Tuesday 14 November 2017

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.



No comments:

Post a Comment