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.
Today Tracey and myself planned to carry out a walk we had done once before, parking in Grassington and then walking along the River Wharfe up to Conistone, then across to Kilnsey Park, back to Conistone to Conistone Dib and over the hills and lovely limestone scenery and then back into Grassington.
We started by parking in the National Park car park in Grassington and then walked down to the River Wharfe. You then basically walk along the river taking in the impressive Ghaistrill's Strid before walking through Grass Wood and up to the lovely little village of Conistone.
This first section of the walk is lovely and when the river is in full flow, can be quite impressive.
A few nice birds were seen along this section and included 2 Dippers and a Kingfisher, as well as a couple of Grey Wagtails.
After reaching Conistone we walked the short distance over to Kilnsey Park, for some brekkie and a nice cuppa. On the way the lovely sight of 2 Red Kites and a Common Buzzard greeted us as we looked at the amazing limestone scenery of Kilnsey Crag.
After enjoying our nice stop at Kilnsey it was back across the fields to Conistone and then up the little limestone valley known as Conistone Dib. This section is quite steep for those who are not used to walking up steep areas, but the scenery is superb and reminds us of a mini Gordale Scar.
Eventually you come out of this limestone valley and the area opens up and you then follow the Dales Way across the open limestone landscape and back to Grassington.
This walk is a 10/10 for me, but for a rating out of 5 for difficulty it is a 3.5 as there are some challenging sections if you are not used to this terrain.
After arriving back in lovely Grassington we made our way back to the car, on the way we saw a very brief Hummingbird Hawkmoth and then we travelled back to Hebden for some tea.
The following are my favourite photos from our day.
Tracey and myself had booked 3 nights away in the lovely Yorkshire Dales, staying in the village of Hebden near to Grassington. So this morning we thought we would set off early as the weather forecast wasn't too bad and that we would travel over to Ingleton and then make our way back over to the cottage in the afternoon.
After arriving at our destination, we got our walking boots on and rucksacks and we were off exploring this superb place. I had forgotten how a challenge it is in places and there are a total of 1000 steps to climb around the trail.
The waterfall trail is always an enjoyable walk with the spectacular views of Pecca Falls and Thornton Force amongst others and we also managed to see a few nice birds which included a Dipper, Grey Wagtails and Buzzards.
After having some lovely food in the village we headed over to Burnsall and spent half an hour or so taking photos of the old bridge there, what a picturesque little place this is.
The following are my favourite photos from our first day.
Another month over which ticked along nicely on the local patch, with a few more additions to the ever growing year list, which now stands at a respectable 152 species with most of the autumn still to go.
Friday 1st
A wander around the Goxhill part of the local patch today, covering Goxhill Haven, Dawson City, East Marsh Road, Horsegate Field Road, North End, West Marsh Lane and Goxhill Tilery saw a decent 64 species being recorded.
The best of the sightings went to a Hobby watched hunting along Horsegate Field Road and 23 returning Turnstones at Goxhill Haven.
Thursday 7th
Another trip today to Goxhill, parking at the haven added some interesting sightings to the notes.
A decent number of Terns were off the Haven, with 37 Common and 3 Arctics being seen along with a juvenile Caspian Gull which flew west.
On the Humber a Great-crested Grebe floated along on the out going tide and the amazing sight of 5 Great-white Egrets was witnessed as they flew west in groups of 3 and 2 respectively.
A Bittern was also seen in flight here which was great to see.
10 Species of Wader were noted today also, with this including 2 Whimbrel, Common Sand and the first returning Bar-tailed Godwit of the autumn migration period.
The best of the rest, included a lovely juvenile Peregrine which flew west, occasionally attacking the local Gulls on its journey.
Saturday 9th
Today saw me visiting the East Halton area, with an early start paying dividends, with a lovely Badger being seen near Station House.
Winter's Pond provided the bulk of today's sightings with a huge count for the local patch of 34 Willow Warblers, also seen were 8 Lesser Whitethroats and 12 Chiffchaff.
Waterbirds on site included 22 Little Grebe, 10 Coot, 155 Mallard, 9 Mute Swans and the best, a lovely eclipse male Garganey. The latter showed mainly distantly on the far bankside, but was lovely to see.
Waders included 725 Icelandic Black-tailed Godwits, 2 Green and 7 Common Sandpipers, with singles of Whimbrel, Greenshank and Ruff also being logged.
Sunday 10th
A big tide this morning at Goxhill Haven, had the desired affect first thing, with a few Terns being seen, which included my first Sandwich Terns of the year here, with 3 being recorded flying east, along with 7 Common and a single arctic Tern as well.
Also around the Haven area were a Kingfisher, Peregrine, 177 Golden Plover, a single Common Scoter which flew out east and a record count of 58 Cormorant at the roost off Goxhill Haven.
Mammal sightings included a single Harbour Porpoise moving east off the Haven and a Weasel was watched near to Dawson City.
Saturday 16th
A return to the East Halton part of the patch today, saw a cracking 82 species recorded.
No real surprises were recorded today, but some great counts of species and some passage waders boosted numbers nicely.
Winter's held 1035 Greylags, along with my largest count here of 70 Canada Geese, 16 Moorhen, 15 Coot, 16 Teal, 23 Little Grebe and 16 Cormorant. A few nice Waders included 2 Green Sands, Common Sandpiper, 2 Ruff, a juvenile Little-ringed Plover and the first Snipe of the autumn.
A wander around the lanes in East Halton village, saw my second Green Woodpecker of the year being recorded along with a good count for the patch of 22 Blue Tit, 63 House Martins, 7 Lesser Whitethroats and a Hobby which shot over the marshes before i wandered back to the car.
Sunday 24th
More birding at East Halton again today saw the first returning Wigeon of the autumn being recorded at Winter's Pond, along with 12 Shoveler, 208 Mallard, a juvenile Pochard, 106 Canada Geese again breaking the patch record, 755 Greylags and 9 Mute Swans.
On the Humber, 11 Common Scoter drifted out on the dropping tide and Wader sightings today consisted of 4 Whimbrel, 3550 Icelandic Black-tailed Godwits, 124 Redshank, 5 Ruff, a single Knot with the Black-tails, 3 Green and 2 Common Sandpipers.
The best sighting of the day, went to a Guillemot sat on the Humber between Winter's Pond and the Skitter, becoming my first sighting of the year for the local patch list.
A walk back along the marshes, saw a lovely Clouded Yellow being recorded, my first local sighting of the year in what is proving to be a good one for the species nationally.
Saturday 30th
Full coverage of the patch today saw a good 84 species being seen. A distinct pick up in Wildfowl numbers was noticeable, with 2 Wigeon, 4 Pintail, 85 Teal, 29 Shoveler and 117 Mallard being noted.
Small numbers of passage Waders were also logged and included, 3 Ruff, Greenshank, Green Sand and 4 Common Sandpipers, with the only surprise being an adult Sanderling near Goxhill Haven.
3 Swift were recorded along Goxhill Marsh along with a flock of 39 House Martins and 85 Swallows.
The best sighting from a personal point of view went to 2 Ravens being seen, the first which flew in off the Humber at Winter's and then spent some time flying around the site before heading off south west towards East Halton village and the second which was seen near to Ruin's Pond and which then flew off towards Witter Farms. These became my 2nd and 3rd records here for the year after a pair in the spring on East Halton Marshes.
Other notables seen today were 2 juvenile Yellow-legged Gulls seen off Goxhill Haven and a lovely Grey Wagtail which flew along the Humber floodbank at East Halton Skitter.
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