Welcome To My Blog,This Will Be Mainly Used As A Diary For My Local Birding Patch At East Halton/Goxhill On The Banks Of The Humber Estuary,With Occasional Twitching And Visits Elsewhere Including Photos From Mine & Tracey's Walks And Holidays Around Our Beautiful Countryside.
A few days away with Mrs R, saw us having a lovely time in one of our favourite areas in the country.
Saturday saw us travelling from Leeds after a stay overnight to see the superb Keane in concert and our first port of call was the stunning Bolton Abbey estate.
We did our usual walk when visiting this beautiful area, parking in the village and walking along the river up to Cavendish Pavilion and then on up into Stridd Woods SSSI and back around in a loop.
The lovely scenery coupled with some great birds which included Pied Flycatchers, Dipper, Common Sandpipers, Redstart, Goosander and Grey Wagtails made for a cracking visit. This coupled with the stunning carpets of Wildflowers really make this a special place to visit.
After enjoying Bolton Abbey, we headed over in the direction to where we were staying for the night at Askrigg, stopping off en-route at the stunning Aysgarth Falls.
We hadn't visited the latter for a long time and it was brilliant to re-acquaint ourselves with this lovely area, with many photos taken.
After a lovely breakfast, Sunday morning saw us heading into Swaledale and Keld, to complete one of our favourite walks in the area, the Keld to Muker circular.
This takes in some cracking scenery, with its craggy limestone landscape, old lead mines and fantastic waterfalls.
We also managed a few birds along the walk which included several singing male Redstarts, a Dipper visiting its nest, and a flock of 5 Ravens.
Sadly after completing our walk it was time to head back south to Lincolnshire after a lovely few days away.
Another great month locally with the patch year list now standing at 130 species, the following is what i recorded.
Sunday 7th
A great visit today saw some nice birds being seen with the highlights on Winter's being a lovely Great-white Egret, my first spring record here, Great-crested Grebe, a drake Pochard and 3 Goldeneye with 12 Sand Martin, 14 Swallow and my first House Martins feeding over the main lake.
Along the floodbank and around the chimney scrub, there were 3 singing male Willow Warblers and a Siskin flew south.
The Marshes held a nice year tick in the form of a cracking male Ring Ouzel which was flushed from the northern end of the site, as it fed along the edge of the grazed sheep pasture.
Other birds on the marshes included singles of Ringed Plover, Dunlin, Black-tailed Godwit and a Peregrine causing the usual mayhem.
A great record was the sight of 10 White Wagtail feeding together, the most i had recorded here to date
Saturday 13th
A great start to the day at Winter's saw me logging 5 first records for the year in the first few hours which included 2 singing male Reed Warblers, 2 singing male Sedge Warblers and singles of Grasshopper Warbler, Lesser Whitethroat and a Whimbrel which flew south.
Other sightings included a Siskin which flew west and a lovely Harbour Porpoise watched as it moved south along the Humber.
It was fairly quiet on the marshes on today's visit, apart from a single male Wigeon.
At the Skitter another first for the year in the form of 2 Common Sandpiper kept things ticking over nicely and 3 immature Drake Goosander in the haven made for a welcome sighting.
Saturday 20th
A freezing start to the day today in 4 degrees c temps, northerly wind and showers, saw some good birds being seen despite the weather.
Highlights at Winter's were a NFY Lesser Redpoll which flew north, a cracking drake Garganey which flew off the rear pond on Winter's and onto the Humber with 5 Teal and 2 Whimbrel which flew north.
There were also a decent number of Hirundines today as well, with 57 Sand Martin and 23 Swallows watched feeding over the main lake.
Another year tick on the marshes came in the form of an Egyptian Goose with the local Goose flock, this also held a Pink-footed Goose.
Best species here today though, went to another 2 Ring Ouzels, as a pair were seen together in exactly the same spot as the bird on the 7th, cracking stuff!.
There was a big increase in White Wagtails as well, with 29 birds present today along with 3 Yellow Wagtail and 12 Black-tailed Godwit were also noted.
Saturday 27th
An even colder visit today than my last time out here, saw some great birds being seen again.
A lovely start at Winter's saw a Barn Owl hunting at dawn, my first for a while here, with 6 singing male Sedge Warblers now, 3 singing male Willow Warbler and a pair of Greylag with 6 goslings.
The marshes were again the place to be, with 18 Whimbrel, 8 White Wagtail and incredibly another Ring Ouzel, a male with 3 Fieldfare again at the northern end of the site.
In the afternoon i managed to find a lovely Wood Sandpiper, which showed distantly as it fed alongside the local Redshank flock. What a lovely species these birds are, one which i usually record in the autumn on the patch, so a spring one was most welcome.
A nice surprise at the Skitter today, was my first sighting of a Water Vole for a long time locally. It was watched along the edge of the pools giving great, but brief views.
Dawson City provided the only surprise along that area of the patch today, with a booming male Bittern being heard, a not always recorded species annually.
Sunday 28th
An evening visit for a few hours after heavy rain all day, saw some good numbers of birds again on the marshes.
The Wood Sand was still present along with 19 Dunlin, 34 Black-tailed Godwit and 3 Ringed Plover.
Wagtails were still showing well, with 8 White,5 Yellow and 4 Pieds, oh for a Citrine!
Hirundines showed in the best number so far this spring with 105 Sand martin and 44 Swallows.
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