As usual the first couple of weeks saw some of the best birding of the year.

1^st A few birds were flying south during the day, including 3 Whooper Swans, 73 Pink-footed Geese, 55 Skylarks, 4 Swallows, 8 Meadow Pipits, 385 Starlings, 172 Green Finches, 47 Gold Finches, 128 Linnets and 2 Twile. Not many grounded migrants around, but a Short-eared Owl, a Ring Ouzel and a Lapland Bunting were seen.

2^nd A few more grounded migrants around – a Jack Snipe, a Stonechat, a Ring Ouzel, 35 Blackbirds, 40 Redwings, 35 Chaffinches and 5 Snow Buntings and 128 Skylarks flew south.

3^rd A large increase in migrants along the peninsula, with Thrushes coming in throughout the day – 13 Woodcocks, 8 Ring Ouzels, 3500 Blackbirds, 600 Fieldfares, 80 Song Thrushes, 800 Redwings, 4 Blackcaps, 5 Long-tailed Tits and 12 Bramblings. Quite a few birds also flying south – 12 Whooper Swans, 490 Pink-footed Geese, 122 Wigeon, 45 Teal, 55 Skylarks, 2 Swallows, a House Martin, 25 Meadow Pipits, 75 Green Finches, 23 Linnets and 17 Snow Buntings and 465 Starlings came in off the sea.

4^th Quite a clearout of grounded migrants, but some new birds in – 28 Woodcocks, a Short-eared Owl, a Shore Lark, 5 Stonechats, 3 Ring ouzels, 200 Blackbirds, 25 Fieldfares, 10 Song Thrushes, 100 Redwings, 9 Blackcaps, 4 Long-tailed Tits, 6 Bramblings and 5 Snow Buntings. More birds were flying south today – 6 Whooper Swans, 56 Pink-footed Geese, 6 Sparrowhawks, 6 Kestrels, 210 Skylarks, 10 Swallows, 3 House Martins, 150 Meadow Pipits, 14 Rock Pipits, 19 Jackdaws, 46 Rook, 530 Green Finches, 168 Gold Finches, 11 Siskins, 21 Linnets, 8 Twile and a Lapland Bunting and offshore a Great Northern Diver flew south, a Black-throated Diver north and 30 Little Gulls south.

5^th A quieter day – 10 Whooper Swans, 97 Pink-footed Geese, 8 Bonxies, a Swallow, 72 Meadow Pipits, 11 alba Wagtails, 508 Green Finches and 4 Snow Buntings flew south and a Great Northern Diver flew off the Humber.

6^th Another excellent day for grounded migrants, with several species occurring in amazing numbers for the time of year – 2 Water Rails, a Jack Snipe, 28 Woodcocks, a Long-eared Owl, 2 Short-eared Owls, a Richard’s Pipit, 65 Robins, 6 Black Redstarts, a Redstart, a Whinchat, a Wheatear, 13 Ring Ouzels, 600 Blackbirds, 450 Fieldfare, 557 Song Thrushes, 735 Redwings, 57 Blackcaps, a Pallas’s Warbler, 8 Chiffchaffs, 30 Goldcrests and 16 Bramblings. 1500 Starlings flew south as did 2 Pomarine Skuas and 48

Black-tailed Godwits came in off the sea.

7^th Another very busy day with a further increase in some species of grounded migrants – a Jack Snipe, 15 Woodcocks, 2 Richard’s Pipits, 400 Robins, 3 Black Redstarts, a Stonechat, 4 Wheatears, 7 Ring Ouzels, 500 Blackbirds, 3000 Fieldfares, 130 song Thrushes, 800 Redwings, a Whitethroat, 40 Blackcaps, 2 new Pallas’s Warblers, a Willow Warbler, 300 Goldcrests, 3 Firecrests, 14 Bramblings and 30 Reed Buntings. Offshore a Black-throated Diver, 53 Wigeon, 60 Teal, 6 Scaup, 2 Long-tailed Tits, 17 Goldeneyes, a Pomarine Skua, 19 Arctic Skuas, 74 Bonxies, 43 Little Gulls, an Iceland Gull and 3600 Kittiwakes flying north.

 

8^th Another very busy day with plenty of grounded migrants around – 12 Woodcocks, 2 Water Rails, a House Martin, 2 Richard’s Pipits, 150 Robins, 5 Black Redstarts, a Redstart, a Whinchat, a Wheatear, 7 Ring Ouzels, 1000 Blackbirds, 160 Fieldfares, 190 Song Thrushes, 250 Redwing, a Reed Warbler, 26 Blackcaps, just 1 Pallas’s Warbler, 3 Chiffchaffs, a Willow Warbler and 50 Goldcrests. 10 Skylarks and 1285 Starlings came in off the sea; a Black-throated Diver, a Long-tailed Duck, 25 Goldeneye and 23 Bonxies flew south, with 2 Great Northern Divers, 197 Eider and 2 Long-tailed Ducks flying north.

9^th A lot less grounded migrants around – a Hen Harrier, 3 Woodcocks, 85 Robins, 4 Black Redstarts, a Ring Ouzel, 400 Blackbirds, 210 Fieldfare, 60 Song Thrushes, 160 Redwings, 12 Blackcaps, 3 Chiffchaffs, 45 Goldcrests and 12 Long-tailed Tits. 5 Twile flew south.

10^th The only grounded migrants left of any real note were 2 Woodcocks, 2 Black Redstarts and 40 Goldcrests, but quite a bit more flying south than of late – 15 Whooper Swans, 781 Pink-footed Geese, 50 Woodpigeons, 168 Skylarks, 6 Swallows, 108 Meadow Pipits, 13 Rock Pipits, 825 Starlings, 256 Green Finches, 92 Gold Finches, 9 Siskins and 81 Linnets.

11^th A few more grounded Migrants again – 3 Water Rails, 8 Jack snipe, a Long-eared Owl, 65 Fieldfares, 160 Redwing, 100 Robins, 23 Blackcaps, 3 Chiffchaffs and 2 Firecrests. 24 Shags, 174 Pink-footed Geese, 76 Teal and 600 Starling flew south.

12^th Again a few more grounded migrants – 2 Jack Snipes, a Richard’s Pipit, 3 Black Redstarts, a Ring Ouzel, 110 Fieldfares, 20 Song Thrushes, 18 Blackcaps and 6 Chiffchaffs. 150 Pink-footed Geese and 215 Wigeon flew south, as did 2 Little Auks, the first of the autumn, with a freshly dead corpse found on the beach as well.

13^th A big clearout of grounded migrants, the only birds of note seen being 2 Swallows, a House Martin, 45 Siskins and 3 Twile flying south, and 9 Snow Buntings on the beach.

14^th 3 Sparrowhawks, 28 Linnets and 11 Twile flew south, a Great Northern Diver and a Little Auk were on the Humber and 12 Long-tailed Tits were seen. An incredibly late Barred Warbler was seen just outside the observatory’s recording area in Kilnsea.

15^th A few more grounded migrants around again – 2 Water Rails, 6 Woodcock, 35 Robins, 250 Blackbirds, 385 Fieldfares, 100 Redwings and 5 Blackcaps.

16^th 14 Long-tailed Tits were on the point.

18^th A Great Northern Diver flew north.

19^th A good raptor day with a Marsh Harrier, a Hen Harrier and a Buzzard flying south.

20^th 11 Snow Buntings flew south.

22^nd An excellent day for movement offshore, with 31 Pink-footed Geese, 24 Shelducks, 504 Wigeon, 191 Teal, 21 Mallards, 13 Pochard, 14 Tufted Ducks, 17 Scaup, a Long-tailed Duck, 9 Velvet Scoter, 61 Goldeneye, 10 Red-breasted Mergansers, 15 Grey Plover, 1048 Lapwings, 80 Knot, 15 Sanderlings, 2230 Dunlin, 11 Snipe, 21 Bar-tailed Godwits, a Greenshank, a Pomarine Skua and 13 Little Gulls all flying south.

23^rd A Great Northern Diver was on the Humber.

25^th A Pomarine, 3 Arctic and a Long-tailed Skua all flew south as did 8 Twile.

26^th Offshore 3 Great Northern Divers were flying up and down, a Red-necked Grebe, and a Puffin flew south, a Long-tailed Duck flew north and 211 Lapwings came in off the sea. A Black Redstart, 2 Ring Ouzels and 30 Song Thrushes were seen and a very late Greenshank was on the Humber.

28^th A Harvest Mouse nest was found.

NOVEMBER MAXIMA FOR THE HUMBER

Brent Goose 266 Golden Plover 2600

Shelduck 16 Grey Plover 169

Wigeon 120 Knot 18000

Teal 10 Sanderling 99

Mallard 48 Dunlin 2000

Scaup 18 Bar-tailed Godwit 249

Eider 6 Curlew 242

Common Scoter 60 Spotted Redshank 1

Velvet Scoter 2 Redshank 885

Oystercatcher 1000 Turnstone 42

Ringed Plover 45