Alkborough return and 'The Patch'....13.10.2012.

Bonby Carrs.

Bonby Carrs.

Mirid Bug sp. Phytocoris dimidiata.

With the prospect of a full day out today and after much consternation about were to go,Chris and myself decided to firstly visit Alkborough for the LBD and then spend the rest of the day on my patch at Bonby/Worlaby Carrs,it proved to be a good choice.On arriving at Alkborough,i decided to park at the northern end of the reserve,as on my previous visit,the Dowitcher was very flighty and i thought that it would be a good vantage point to look from the hillside.How wrong i was,as the bird was in front of the main hide.On arrival at the main hide we were then treated to some good views of the bird as it was watched feeding,sleeping and loafing,loosely associating with the other wader species present,but receiving some unwanted attention form several Blackwits.These views were a vast improvement on last weekends efforts and at least we could study this juv/1st winters plumage and i.d. features.Highlights also seen from the hide while we were watching the Dowitcher were 3 smart Curlew Sandpiper,at least 11 Spotshank,36 Ruff and at least 3 Marsh Harrier,the Spotshanks being particularly nice to watch as they caught several fish,lovely birds.After all this wader action,a well earned 'Full English' at 'The paddocks' was quickly demolished before travelling over to Bonby.As the weather looked pretty good,we decided to do the full patch taking in both Bonby and Worlaby Carrs and it was pretty good for my much beloved raptors with us recording at least 20 plus Common Buzzard,several Kestrel,Sparrowhawk,3 Marsh Harrier(Adult female type,Juv and adult male) and the cream of the crop,a stunning male Hen Harrier.The 'Hen' was watched hunting down at the river and gave amazing views,coming within 50 feet of us at one point,what a cracking bird and the best views i have ever had of a male Hen Harrier in 26 years birding!.It was interesting to note that on this male,he was showing some signs of immaturity still,with brownish feathering to the crown,dark trailing edge to the secondaries and fine barring to the tail feathers which was only seen when he changed direction and fanned his tail.All these identification points ageing the bird as a 3rd calendar year bird.Other nice sightings apart from the raptor fest,included 11 Lesser Redpoll,a pair of Stonechat in the pasture field at Worlaby,7 Song Thrush and a patch rarity,a Willow Tit near the railway bridge.So another superb days local birding was enjoyed and thanks for the company and brekkie Chris ;-).