was perfect and we spent much of our walk taking photos of the beautiful scenery.

The woodland is much quieter than when we visit in the spring,as all the lovely songsters such as Pied Flycatchers and Redstarts have long gone on their long migrations south,but we still managed to see Dipper,Grey Wagtail,4 Red Kite and 7 Common Buzzard,as well as the lovely Nuthatches & Coal Tits but the most numerous bird was Mandarin Duck with a huge count of 59 birds.

This latter count is the most Mandarins i have seen anywhere in the country,but i do have a soft spot for them with the males colourful plumage and the females are also really smart.

An interesting non-bird sighting was the remains of a couple of the invasive Signal Crayfish which an Otter had obviously caught and eaten on the river bank near Barden Aquaduct.

After completing the circular,we then walked up to Bolton Priory and the stepping stones for lunch,what a stunning area this is and is,in my opinion,worth every penny of the ten pounds entry fee.

On the way home we encountered even more Red Kites with 4 seen as we travelled through Harrogate and another 13 birds seen in a mile stretch near and around Wetherby services,the most i have seen for some time.

The following are my favourite photos from this lovely day out.

The Beautiful River Wharfe,At Cavendish Pavillion At The Start Of Our Walk.

A Lovely View Taken From The Barden Aquaduct.

Barden Aquaduct.

An Otter's Supper,The Remains Of A Signal Crayfish.

Just Beautiful Views From So Many Places Along The River.

The Famous Strid.

Stunning Autumnal Scenery At Every Turn.

Back To The Start Of The Walk.

The Stepping Stones With The Ruins Of Bolton Priory In The Background.

Bolton Priory With Barden Moor In The Bakground.

Some Of The Impressive Ruins.

Long Toed Mega!......St.Aidens RSPB,West Yorkshire,Saturday 9th October 2021.

The previous evening a possible Temminck's Stint quickly turned into a Least Sandpiper at St.Aidens RSPB near Leeds,which i though to myself i would like to see,but wanted to go to the local patch as well.....they'll be another i tried to kid myself..I then checked my phone again later at work and F... the Least Sandpiper had been re-identified as Britain's 3rd Long-toed Stint,this was serious!.

I got up next morning,went to the local patch and waited on news of the Stint and bingo,it was still there,so it was abandoned ship and head up the M62 towards Leeds.

As i had already been to St.Aidens to twitch the adult Franklin's Gull earlier in the year,i knew exactly where to park etc. and the bird was almost in the same area i had seen the Gull,so it was going to be a frantic walk.

On arrival i quickly got the gear together and i was off,a few happy faces and the welcome words 'It's still here',made me relax a little.

I eventually got to where people were viewing the bird,but it was pretty distant to be fair,but the jizz of the bird could be appreciated as it fed along with a small flock of Dunlin.

From distance it gave the impression of a diminutive Pec Sand or Sharp-tailed Sandpiper and then the whole flock flew up,it flew around a few times with the Dunlin and then broke away following a flock of Lapwing and landed on Astley Lake.

I made my way around to Astley,but the viewing conditions were not great,with you having to find gaps in the reeds,to view through as the bird fed on a small island in amongst the Lapwing flock.

Here the bird was closer,but still not as close as i would have liked,i then settled down to study this mega rare bird.

For most of the time i watched it,it had a hunched posture as it constantly pecked at food on the surface of the mud,with occasional neck stretches when it was spooked,it was at these times it looked quite long necked.It's legs were yellowish and had really long tibia,which probably explained the unusual,hunched feeding action.

Overall the bird was quite dark,with the dark centred scapulars,dark,tightly streaked cap with super over the eye and a trace of a split supercilium also,short dark bill,mucky looking breast band,which just looked like a block of grey feathering,rather than streaking as on Pec.

The Primaries were completely cloaked by the long tertials,giving a short winged impression to me and in some poses the bird looked as if it's head was too small for its body.

I spent a good two and a half hours watching the bird,but i had,had enough of the crowd by this time and i decided to call it a day and headed back to the car and home.

Other highlights seen while on site included a lovely juvenile Bittern,a party of 4 juvenile Spoonbills giving a couple of nice flypasts and a juvenile Goosander.

This constitutes my first sighting of the species and also the 3rd record for Britain and the first since a bird at Saltholme Pool in Cleveland in September 1982.

The bird breeds in sparsely vegetated marshes in the subarctic regions of far eastern Siberia and winters in India to South East Asia,Taiwan and Australia.

Local Patching Update - 2nd & 9th October 2021.

A couple of visits to the local patch,with the 2nd being pretty good it has to be said.The following is what i saw over the two visits.

 Saturday 2nd

An early start saw me arriving at Winter's for first light,getting the gear together for the day and heading along to the Humber bank,as the weather was looking promising for some seabirds on the Estuary.

On the walk to the bank,Winter's was fairly quiet to start,with the best sighting's going to an eclipse drake Pochard,a single Pintail,a few skeins of Pinks overhead and a hunting female Sparrowhawk.

A good scan from the floodbank,saw the best highlights being a Peregrine that crossed from Lincolnshire into Yorkshire and 2 Marsh Harriers,a female and juvenile passing over in the opposite direction,but little else was seen,so i retraced my footsteps back to the car.

While stood here,i noticed a Bittern directly across from the car along the edge of the small reedbed in the south west corner of the lake and it showed brilliantly,out in the open.While i was stood watching this,i turned around to see 9 adult Whooper Swans dropping in onto the lake....a nice flurry of activity i thought to myself!.

The Whoopers had a quick feed and bathe and they started trumpeting to each other and they were off again,heading south west,a beautiful sight indeed.

As the forecast was for rain from lunchtime onwards,i decided to head to the Skitter,along the mitigation site.

There was more water on here than my last visit and a few ducks as well,which included 42 Wigeon,52 Mallard and 48 Teal.

The Skitter was covered pretty well as usual,as this can be such a rewarding area,it was here that i saw the best bird of the day....a juvenile Long-tailed Skua!.

The Skua was picked up at half distance across the Estuary and gave some decent views being on show for at least 20 minutes.It was a dark juvenile and i watched as it flew along having a half hearted chase after a Black-headed Gull,which in turn chased it,typical LTS behaviour i thought.They just dont look as powerfull as their agressive cousins the Arctics,with a much more buoyant small Gull like flight.

After the star bird,a few Gannets were seen heading towards Saltend and i thought to myself,i will head back to the car and take shelter before the rain hits.On the way a lovely male Stonechat was seen flycatching along the edge of the Haven,my first of the autumn period.

I got back to the car,packed the gear away and drove around to the Skitter and got in position along the floodbank and just about on cue the rain arrived.

Over the next 3 hours this was my watchpoint and it was pretty productive to be fair with hightlights including 31 Gannets north and 25 south,3 Med.Gulls(2 Adults and a first winter),a single Guillemot and a Red-breasted Merganser,all these birds pushing up the estuary to escape the rough weather conditions at sea.

Before i left for home,i also saw a single Rock Pipit(The first of the autumn/winter period) and the lovely juvenile Whimbrel was still here also.

Saturday 9th October

Today another early visit to carry out my WEBS count was unfortunately cut short after i had completed it,due to a certain wader that had been found at St.Aidens RSPB near Leeds.

I still managed to see a Pintail,male Ruff and 3 Chiffchaff around Winter's,but amazingly none of the 5 Yellow-browed Warblers seen by an observer the day before,i want some of what he is smoking!!!!.

Another couple of visits to my little part of the Humber and i look forward to my next visit.