Had a cruise around the Patch on Monday hoping for a few Migrants. I had to go to the Post Office at Ottringham to post my lads Birthday card, so I carried on down to Stone Creek. I'd not been down there for some time as the Farmers had ploughed the whole area. The drought had made sure there was little interest for Birds. I did record a Marsh Harrier and a single Curlew.
Halfway up the long straight of Cherry Cobb Sands Rd, I noticed a large "Dung Heap",... always worth a look! After a short while I spotted the hoped for Species...
 |
| Juvenile |
Pat Haven was VERY quiet so I moved onto Welwick. This proved to be a good move as on arrival I immediately had 2 Whinchats (P.99) on the fences and bushes!
A trio of Year Ticks!
A surprise if brief Short-eared Owl finished the visit off nicely.
A quick check of Cliff Farm on the way home produced a pair of Collared Doves (rare here)...
and a Whitethroat.
An excellent day.
Tuesday meant a trip to NDC. I started on the Platform in pleasant conditions as I wanted a view overhead. This paid off early with sightings of Peregrine and Hobby. No luck with Passerine migrants though. I gave it 90 minutes.
On returning to the car park I had another Hobby sighting. The Hide proved quiet on this visit although a big surprise was the appearance of this Great White Egret briefly at the Northern end...
Thursday had me back down on the Humber. I returned to Welwick curious to see if any of Tuesday's Birds were still around. Almost immediately I had a SEO briefly along the Floodbank. I concentrated on the fenced off area and soon had a Wheatear and a Whinchat. Possibly all the same Birds as Tuesday? I stayed around for a couple of hours finishing with 2 Whinchats. The undoubted highlight of this visit was my first Green Sandpiper in Britain for FOUR years!!! The bird flew out of the drain and over the hedge infront of my car. A VERY distinctive Species. On the way home I checked the fields and finally got close enough to a Mediterranean Gull for a decent pic...
I returned to Duff early on Friday arriving around 8. I was going to try the Platform again but a Mobile home was parked in the corner, so I headed for the Hide. I'd only been in there some 10 minutes when a Hobby flew into my Scope view. I got stunning views as it flew over the Carrs and Trees to my left. Magic! Haydn then arrived with a bang, he'd just had a Redstart!!! Unfortunately despite a good search we couldn't relocate it. I only have one record here and it was a Tick for Haydn. An excellent find. It made me think if I may have seen it, had I walked to the Platform?
There were a few young Buzzards about some showing reasonably closely...
Just before Haydn left another Birder appeared. It was John Heaton who lives locally. It was great to see him as I hadn't bumped into him for quite some time. After Haydn left we had a good "catch up" discussing various topics. He conveyed his condolences regarding Buddy which was greatly appreciated. I could feel his genuine empathy.
He said some kind things about the Blog which meant a lot coming from a person of his stature. After he left I scoured the car park and surrounds for the Redstart after a heavy downpour but no joy. Maybe next time?
We enjoyed the appearance of a family of Deer which proceeded to roam the Carrs for quite some time...
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