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.