Gibraltar Point Birding

 Arriving at Gibraltar Point too early for the cafe and coffee, Brian and I called in at one of theTennyson Sands hides first.  We were delighted to find Spoonbills straight away, 17 being present.  They were with quite a large group of Grey Lag and Canada Geese  There was also a large flock of Black Tailed Godwit and Avocet with a few lapwing.  There were a good number of Little Grebes along with a couple of snipe and a few eclipse plumage ducks of various species.  Before moving onto the cafe and coffee we paid a quick visit to The Mere Hide and were very pleased to see a couple of Ruff, 4 Spotted Redshank, some Dunlin and a couple of Greenshank.  I was especially pleased to be able to get to grips with the spotted red ID: the eye stripe and only the base of the lower mandible being red being particularly noticeable with the longe bill curved down at the tip.  They were noticeably pale but what was the real clincher for me was the way they were feeding very busily wading much deeper than the Common Redshank.  Although not wonderful quality I have included some images as record shots.

It was time for coffee, feeling pleased with the start of our day.  After coffee we wandered down to the bird observatory to look out over the marsh and Wash before walking through the dunes and back to our starting point where we checked out the hides again.  One thing we both noticed was the lack of small birds.  August is always a quiet time for passerines, but we saw virtually none.

We treated ourselves to lunch in the cafe and then walked out to Lill's Hut and the Wash viewpoint.  Here we caught up with the spoonbills again along with a group of seals on the banks of the Haven.

Although not the best for photography, we enjoyed an excellent day's birding.

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Avocet

Snipe

Snipe

Spoonbills

Spoonbills

Spotted Redshank

Spotted Redshank

Spotted Redshank

Sloes and Birds

 A couple of weeks ago we walked a section of the Nev Cole Way which finished on the edge of East Halton. The last mile or so took us along hedgerows thick with sloes so, wanting a late afternoon visit to Killingholme Have for the light we decided to retarace our steps and collect sloes for the winter Sloe Gin.  In a very short space of time we felt we had enough; nearly 6lbs in the event.  It's going to be expensive buying gin for that lot!!!

Returning to the car we drove the short distance round to Killingholme Haven Pits.  Annoyingly the hoped for golden light didn't happen as it clouded over somewhat, added to which very few birds were close enough for photography.  A couple of Little Egret and a Curlew did play ball but the remaining birds were a good distance away.  There were, however, the usual large flock of roosting Black-Tailed Godwit.  These are of Icelandic origin (Limosa limosa islandica), only a few British/continetal birds (Limosa limosa) breed in this country in the south east. Also present were Avocet, Little Redshank, gulls and Heron.

I was intrigued to see the channel which drains the pits at low tide snaking sinuously across to the sluice where it flows out; I had not seen this before even though I have been when there is very little water.  I loved the constant distant murmering coming from the Godwit as small flocks kept flying in showing their black tails beautifully.

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Curlew

Little Egret

Little Egret

Little Egret

Lunch at Winter's and a Walk to East Halton Skitter Ness.

 It was warm and sunny with no wind as we drew into the car park at Winter's today.  Heather and I had come prepared with lunch today to enjoy by the pond after our walk.  The grey lag geese and black-tailed godwits were back on the pit, although wild fowl were few and. as yet, in eclipse plumage.  For the first time I opted to walk along the back of the mitigation land, part of a scheme to mitigate for wild marshland lost to industry between Killingholme Haven and Immingham. There was little to see along here on this day, although the hawthorn hedges are full of berries and should attract winter thrushes in a few weeks.

At the outflow of the Skitter beck and all along the Humber mudflats were very large  numbers of black-tailed godwit along with gulls, avocet, redshank and curlew. In the outflow there was also a small group of common sandpiper - nice to see but too far away for photography.  Back at the pit it was pleasant to sit in the shade to eat our lunch before heading back for some food shopping on the way home.

Redshank

A Quick but Profitable Visit to the Humber Bank

I decided on a quick visit to Winters and the Humber Bank today to try out my new phone adapter with my 'scope.  This would appear to be a work in progress as does the camera adapter; as yet I am not convinced and will be sticking to the camera.  However, it turned out to be an excellent visit.  Winters turned out to be quiet, not just on numbers but on sound as well as the flock of grey lags were absent and there were no black-tailed godwits.  I was pleased to find a pristine willow warbler, though, perhaps one of this year's yong.

On a bit of a flyer, I drove up to Skitter Ness where I ran into Steve Routledge and Graham Catley who had found a wood sanpriper in the beck outflow.  There were also a few Icelandic Black-Tailed Godwit and some Redshank here.  

Again, moving on fairly quickly I drove to the hide at Killingholme Haven Pits where I spent half an hour.  There was the usual very large flock of Black-Tailed Godwits but at the far side of the pit so too far away for  camera photography but I did try a shot with the scope as well as a digiscoped video clip.  As well as the blackwith there were avocets redhsank and curlew among others.  The bubbling sound and plaintive call of the curlews echoed across the pits from time to time, a wonderful, magical sound.

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Distant Black-Tailed Godwit digiscoped.

Redshank

Redshank

Digiscoped video clip of roosting Black-Tailed Godwit.

Is the Butterfly Season Drawing to a Close?

 I had a walk around The Horsefield and the Woodland Burial Ground today and saw very little in the way of butterflies.  Wverywhere was dried to a crisp with no plants left in flower for butterflies to nectar on.  In total I saw 2 small white bordering the woodland burial ground and 3 male common blues.  This on it's own was pleasing though; common blues seem to have had a better year on the Horsefield than of late.  The Woodland Burial Ground produced a further 3 speckled wood and a handful of whites.  There were a good number of migrant hawkers on the wing, though, both in the woodland cemetery and the main cemetery.

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Migrant Hawker, Male

The Sturgeon Supermoon

 Another supermonn tonight; the last supermoon of the year.  This one is the Sturgeon Moon named by the Algonquin tribes in what is now the north eastern United States after the fish that were more easily caught in the Great Lakes and other major bodies of water at this time of year.  

The Photographers' Ephemeris told me that it would rise over the fields behind Scartho adjacent to the Horsefield so just as the sun was setting in the north west at one end of the fields we waited fro the moon to appear in the south east.  For once there was no bank of cloud on the horizon so we waited with anticipation.  A short while after the appointed hour we saw an orange glow behind New Waltham and then there it was: a deep orange-red orb haning in the sky about the fields.  It was a moving and magical spiritual experience and I could only wonder at the emotions felt by those Algonquin people so many years ago.

The next full moon is the Harvest Moon on September the 10th when we are at the caravan on the edge of The Lakes.  Fingers crossed for a clear night.

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A Very Pleasant Day at Rimac.

 It was a hot day yet again as I pulled into the car park at Rimac.  I had decided to make an early return visit to Saltfleetby/Theddlethorpe NNR to try to improve on my photographs of Wall Brown.  There were a lot about, but again they were reluctant to settle, especially with wings open.  There were large numbers of Common Blues which I was pleased to see and also many Ruddy Darters.  I was pleased to find Emerald Damselfly, although I had hoped it might have been a Willow Emerald.  It was beautiful walking south along the track on the edge of marsh and dunes.

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Common Blue

Common Blue

Common Blue

Common Blue

Emerald Damselfly

Emerald Damselfly

Moth waiting ID

Peacock

Peacock

Peacock

Peacock

Ruddy Darter

Ruddy Darter

Ruddy Darter

Wall Brown

Wall Brown

Wall Brown

Wall Brown

Humber Birding

 As I pulled into the small parking area at Winter's Pit I could see that there were large nubers of birds about; far different to my last visit when there were very few.  On first impression they seemed to be all grey lag geese, but when I set the 'scope out and scanned the meadow I could see that there were large numbers of Black-Tailed Goodwit amongst the Grey Lags and gulls.  On counting them I reached 100 and recorded the count as 100+.  What a wonderful site as many were still resplendent in breeding plumage. Unlike Bar-Tailed Godwit which have a beautiful breast and belly, the rufous marking on the Blackwit ends half way down the chest and becomes barred.  I scanned the water and found mallard, dabchick or little grebe, tufted duck and gadwall.  There were also over 20 Little Egret around the edge of the pit along with some Herons.

Gathering my kit together I made my way along the lake side and up onto the sea wall.  It was a particularly high tide so no mud for feeding birds which is why they were all roosting by the pit.  With few birds to see on the marsh I made my way down to Skitter Ness where East Halton Beck or Skitter Beck enters the estuary.  Here were another 167 Blackwit roosting on the small area of exposed mud.  I was also delighted to find a single summer plumage Golden Plover with a dark grey back but feathers edged with an ochrous yellow giving beautiful colouring. The belly and face are black and joined by a narrow black line set against white.  Fabulous.  Nearby was a summer plumage Dunlin respendent with black belly.

Arriving back at Winter's I could see that there were more Blackwit tucked under the bank that I hadn't seen earlier and I counted another 200+.  Some birds had moved nearer to the car park making photography possible and amongst them was a single juvenile Ruff.

Before returning home I called in at Killingholme Have Pits to check on a reported 1000+ Black-Tailed Godwit.  Reports were correct, what an amazing site.  There were also over 20 Avocet, Dunlin, Redshank, oystercatcher, a single Shelduck and a Curlew which came in close enough for photography and even sang it's delightful bubbling song for me.

What a day.

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Black-Tailed Godwit

Black-Tailed Godwit

Black-Tailed Godwit

Black-Tailed Godwit

Black-Tailed Godwit

Black-Tailed Godwit

Curlew

Curlew

Curlew

Little Egret

Little Egret

Little Egret

Ruff and Blackwit

Ruff, Lapwing and Blackwit