The sun was trying to break through on 23rd February as Brian and I parked up at Winter's Pit, adjacent to East Halton Marsh and tucked in under the Humber Bank. We deemed it too wet to walk along the track at the back of the marsh, in fact much of the marsh is totally flooded, to an extent that I had not seen before. It was a scene reminiscent of some of Peter Scott's wildlife paintings of bleak, flooded marsh with the sky full of wildfowl. Among many other species there were hundreds of wigeon, their whistling calls adding to the wildness of the day. Culews called as they flew back and forth and every so often a wheeling flock of lapwings would lift off, their strident peewit calls taking me back to my Lincolnshire childhood.
As we walked alongside the pit we caught a glimpse of a marsh harrier before it dropped down behind the trees. The pair of goldeneye ducks on the lake was particularly pleasing. I love the courtship display of the male bird as it thows back its head and splashes with its feet. The male is a handsome black and white with a greenish gloss on the head. The white patch behind the bill is particularly noticeable as are the black stripes on the flank. The female is more muted with a chocolate brown head and buff back and flanks. Both sexes have the stunning gold eye. Although a few birds breed in Scotland most are migratory returning to Scandinavia and northern Russia to breed in holes in trees by lakes or rivers.
Walking up onto the sea wall we were immediately blasted by the cold south-eastery wind which seemed to catches in both directions. We persevered, however, and walked up to the Skitter Beck where I was pleased to see that the avocets were back. All in all a good morning with 36 species seen.
No comments:
Post a Comment