Migrants (very) welcome - Killingholme, 10th Sep '26

Back on the industrial South bank of the mighty Humber again today, surveying my stretch of the river - which, these pages tell me, has been the case for eight years now...

An unusually accommodating Cetti's Warbler 

Today (particularly this morning) was wonderfully busy birdwise, with a light southerly and cumulus cloud; after the typically grim commute from York, I was greeted by thousands of waders on the reserve and pleasingly active bushes, clearly holding migrant warblers; after my first full count, I pished out a healthy cast - Sedge, Reed, Garden, Willow, Chiffs, Cetti's and Blackcaps.

Not bad for an isolated, slightly crappy area of scrub sandwiched between factories, container ships and the muddy banks of the river - although that's surely why it attracts migrant passerines at certain times of year.

Common Buzzards on the move throughout the late morning 

Up in the clouds, my first skein of Pink-footed Geese yapped enthusiastically south-west (autumn's really here), and a passage of Common Buzzards soon developed - I had a minimum of 12 kettling ever higher and drifting south. Lovely stuff.

All of which was quite enough, but on the river, the waders multiplied as the tide slipped out - thousands of Black-tailed Godwits, hundreds of Avocets, plus Knot, Common Sandpiper, Ringed Plovers, Oystercatcher, many Curlews, and a small group of Dunlins: worth a grilling despite being a bit far out and in the heat haze.

PINKS! 

 Bingo - a beautiful juvenile Little Stint feeding with them (though only for 15 minutes or so).

  

Other signs of migration included a juvenile Pintail gunning south, lots of gulls on the move (including pristeen juvenile Common Gulls), a young Peregrine hunting Avocets, and visible migration continuing with lots of Swallows, Meadow Pipits, a few Yellow Wagtails, Linnets and Reed Buntings. A Clouded Yellow came in off the river, and I also snuck in an 8k run, in ideal conditions....

Opportunities for soaking up coastal migration - as regular readers will know, pretty much my favourite thing on this mortal coil - are greatly lessened these days, and with little chance to make the most of the last few weeks (a strong wave of early autumn landbird arrivals, followed by quality seawatching), I appreciate these 'work' days even more. No complaints - life changes, for good reasons - just a recallibration of expectations.

Full eBird checklist here. 
 

Sedge Warblers (above), Reed Warbler (below)

Chiffchaff (above), Reed Warbler and Blackcap (below)

More Cetti's!

Avocets, Black-tailed Godwits, Pintail