All around the Humberhead Levels - late Chiffchaffs, 1000s of waders, Whoopers and Great Egret on Gringly Carrs, and local waterways.

Mid November and a second wave of this blasted pandemic threatening to cause yet more hardship and suffering I found myself 'furloughed' again and spent a good deal of my spare time in and around the Humberhead Levels and Humber Estuary. Don't know about you, but when I think the Humber, I think 'mud' and lots of it - not a great tag line or an advert to draw in the tourists! Suits me but I suspect that I suffer from the same sort of unconscious bias, and although only mere 15 miles away as the crow flies, its far from a regular haunt. I should definitely make more of an effort!

Lapwings, North Cave Wetlands, 12/11/20

North Cave Wetlands, just inland from the Humber is most definitely somewhere I visit a lot, all the better on a sunny day and a convenient place to meet my old birding pal Mark before moving on. 

These Lapwings were looking resplendent with their iridescent plumage catching the light perfectly. Winter duck numbers have been building up nicely there recently with several hundred Teal and Wigeon along with smaller numbers of Shoveler, Gadwall, Tufted Duck and 5 Pochard

Common Teal, North Cave Wetlands, 12/11/20

Lots of Common Snipe there too and strangely enough they were nearly all huddled together on a small island with Teal. Don't bother counting - there were 21!

Common Snipe & Teal, North Cave Wetlands, 12/11/20

Common Snipe & Teal, North Cave Wetlands, 12/11/20

 

Other wading birds present included 10 or so Redshank and at least 3 Ruff. Other birds of note here included Siskin, Stonechat, Whooper Swan and a lot of Greylag Geese.

 

 

Me larkin about, Oak Hill CP. 12/11/20

Next up was a visit to a place neither of us had previously been to - Oak Hill Country Park, a former brickyard pond complex in Goole. A pleasant enough walk around and always good to go somewhere new but nothing much to report apart a Sparrowhawk, Great Crested Grebe and a few Tufted Ducks. If nothing else it was useful to get some location pics for my Yorkshire's Wildlife site. 

Oak Hill CP. 12/11/20

Oak Hill CP. 12/11/20

Oak Hill CP. 12/11/20

Looking out over the Ouse at Blacktoft, 12/11/20

We were hoping for a pub lunch at the Hope & Anchor at Blacktoft, on the banks of the River Ouse as it flows into the Humber, but sadly the pub was closed (sign of the times!). Always a good vantage point for watching the comings and goings on the river and views of Blacktoft Sands on the opposite bank, we made the best of the last rays of sunlight. It was cold and getting colder but we were rewarded by some mega Lapwing and Golden Plover flocks with c4,000 and c1,000 respectively, plus 4 Marsh Hariers and c1,500 Pink Footed Geese.

 

Far Ings, 17/11/20

A few days later I decided to pop over the Humber Bridge into Lincolnshire for visits to Far Ings and Alkborough Flats. I've been to both several times before but all too often these have been brief passing visits, so with an early start I was determined to give these two well known birding sites a good going over.

I was really hoping to get a Bittern and at Far Ings, but despite much searching and scanning, I was left empty handed and had to make do with good photo opportunity of a stalking Grey Heron.

Grey Heron, Far Ings, 17/11/20

Wrinkled Club, Far Ings, 17/11/20

Amazingly I noted a few still flowering plants around the visitor centre and wandering around the secluded tracks, a clump of fungi. Not been an especially good year for fungi this year to my mind with very few fungal displays on my regular patch. This one I've seen before, its a small delicate growth called Wrinkled Club.

Yellow Ox Eye Daisy, Far Ings, 17/11/20

The path that skirts the northern edge of Far Ings offers some great views of the Humber Estuary, the Bridge and across the reedbeds of the reserve, and as I was walking and admiring the views, I had a high flying big finch with prominent white wing bars flying over the Humber - a 95% Hawfinch for me but always flying away (one of those!). A few small flocks of Wigeon, Curlew and Redshank over the Humber and passing Pink Footed Geese overhead were enhanced by a lucky spot of a late Chiffchaff in with a tit flock. 

Wigeon, Humber Estuary, 17/11/20

I went into every hide and scanned, and waited, especially after talking to a chap who'd just seen a Bittern fly over and plop down into the reeds, but sadly I left with only record shots of the reserve and the ever present Humber bridge.

Far Ings, 17/11/20

 A brief stop off at South Ferriby en route to Alkborough produced the days best birds with 2 Spotted Redshank in with 40ish Common Redshank, c60 Avocets, 8 Black Tailed Godwit and plenty of Teal and Wigeon, all put up by a passing Marsh Harrier. 

Avocets, South Ferriby, 17/11/20

Teal, South Ferriby, 17/11/20

Pink Footed Geese, Alborough Flats, 17/11/20

Alkborough Flats is a large area of flood plains and reeds that sits on the southern bank of the Humber where the rivers Ouse and Trent merge. A well known Lincolnshire birding site with regular sightings of Bittern, Bearded Tit, Spoonbill as well as 1000s of wading birds. I certainly saw 1000s of waders, Golden Plover mainly and plenty of Pink Footed Geese, but alas not a sight nor sound of a hoped for Bearded Tit. I stayed dill dusk and counted 8 Marsh Harriers going to roost on the opposite bank at  Blacktoft Sands, and took some ok pics of the sun setting over the reeds.

Alborough Flats, 17/11/20

Golden Plover, Alborough Flats, 17/11/20

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Stonechat, Alborough Flats, 17/11/20

 

Sunset over Alborough Flats, 17/11/20

Sunset over Alborough Flats, 17/11/20

Humberhead Levels

 

The Humber Estuary is but a small part of the area known as the Humberhead Levels, some 2,000 square kilometers of flat land extending both and south of the Humber. The moors of Hatfield and Thorne along with Skipwith Common and the Lower Derwent Valley are the best known nature reserves but there are many good spots in between, and a second catch up with Mark in the month took us on a tour of some of the sites around Gringly Carr, Nottinghamshire.

 

 

 

 

 

Bird of the day was undeniably a late Chiffchaff in the late afternoon sun, calling away and feeding on apids in a sycamore tree.

Chiffchaff, near Hayton, 19/11/20

Great Egret, Gringly Carr, 19/11/20

A Great Egret by a drain on Gringly Carr was a notable record but too far away to get decent pic, unlike some of the 240 or so Whooper Swans we saw on wet fields. 

 

 

 

 

 

Whooper Swan, Gringly Carr, 19/11/20

I'm toying with the idea of buying a canal boat as a live aboard and I'm that thought was not lost on Mark as he took me down the Chesterfield Canal for the last part of our tour around.

Canal Boat on the Chesterfield Canal, 19/11/20

Lurker under the bridge, Chesterfield Canal, 19/11/20