Far-Ings NNR....

A visit to my old patch at Barton today didn't exactly inspire,but a couple of decent sightings were recorded,the best of which was a single Common Buzzard watched being mobbed by a pair of Carrion Crows as it perched in the Blow wells,it then decided it had,had enough of this unwanted attention and headed for the Wolds.The other sighting of note was the superb male Smew watched swimming about on the Outdoor pursuit lake on his own,iam hoping he is still in situ for the big new years day bird count tomorrow so watch this space.Not too bad,but i am hoping for better tomorrow!

Worlaby Carrs.

An all day visit to the patch today got me some decent sightings over the 8 hours i was on site,the best of which for me,was a stunning pale morph Common Buzzard.It was first seen perched on top of a hawthorn in the direction of Broughton bridge and was being mobbed by a Kestrel,but later was watched attempting to hunt Wood Pigeons in a wood near to the railway crossing.When perched the bird has a white head and all white underparts,but it is in flight when it looks most striking,with an all white body and underwings,with small black carpal crescents,it also sports a white tail base and it made me wonder how long it is going to be before people are claiming a Rough-leg down here!!Other sightings still left from my recent visits included the 2 Whooper Swan near to the railway crossing,1 Green Sandpiper at the Ancholme,1 female Stonechat,4 Barn Owl,27 Curlew,14 Corn Bunting,11 more Common Buzzard and a huge swirling flock of 550+ Teal at the Ancholme which put on a fantastic show of aerobatics.New birds today included an adult female Marsh Harrier,a male Peregrine watched attacking,unsuccessfully,a flock of Woodies and singles of Kingfisher and Woodcock.Mammal sightings today comprised of a group of 5 female Roe Deer,8 Brown Hare and a Weasel.An enjoyable day,despite the weather forecast being cocked up again!!

Donna Nook And Covenham Res....

A trip down the coast today,with two sites visited and some great birds seen,this is what i saw.After arriving at Stonebridge car park at Donna Nook for first light,i made the decision to walk the foreshore area down to Pye's and back to see if i could find any goodies.The best of the sightings was a stunning male Hen Harrier watched hunting and perched on the ground at Pye's,it seems a long while since i have seen a male and you forget what a cracking bird they are!,with their lovely grey,black and white plumage,looking ghost-like as it drifted across the marsh .Also in this area were 2 Merlin,1 of which showed very well in flight at close range,the second bird being more distant and was watched chasing a Skylark over Grainthorpe Marsh,3 Lapland Bunting in a stubble field just to the west of Pye's and a massive flock of Dark-bellied Brent which totalled 1269 birds and also contained 6 birds of the Pale-bellied race.On the way back to Stonebridge other notable sightings included 35 Twite,just 2 Snow Bunting(south),100 Cormorant and 53 Pink-footed Geese(south,in two flocks of 37 and 16).After all this effort in the cold,it was time for some lunch and i enjoyed a hot cuppa before heading towards Covenham.
 On arrival at Covenham,a chance meeting with Mark had us walking around the res together and we enjoyed some excellent birds,with the following being seen.The best from a personal point of view was the continued prescence of the 2 juvenile Great-northern Diver,this time not being as confiding as on my last visit,with 1 of the birds being particularly difficult to get to grips with,with it almost continually feeding and we only saw it on two occasions.Also in the general area of the diver's was the single female Velvet Scoter which unfortunately was always distant,staying out in the middle of the reservoir,but you could still see the distinct head pattern and diagnostic wing flicking diving action.Thankfully much closer, was a single adult drake Scaup(with a first winter drake at the other end of the res)and 7 Goosander which showed superbly,the drake Goosanders being particularly smart,with their pinkish orange wash to the breast and flanks,bottle green head and strawberry red bills,both species being close to the yacht club buildings.Also seen today in with the resident Mallard flock was a very dapper drake Red-crested Pochard,my first for a year or so.A noticeable increase in duck numbers since my last visit which included 108 Tufted Duck,57 Goldeneye and 365 Mallard.Mammal sightings today included the expected huge numbers of Grey Seal at Donna Nook and a single Stoat at Covenham.An excellent day's birding.

Boxing Day sightings...

A visit today to the patch,to finally get away from all the christmas palaver,saw some decent birds being recorded, albeit nothing new being seen when compared to my last visit.There was the continued presence of the wintering Green Sandpiper,with the bird being seen in the small ditch which runs adjacent to the soak drain,with a Redshank for company and the 2 adult Whooper Swan where again on fields just past the railway crossing with the 15 Mute's.Other sightings comprised of a huge flock of Pinkie's coming off the wold top and heading toward the humber,with at least 1500 birds,an impressive sight,a single Merlin dashing across fields between the carrs and Bonby,the same 2nd winter male Marsh Harrier as my last visit and 3 Stonechat.Two of the three Stonechat(a pair),gave brilliant views along the roadside near the car park as they fed in and alongside the ditch there.Mammal sightings today included a couple of lovely doe Roe Deer which had been flushed by a shooting party and a single Brown Hare.A good few hours and a welcome respite from the mountain of Turkey and christmas TV.Bah humbug!!

The Big Freeze...

More local patch birding today after a brief visit to Barton(Seeing 1 redhead Goosander and a female Peregrine),i made it to the patch for 11.00 am.After putting back on the umpteen layers of clothing i began scanning the now white landscape for anything of interest,quickly seeing a couple of Barn Owls hunting,1 near to the car park which was carrying his lunch.It is amazing to see how well birds are lit up by the snow beneath them, i was watching a flock of Curlew flying about in the wet pasture,with their underparts gleaming white with reflection from the snow,making them look totally differant.Other goodies observed where a couple of Whooper Swan on a field just to the south west of the railway crossing with a group of 15 Mute's and nearby a female Marsh Harrier was watched hunting along the same fields.Also noticeable at the moment are the good numbers of Meadow Pipits which are wintering,with at least 20 birds being seen today,no doubt a sign of the overall warming of the climate,but it certainly didn't seem like it today!.Other minor highlights included a single male Bullfinch and a single Redpoll,both species not common down here,37 Snipe and a flock of 28 Corn Bunts,there was also 6 of the ever present Common Buzzards seen,my favourite bird by far.An encouraging 16 Brown Hare where observed today,lets hope they evade the coursers to breed next year!.A good few hrs despite the biting cold.

Worlaby-Bonby Carrs.

After yesterdays efforts down the coast, i decided today, to concentrate my time on the local patch,walking the full area up to Bonby Carrs and taking in the section of river between there and Worlaby Carrs and then back to the car park.For all the effort,i didn't see much out of the ordinary,the most notable sightings being a single Whooper Swan with 6 Mute's on the fields to the south east of the main car park and a single young male Marsh Harrier watched hunting the wet pasture before heading towards Elsham.This particular bird is quite interesting plumage wise and is just beginning to aquire 1st adult male type underwings,so must be a 2nd cal yr bird,it is interesting to note how variable the plumage can be at this age,with some birds showing grey areas in the upperwing,but this particular individual doesn't.Other sightings included a personal patch record count of Redshank,with 43 birds being seen down at the Ancholme and also down here a reasonable number of Teal,with 342 being counted.Other species observed included 3 Stonechat,23 Curlew,81 Yellowhammer,75 Pink-footed Geese,a single Kingfisher,3 Corn Bunting and 9 Common Buzzard.Non-bird sigtings today comprised of 5 Roe Deer and just 2 Brown Hare,the latter species no doubt down in numbers due to the fact they are being regularly hunted illegally,with me encountering 3 delinquents with lurchers at Bonby today,what a shame!Another good few hrs on the patch.

The Linc's Coast...

After hearing the 2 Great-northern Diver where still present at Covenham and also with a bonus of Water Pipit,Dave and myself made an early start heading for the res first.After arriving at Covenham,we got our gear together and made our way up the steps to the reservoir,being greeted at the top with the first bird we saw being a juv. Great-northern Diver feeding at very close range,what a start!After watching this bird,we quickly located the second bird,slightly further away.Both birds were juv's and gave great views,the first time i have seen more than one at a time in Linc's.After watching these monster water birds,we began our walk around this brilliant site,seeing at least 4 Grey Wagtail and a drake Pintail before seeing our next goodie of the day,a superb Water Pipit watched feeding along the concrete bankside,giving excellent views of this very smart species and it gave us both a great chance to study this sometimes difficult bird to get a good view of,we later saw 2 birds together near to the yacht club.We then carried on our walk seeing a large flock of 216 Cormorant and 65 Great-crested Grebe,i then spotted a Peregrine on the bankside,drinking and bathing and being curiously sorrounded by an interested audience of Coot,Tufted Duck and Goldeneye,i think things would have been differant if the Perg had been in the air,no doubt scattering  the duck and Coot in all directions.Our next decent bird was a single first winter male Scaup,watched feeding and loafing with a mixed flock of Tufties and Goldeneye,giving great views and a certain surprise shortly after,i heard a familiar call and a bunting flew in and landed on the bankside nearby,it was what i had suspected,a smart Snow Bunting and a  juv. male,we then watched it feeding on the bankside ,with the bird  showing very well,so a very productive 3 hours.We then made our way to Saltfleet and walked from the haven up to Howdens Pullover seeing several good birds,but no surprises, apart from a small flock of Eider,which contained 5 drakes and 4 hen birds making their way north along the tide edge.Other expected sightings,but nice to see nonetheless where the following,1 Grey Wagtail,1 Merlin,75 Twite,190 Linnet,20 Snow Bunting,3 Kingfisher and a super juv. male Peregrine watched attacking a flock of Redshank,the shanks taking evasive action as the Perg made it's attack,scattering in all directions,a couple diving into a small flash on the beach,fantastic stuff!!.A couple of notable mammal sightings during the day,included a Stoat watched chasing a Rabbit at Covenham for a good five minutes,a brilliant piece of action,the rabbit finally getting away and several Grey Seals with Pups out from Howdens Pullover.An excellent day's birding.

Barton Sawbills...

A visit this aft to Barton,mainly to see if the Drake Smew had arrived yet and to look for any Bittern action,resulted in me getting good views of the returning 'White Nun'.He was watched on the Hotel Pit adjacent to the Far-Ings nature reserve with 2 male Goldeneye for company,spending much of his time preening and getting his pristine plumage in good order ready for any passing female Goldeneye to display to as has happened in previous winters.This for me, is the most attractive species of duck to visit these shores and they are very smart indeed with their white,black and grey plumage.After watching the Smew i made my way around to Ness hide where very little was seen apart from a couple of brief views of a Water Rail and then just before i was going to leave,a couple of Redhead Goosander flew west over Ness lake,an unexpected bonus!,so 3 species of sawbill,pretty good stuff.A decent few hours.

The Patch...

After seeing the forecast last night Dave and myself headed for my local patch at Worlaby.We arrived on site just as it was beginning to get light and within five minutes or so of getting our gear on,we enjoyed good views of 4 Barn Owls hunting in the wet pasture field,the birds soon becoming scarce as it got light properly making their way to their roost sites.As we made our way across the wet pasture and down the side of the soak drain i noticed a group of swans feeding in a cabbage field and thought i could make out a Whooper Swan amongst them.As we got closer,another check through the scope revealed my suspicions were correct,with not 1 but 3 adult Whooper's feeding with the Mute's,a nice sight and chance to compare the two species feeding together.After watching the Whooper's we carried on through the wet pasture seeing a single Green Sandpiper and 3 flock's of Pinkie's flew north totalling an impressive 821 birds,the most i have seen on the patch up to now this winter period.After eventually making our way down to the Ancholme,the best sightings in this usually productive area were 2 Merlin,another Green Sand,15 Redshank,a single Kingfisher and 7 Little Grebe and we enjoyed excellent views of a small group of Stock Dove feeding on a winter wheat field nearby,the mettallic green neck patches showing up particularly well when the sun caught them,lovely birds and a species which is often overlooked.Very little was seen along the river apart from the afore mentioned sightings and we eventually arrived at Bonby Carrs where the main highlight was the large flock of mixed passerines which was feeding in 2 set asides and included at least 108 Yellowhammer,220 Linnet,180 Goldfinch and 20 Reed Bunting,all making for an impressive sight and not one we come across very often in this age of modern farming methods.On the last stretch back towards the car park the only highlight apart from the ubiquitous Common Buzzards  of which we recorded 15 today,were a single pair of Stonechat the only ones seen today and were watched sallieing for flies from a patch of reedmace and are always a joy to see.As we arrived back at the car park the last couple of hours of light were spent chatting to Ian and Kate and watching 3 Barn Owls hunting in the vicinity of the car park and soak drain and the Whoopers were just about sat in the same place as we had seen them in the morning.Non bird sightings today comprised of 4 Roe Deer in the wet pasture and at least 8 Brown Hare.A great day out again and some nice weather at last.