The Lincolnshire Bird Club

with some of the pits frozen and birds concentrated on the larger waters it was a good opportunity to walks around everywhere from Chowder to Barrow Haven and get a wildfowl count and do a bit of birding
Highlights were 201 Gadwall a new record total by quite a way
Coot 725 a high total but this was well down on the 1150 recorded in the previous week
Shoveler 50
Tufted Duck 73 and Pochard 115 both small fry counts compared to 10 years ago
Great Crested Grebe just 9 and Little Grebe 8 -- this was the highest winter count since the 2010 - 2011 winter that virtually wiped out the species up here -- winter totals often used to exceed 80 birds with 115 on August 15th 2002 and 38 pairs fledged 47 young as recently as 2003 but there have been no more than 5 pairs in the last two summers and breeding success has been poor
Red-crested Pochard female still present

On the shore wader numbers had increased as the outer estuary froze? Knot 32, Dunlin 780, single Bar-tailed and Black-tailed Godwits, 90 Redshank and 6 Ringed Plovers
Complementary species included Bittern, just 4 Water Rails, 5 Waxwings down from 39 yesterday, a flock of 33 Yellowhammer on the tide wrack, a Buzzard trying to feed on a dead Roe Deer killed by the train, Barn Owl out in the middle of the afternoon, 15 Lesser Redpoll, a male Bearded Tit the only one in the pits this winter, and an adult Lesser Black backed Gull still an unusual bird here in January

On the declining bird front though are Rock Pipit joining the long list of casualties? In the 1990's and early 2000's there were 2-4 in winter between South Ferriby and Barton, 3-4 between Barton and Barrow Haven, 1-2 Barrow Haven to New Holland and 4-6 New Holland to Goxhill Haven - the last three winters I have walked all these stretches amounting to about 8 miles of Humber foreshore and I have recorded nil Rock Pipits -- they pass through in October and early November with odd littoralis in March but in winter we seem to have lost the population; have they declined anywhere else?

Here at Donna Nook, the last few years have also seen a decline in the numbers of wintering Rock Pipits. The numbers do fluctuate somewhat, but generally the good peaks of years ago now no longer occur. The decrease has been noticeable since 2003, and this is despite the recent spread of suitable saltmarsh in the area. Most birds are usually at the Pye's Hall end of the area or in the extensive saltmarsh south of Howden's Pullover.

The highest counts are typically in November and early December, and nowadays there are sometimes none after January until the reappearance of a handful of passage birds in March and early April.