After a particularly lovely festive period (more of that to follow), back to work yesterday. Minus five in the Yorvik 'burbs, 90 minutes later I was back on the (very) familiar territory of the industrial south bank of the Humber, specifically North Killingholme and its corridor of seawall and estuary sandwiched between factories and ferries.
An icy wind, snow showers, a deep frozen Haven and sunny intervals all figured on the day's counts, and it was fantastically birdy - big numbers of Teal (1300!), Lapwings, Curlews, Redshanks, Dunlins, plus lots of other action along the river and unfrozen sanctuary, and both Peregrine and Marsh Harrier tempted by the opportunities.
Additionally, the 'shoreline' of the riverbank - a strip of saltmarsh and detritus below the seawall - was a magnet for feeding passerines, which were mostly in one busy, roving flock: 10 Rock Pipits, six Meadow Pipits, five Robins, four Pied Wagtails, and a beautiful, sooty, tail-quivering Black Redstart were a joy to watch as they eked out a living along the strandline.
Locally scarce wildfowl including Gadwall and Shovelers, plus a tight flock of Reed Buntings and a procession of gulls upriver were also entertaining, with a bonus at the end of the day of a Jack Snipe (see below) skulking in the saltmarsh. A pleasingly birdy way to land softly back into the working year.
Rock (above) and Meadow (below) Pipits
Robins and Rock Pipits
Meadow Pipits (above), Peregrine attacking Dunlin (below)
Jack Snipe
Marsh Harrier
Peregrine
Reed Buntings (above), Redshank (below)
