Latest Local Patch Sighting's Update,November 26th & 27th,December 3rd,11th,17th & 18th 2022.

Another bumper compilation with the local patch yearlist now standing at an impressive 167 species,my best ever total.

The following is what i recorded on my 6 visits.

Saturday & Sunday 26th/27th November

Coverage of the whole patch on Saturday taking in Winter's,East Halton Skitter,East Halton Beck,Goxhill Haven and Marsh and back to Winter's,saw some great birds being seen and included a patch year tick in the form of a flock of 19 Russian White-fronted Geese(Albifrons).

The birds were first picked up on call as they flew over me while walking along Chapel Field Road at Goxhill,as they headed towards East Halton Skitter.

I later located them on a Winter Wheat Field adjacent to East Halton Marshes at dusk,enjoying some distant views of the birds.

Other species seen today,included GPC's stunning pale morph Common Buzzard which was watched 'worming' in a field adjacent to Witter Farms at Goxhill.

This bird is a proper stunner and is so confiding and i managed to take some superb video of it.

Other notables included 5 Common Scoter and 134 Goldeneye off Goxhill Haven,a Spotted Redshank also at Goxhill Haven,with another or the same bird at East Halton Skitter with 8 Ruff.

The day finished with a lovely adult Med.Gull coming into Winter's for a bathe before going to roost on the Humber.

An impressive 83 species were seen today,which is pretty good for the time of year!.

More of the same was seen on Sunday,which included the lovely Ruskies still,2 Barn Owl,a Kingfisher,Water Pipit and 3 Ruff at the Skitter,4 Stonechat and the first decent arrival of Winter Thrushes,which included 170 Fieldfare,22 Redwing,11 Song Thrush and 37 Blackbird.

Saturday 3rd December

A quieter visit today,compared to last weekend,but still enjoyable,with the Russian White-front's now tagged onto the local Greylag flock and were seen on Winter's today,a new personal species for the site.

It was great to be able to settle and study this presumed 2 pairs of adults with their 15 juveniles,the juv's are really appealing to me with their subtle ID characters of dark bill base and tip surrounding the orange bill,really smart birds!.

Other species seen included a pair of Ruff and a Barn Owl at the Skitter,2 Barnacle Geese with the Greylag flock still,a lovely Merlin along Marsh Lane,2 female Pochard on Winter's and the lovely sight of 7 Grey Partridge on fields next to East Halton Marshes.

Sunday 11th December

An early start as always today,saw a decent Goose day again on the patch,with the Russian White-fronted Geese still in residence,2 Barnacle Geese still with the Greylag flock,which numbered 450 birds today,26 Canada Geese and 1550 Pink Feet in the area also,the most for a few weeks.

On a Winter's a whopping count of 4 Pochard,saw a drake and 3 females present,a big number for here! and approx. 5000 Starlings coming out of the roost at dawn.

A pair of Stonechat and a Kingfisher were seen along the marshes at East Halton and some decent numbers of Thrushes were logged today and included 220 Fieldfare and 110 Redwing.

Saturday 17th & Sunday 18th December

With our coldest period of winter weather taking place over the last couple of weeks, Saturday's visit to the local patch was a nithering -5 at dawn,this coupled with a freezing South Easterly wind made it pretty cold to be fair.

The first birds i saw today were 2 Barn Owl,one over Winter's and a single hunting distantly at the Skitter.

Winter's was 90% frozen over apart from an area near the car park and all the birds were packed in here.

Amongst the flock,were a pair of Pintail,34 Gadwall,18 Shoveler,17 Wigeon and a female Pochard.

The Geese were around also on Winter's and included the now resident 19 Russian White-fronts,180 Greylag,2 Barnacle Geese with the Greylag flock,with a further 10 birds flying north  along the Humber.

Its difficult to ascertain whether the latter are wild or not,as there are so many feral populations in the country,but are nice to see all the same.

After wandering around Winter's,i decided to cover the fields up towards East Halton village in the quest to try and find a patch Waxwing in amongst the flocks of Felfare's and Redwings,but no such luck infortunately.

All was not lost though,as i flushed a cracking Woodcock from its daytime roost,what a belting bird they are when seen in broad daylight,when you can study those stunning plumage details.

Also seen over the same fields,was a cracking Peregrine which caused havoc amongst the local Lapwings and Wood Pigs.

A wander around the Skitter pools and Skitter shore,saw 2 Water and a single Rock Pipit being seen along with 2 Marsh Harrier,27 Skylark and 45 Stock Dove were on the fields here.

Sunday was a repeat of the previous day,with the wind slightly less biting as Saturday.

A total surprise while driving along Marsh lane before dawn,saw a Jack Snipe nearly flying into the car,as it was flushed from the roadside dyke.

I have spent hours trying to find one at the Skitter and along the saltmarsh up towards Goxhill and then i go and flush one in the car!.

A good number of Redwing were logged today and mainly involved birds moving south along the Humber floodbank,with 35 At Winter's,184 along the marshes between Winter's and the Skitter and at least 30 at East Halton Skitter,an amazing sight to see and no doubt a cold weather movement as the birds search for Hawthorn's to plunder......still no Waxwing though unfortunately.

Another effort to find something around the Skitter pools,did the trick today,as a cracking male Snow Bunting was found feeding at the end of the track to the Humber,i tried to get near it for a pic,but it unfortunately had other ideas and duly bogged off along the saltmarsh towards Goxhill.

Well what a great series of visits again,what a cracking patch i've got and long may it continue.

Unusual Cloud Formation,Over East Halton & Killingholme,26th November.

Barnacle Geese Near Winter's Pond,26th November.

A Phonescoped Photo Of The Stunning Pale Morph Common Buzzard,Goxhill,26th November.

The Humber Floodbank,Near Dawson City,26th November.

Ruins Pond,26th November.

Skitter Road,East Halton,27th November.

A Stunning Sky At Sundown On The 27th November.

Sunrise Over The Humber On The 3rd December.

Watching The Humber From The Car,3rd December.

A Distant Record Shot Of Some Of The Local Roe Deer,3rd December.

A Partially Misty Start To The Day,11th December,Winter's Pond.

Fog & Sun Over the Humber,11th December.

Phone-scoped Shot Of The Sun Through The Mist,11th December.

Fog Rolling Back In At East Halton Skitter,11th December.

Winter's Pond,11th December.

Winter's Pond,17th December.

A Heavy Frost 17th December.

The Thaw Beginning On 18th December.

Local Patching Update - 29th & 30th October,November 13th,19th & 20th 2022.

 A bumper post on the last 5 visits to the local patch at East Halton/Goxhill,with the patch year list now standing at a cracking 165 species,the following are the highlights of my visits:

Saturday 29th October

A very wet visit today,saw me starting proceedings as always at Winter's first thing,bright and early.

The main highlight was the young female Blue-winged Teal still in residence with the Shoveler gang,albeit on the rear pond,so not viewable from the main track and car park.

Other bits here included 6 Pintail,3 Siskin which flew south,2 female Goldeneye and an increase in Blackbirds and Robins.

I persevered through the wet and walked up to the Skitter,covering the pools,seeing 1 Water Pipit and the very welcome sight of 5 lovely Twite feeding along the track from the gas compound.

It's always a real pleasure to see these lovely little moorland Finches and i left them to feed after getting a few record shots.

I then carried on up towards Dawson City along the saltmarsh in the hope of a Jack Snipe,but only managed to find 7 Stonechat,which was nice all the same.

The Dawson City area was fairly quiet,apart from a flock of 6 Bearded Tit which flew up high south,before piling into another reedbed at great speed,like little exocet missiles.

The last leg back towards Winter's along the mit site,saw a flock of 7 Little Egret taking advantage of the wet conditions,no doubt bringing plenty of worms to the surface of the grass.

Sunday 30th October

A drier day today thankfully,saw a repeat of the previous day at Winter's with our star American visitor still present,showing nicely on the main lake from dawn.

Also around Winter's were 4 Pintail,2 Marsh Harrier,a Great Spotted Woodpecker and 7 Ruff along the Humber,shoreline near the seaplane jetty.

A wander along Marsh Lane and Skitter Road,saw the best bird going to a Great-white Egret which flew north and then north east,before i lost sight of it,a really exceptional year for the species here,long may it continue.

Four Stonechat and a Water Pipit were the only highlights at the Skitter today.

Sunday November 13th

A cracking start today as i approached Winter's car park,saw a Long-eared Owl hunting along the roadside ditch,before flipping over the hedge into the rough grass field next door.This could be the bird i saw back in January,in relatively the same place.

It was pretty foggy to be fair today,but we still had a couple of hundred metres visibility thankfully.

No sign of the BWT on Winter's today,but 2 Barnacle Geese and 16 Shoveler were on the main lake.

We stuck at it,heading up to the Skitter,then down along past the gas compound and along East Marsh Road up to Goxhill Haven.

A nice Spotted Redshank,with the Redshank flock just west of Goxhill Haven was great to see.

As we walked between Goxhill Haven and Dawson City,the very welcome sight of a flock of 18 Snow Bunting appeared,but they were very flighty,not allowing a close approach at all,but just great to see all the same.

Also along this section were 5 Rock Pipits together.

As we walked past the long wood and towards the Skitter,that welcome chuntering call of Brent Geese could be heard and sure enough,22 Birds flew past towards the Skitter,my largest flock here to date.

These birds no doubt getting lost in the misty conditions.

After enjoying the lovely Brents,the next goodie was a cracking Short-eared Owl watched hunting,before it crashed down and caught a Vole,another nice bird to add to the day's sightings.

Saturday November 19th

A good forecast today for pushing birds up the Humber from the sea,saw a very good visit with a total of 5 year ticks being noted.

The first few hours were spent parked up on the flood bank at the Skitter as some proper heavy rain along with a fairly brisk south easterly breeze did the trick bird wise.

First goodie,was a smart 1st winter Little Gull watched feeding along the shoreline,as it flew along picking food items from the surface of the mud and water,what a smart bird.

More scanning followed,with another good bird picked up,as a Red-throated Diver passed by north,really high up,before i lost it over Saltend,GPC later saw the bird up at Barton.

Next was a species i had hoped for today,as 3 Little Auks whizzed past along the shoreline,before again being lost in the rain towards Goxhill.

These lovely diminutive Auks are such smart birds and it reminded me of when i saw my first sighting of the species here in November 1987.

Also from my position,other sightings included a Redhead Red-breasted Merganser,3 Goldeneye,7 Kittiwake and 3 Common Scoter.

Eventually the rain eased and i decided to drive around to Winter's.

After getting plenty of warm kit on i spent some time scanning the main lake and soon came across the now familiar sight of our female Blue-winged Teal.

It does make me wonder where she disappears too,as the previous week there was no sight of her anywhere,perhaps she goes onto the mitigation site,as the water level is building up nicely on there now.

Other birds on and around the main lake,saw a Great-white Egret being seen,female Pochard and 2 gorgeous drake Pintail.

I then reached the flood bank and got back to scanning the Humber,quickly seeing a couple of biggish flocks of Common Scoter,in total numbering 128 birds,a few more Kittiwakes and then the best bird of the day,as a brute of Great-northern Diver appeared from the north,low over the water,before gaining height and i lost it going past Killingholme Haven.

GPC had seen a bird on the Humber earlier off The Deep,but this bird headed south east inland from Graham's position and it makes me wonder if it cut back to the Humber,or this was a different bird.

More scanning saw the final addition to the year list being seen,as a female Scaup was picked up flying in from the direction of Killingholme,before it settled with the Scoter flock.

Also around were 7 Dark-bellied Brent Geese,which settled on the Humber off Winter's and a gorgeous juvenile Peregrine which flew across to Yorkshire.......what a day!

Sunday 20th November

A much quieter day today,but still enjoyable as the wind had swung around to the south west.

After arriving a later than normal today,i spent the day around Winter's and the mitigation area seeing a decent variety in species.

Highlights at Winter's again included the lovely female Blue-winged Teal,as she showed on and off on the main lake,sometimes disappearing onto the rear pond.

The female Pochard was still here,along with a single Cetti's Warbler and 2 Marsh Harrier.

A scan from the flood bank saw a pair of Goosander heading north,approx. 320 Pink-footed Geese in the area along with a decent count of 390 Wigeon on the Humber.

Some good coverage of the mitigation site,saw a few nice birds which included a single Dark-bellied Brent Goose,3 pairs of Stonechat and a gorgeous Barn Owl hunting distantly.

More waders are beginning to use the site again now the water levels are raising and included 36 Curlew,7 Redshank and 140 Lapwing,which were great to see.

Well what an epic series of visits putting me now on 163 species for the year and again proving this area really does provide some really good birding and just goes to show what you can see when you put the time in.

Twite,East Halton Skitter,29th October.

Distant Record Shot Of 2 Of The Snow Buntings From The 13th November.

Male Stonechat,East Halton Marshes.

Female Blue-winged Teal,Winter's Pond.

Yours Truly Watching The Humber On The BIG Day,19th November.

Winter's Pond,What A Cracking Place!!!!,20th November.

Beautiful Bolton Abbey,Sunday 06.11.22.

After enjoying a lovely breakfast after our stay in Leeds to see the superb Biffy Clyro in concert the previous evening,Tracey and myself travelled over to the Bolton Abbey estate for the day.

On arrival after the relatively short journey,through some worrying banks of fog it has to be said,we arrived at Bolton Abbey,got the walking boots on and we were off.

The forecast for today had said light rain showers and that was pretty much spot on,but we still enjoyed our visit to this beautiful area.

I really do like visiting here in autumn,purely for the stunning autumn colours and it being such a photogenic place.

We also managed to see some nice birds,albeit not the lovely Pied Flycatcher's and Redstarts we see in the spring and summer months on our visits here.

Highlights went to some off the expected residents here,including a lovely Dipper splashing about catching it's breakfast,a Red Kite overhead,Goosander,18 Mandarin Ducks and a lovely Kingfisher which i enjoyed showing a young lad and his family through my binos.It was just great seeing the families faces seeing their first Kingfisher.....very rewarding!.

But of course the glowing sight of the autumn leaves in the sunny periods were just fantastic to enjoy and i could'nt  help but keep stopping and taking photos,with the Beech trees looking particularly superb.

The following are my favourite photos from our day and we look forward to our next visit.

The View Along The A59 As We Approached Bolton Abbey.

Rosy Bonnet,A Stunning Little Fungi.

Grisette,A New Species Of Fungi For Us.