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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