Waxwings And Alkborough Bits. 30.11.12.

A day again to myself today,after a late night in Manchester to see the superb 'Keane',saw me dragging myself out of bed for a day in the sunshine,thankfully it was well worth the effort.I started by paying those stunners from Scandi a visit at Burton Stather and they put on a fantastic display as they fed on a Hawthorn hedge at the entrance to the village.There were at least 120 birds present today and i just enjoyed the sight and sound of these beautiful birds as i managed to get some nice images.It is looking like this is a major influx with several large flocks dotted around the County and the largest flock so far being seen in the UK being a whopping 1000 birds in Scotland.After getting my fill of these lovely birds i made the short journey over to Alkborough.After nearly breaking my neck on the way down the hill from the village to the flats due to it being totally frozen over i settled down to see what birds were on offer.I bumped into GPC who said he had seen both the Lesser Yellowlegs and Long-billed Dowitcher in the last few days,but sadly after much searching i couldn't locate either,but i did manage to see the two wintering Green Sand's.The site was totally frozen over so both may have had to escape to the Estuary.Some nice birds were still seen,as always here and included huge numbers of Geese on Whitton Sand,which consisted of the feral flock of Barnacle's,Pink-footed Geese,Greylag's and Canada Geese.A few raptors were seen also and included at least 6 Marsh Harrier,1 Common Buzzard and 1 of the male Hen Harrier's,the male Hen being a personal favourite,stunning!.The most notable passerine observed here today was a calling Cetti's Warbler close to the car park and was my first personal record of the species here,a notable record.It was soon time to go and pick her indoors up,but another enjoyable day out was had today.