At first light Simon, George and I were up and ready to head out to the sea watching hide. It was a dull over cast day with a strong cold Northerly wind coming in off the North Sea. We headed down to Canal Scrape to witness the mass departure of Starlings that must have numbered near 10,000 all leaving within the space of 30 seconds. The above photo shows not just how fast they were moving, but also how little light there was when they did leave. On the path ahead of us 2 Reed Buntings gave us a little fright as they fed. Magpies numbered 20 which for Spurn is quite unusual. 4 Brent Geese where out on the mudflats and so too were 5 Little Egret. As we ventured nearer to the Warren 13 Lesser Redpoll flew over heading towards the point and so too did a group of 6 Meadow Pipits. Blackbirds littered the bushes to the side of the road and must have numbered near 50 as they tamely feed on worms in the grass verges next to the road, suggesting another fall over night. The same wasn't to be said about Redwings with only 30 suggesting that any birds that had left the night before hadn't yet been replace by new incoming migrants from the continent. Once we were in the hide we got to work sea watching. Whilst I was in the hide a total of 15 Red-throated Divers flew through reminding me of their presence in our seas. Some of the divers even briefly sat on the sea and gave us some amazing views of their plumage, however photos of them were just simply not possible due to the rough seas. Next up a sole Greylag flew through, followed shortly after by a Merlin which looked as though it was looking for something tasty to eat, but with no luck. 2 Common Snipe flew past the sea watching hide and so I presume that now as the hide was full the people that were sheltering in the wake of the hide must have flushes them. The thing everyone was hear to see was the Auk passage and today was a record breaking day with 1,100 (only to be beaten the next day with 8 times as many flying through) Guillemot and Razorbill. It was amazing to see these species flying through not really affected by the strong winds. I have to yet again admit that my lack of any real sea watching means that both these species were lifers for me. Some of these birds obviously lacked a bit of energy and therefor came to rest on the sea in front of the hide. Most of these birds where Guillemot, however there was one superb Razorbill that sat there without a care in the world. It was however whilst watching the flocks of Auks going past the hide that one of the best birding moments of the trip occurred. I was watching a group of 5 heading North into the head winds. One of the birds in the middle appeared to be a bit darker than the others and had some pretty awesome white wing patches. I dismissed it as anything out of the ordinary, until one of the others in the hide shouted that there was a Black Guillemot flying North past the sub station. It was in fact the bird that I was looking at before as it came past the southern edge of the wind farm. I managed to get back onto it briefly before it became a little tiny dot on the horizon heading North. Next up a total of 10 Common Scoter flew past battling the head winds. Then once there was enough light it was clear that there was a large number of Gannets heading south. They were also fishing out near the wind farm and would fly upwards to gain some momentum before plummeting towards the sea and disappearing. They would then reappear bobbing up and down on the waves either empty handed or with a snack. Then off they went to carry on their journey south. A total of 134 Gannet flew South in total. Next were 3 Greenfinch which flew South past the sea hide just out to sea marking a little lull in the proceedings. To our surprise the next bird to add to the day list was a Snow Bunting that could be heard from both inside the hide and outside of the hide. frustratingly no one managed to pick it up despite the fact that everyone had heard it! Harry and Sam had now joined us in the hide. They picked up some passerine type birds coming in off the sea near the southern edge of the wind farm. As they got closer and eventually flew up over the hide it was clear that we were watching migration in full swing, with 14 Twite flying in off the sea much to everyone's delight. Wigeon movement started out on the sea with 28 flying south past the hide. Next up were 3 moments of complete magic and all involving the same species. Although I didn't know it at the time Jacob and I had picked up the same bird flying through middle five. It was flying elegantly and heading north weaving in and out of the waves. A Manx Shearwater and this was the first of 3 heading North following a similar line and similar pattern. All I can say is just, wow. I was amazed at how effortlessly they were flying in and out of the waves, and also just how pretty they are and yes this was another lifer for me. A very brief Kittiwake was the next species to add to the list and was followed by 2 Goldeneye that decided to take a break on the sea just North of us. And finally before I left the sea watching hide to get ready to go back to the station a final/ first Great Crested Grebe of the trip flew past. I always love seeing them fly as they look so elegant when they are swimming and diving on ponds and lakes, but they fly in a complete mess with their dangling legs... or at least this one did. And so I headed back to the observatory via the triangle where 3 Chaffinch were feeding on some fallen seeds. 9 Pink-footed Geese flew over the triangle just after I had said my goodbyes to Paul. 5 Shelduck were on the mud outside the observatory when I got back. Dante was waiting for me to get my stuff ready to go to the station. When I was packed I watched the birds that were on the bird feeders. This included 16 Tree Sparrow, 5 House Sparrow, and a Robin. We then got a lift to Easington going past Easington Straight which had 250+ Brent Geese and the 4 Whooper Swans still feeding there. Whilst waiting for the bus we Dante and I clocked up 8 Long-tailed Tit, and a Coal Tit which were both firsts for the trip. 2 Common Buzzards were also in the fields just West of Easington in a ploughed field. Below: The final Pinkies! This marked the end of a truly amazing trip and has also tempted me to book a trip here next year to the most out of another week here! What an amazing place with truly stunning scenery! I will now leave you with a trip list stating the lifers, my favourite photos and also a brief summary of what has happened since my trip! Spurn 2017 Trip List:
And so after 14 Lifers and 2 British ticks my life list for Britain now sits at 201 species. Although it would only stay at that number if I hadn't have had more lifers since then! At the time of writing this my life list now stands at 202 with the addition of Hawfinch. This is a bird that I had always wanted to see and after not getting in on the influx in October my local patch, school, and even Garden produced the goods in November with me seeing at least 50 birds since the beginning of the month with another one today at Darlands Lake in the Totteridge Valley! I will now leave you with some of my best photos from the trip! Enjoy! Above: Bramblings Below: Thrushes Above: Black Redstart Below: Kestrel Above: Knot Below: Pied Wagtail Above: Twite Below: Brent Geese Above: Snow Bunting Below: Pink-footed Geese Above: Ring Ouzel Below: Turnstone Above: Roe Deer
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It was another freezing cold morning and so getting a lift down to the Sea Watching hide at the Warren was much appreciated. We arrived in the hide just in time to witness one of the best sunrises I have personally seen. The sun rose slowly over the flat North Sea to turn it into an orange Ice Bath. It was pretty amazing. There wasn't to much moving when we first got into the hide, however there was a decent amount of people in the hide meaning that it was expected to be good, or at least decent! The first birds of the day were a group of 4 Goldeneye that headed south followed by several other small parties totaling 7 individuals. Red-throated Divers were numerous with 17 seen flying past in total and some quite close in giving some awesome views. I couldn't believe the luck I was having when the next bird was called out in the hide. It turns out the bird I had been watching coming in was a Bonxie. It was amazing. although it flew straight through, it was my first one and so therefore I will always savour the moment. After a bit more waiting a 2nd Bonxie flew through. Next up was a single Common Scoter eventually followed by a group of 5. A flock of Cormorant flew North in goose formation with 16 heading through. The final bird of this Sea Watching session was a steady trickle of Gannets flying through, skimming the surface of the waves and then rearing up before diving into the sea to fish. The Sea watching session was brought abruptly to an end by the call over the radio that a Waxwing had been heard over the triangle, but not located. I headed to the Numpties where Dante had been standing for a bit of time, with no luck. Unfortunately the Waxwing wasn't heading towards us, but away from us and was eventually picked up over someone's garden near the observatory. This was quite annoying for me as this is a bird that has managed to elude me in this continent and therefore still one that I need for my life list. Dante and I then carried out a vis-mig for the majority of the morning clocking up: 8 Greenfinch, 3 Chaffinch, 3 Jackdaw, 15 Rook, 33 Redpoll, 50 Meadow Pipit, 31 Tree Sparrow, 10 Linnet, 3 Siskin and 26 Skylark. One of our brief stops was when a call over the radio sent us down to the Warren to get a Lifer. 3 Twite were about to be rung. It was amazing to see these pretty little finches up close and we were able to get to see all the little intricate details of their plumage. Once they were released all three of them went straight to sit on the power lines to sort their feathers out and put them back into place. They are such delicate little birds! Above: My photos of the Twite Below: Joel's shot of the Twite Back up to our position at the Numpties we went, but it wasn't long before another call over the radio had us changing our positions again! This time it was the arrival of some Geese on the foreshore. When we finally got to a position that was able to see them we were immediately able to see the 6 Barnacle Geese that had landed just to the side of the Brent Geese flock which numbered 200. 15 Shelduck were also with them and so was a flock of waders which numbered: 600 Dunlin, 200 Redshank, 60 Curlew, 1000 Knot, a Teal, and also 9 Little Egrets. Below: Barnacle Geese (Left hand side) with Brent Geese (Right hand side) After a while with not much to see I decided to head down to the Breech to get a better view of the Brent Geese flock that had descended there. It was awesome to get so close to them and to see them in all their beauty. Out of the Geese that I have seen they are undoubtedly my favourite type. Above: Knot, Redshank, Curlew, Dunlin, Shelduck, Bar-tailed Godwit, Sanderling, Grey Plover... and possibly more Below: Brent Geese I then continued to the end of the breech, however the bird that I was looking for wasn't around and so I decided to head back. When I got half way back across I heard an unfamiliar call coming in from behind me to the South. I had a look around for it and as I did a small bird dropped into the pebbly beach beside me. To my surprise when I got it in my binoculars it was the bird I had been looking for. A Snow Bunting. I dropped down to the ground after my initial jump for joy so that I didn't disturb it. For the next few minutes I watched it as it sat there looking around intently. Eventually it started feeding on the ground around where it was busily looking for anything that it could get its hands on and then it gave a loud call and flew off high to the North. What a bird and what a day it was turning out to be, and there was more yet to come as it wasn't yet midday. Below: Snow Bunting After this I continued my journey back, however it wasn't long before I had stumbled across my next interesting bird... A Water Pipit! This is a scarce bird for Spurn and marks I believe only the second record this autumn, however as I approached it another birder who hadn't yet realised what it was flushed it. It flew over my head calling loudly as it went South down towards the point. When I asked the birder whether he had seen it he showed me several photos of it and it turns out he had found it about a similar time to when I had my Snow Bunting drop in. I returned to the Numpties just in time to witness the first 2 large flocks of Pink-footed Geese to fly over. These were the first of 475 to fly over us throughout the day. Next up was a flock of 120 Golden Plover flying in off the sea towards the Humber. 2 Common Buzzard were then picked up thermalling in the distance alongside what looked as though it was probably a Sparrowhawk. Then yes you guessed it another call over the radio sent me running down to a perfectly positioned scope to see 2 Bean Geese flying into the Humber and down towards Hull. It was awesome to see them as yet another lifer on what was slowly becoming the best day of the trip so far! Above: Pinkies Below: Golden Plover Below: More Pinkies After a final Wigeon made a flyby we decided to head back to the observatory for some lunch. On the way back we stopped off at Canal Scrape. A Water Rail was heard in the reed beds below and then the usual 2 Ring Ouzel showed themselves, with a stunning adult now on show. 3 Stonechat were also about on the fences fly catching! Above: Ring Ouzel Below: Stonechat We then headed into the Crown and Anchor car park to have a look to see if there was any sign of the recent Yellow-Browed Warbler but in the end our searching could only bring up 2 Chiffchaff. Then back to the observatory we went for some Tomato soup and a re group of sorts. We also made plans for what we were going to do. Jacob, Dante, Sam, and Harry all went off as soon as possible to go down to the point ringing as did I and the newly arrived Simon. The one technical hitch was the fact that they all had Bikes and we didn't! Just as Simon and I were leaving the observatory we head the Chuck chuck call of a Fieldfare and as we looked up we could see one perched right at the tops of the trees! (pictured below) Simon and I then decided to have a quick look to see what we could see on the wader front. A stunning Ringed Plover was probably the best bird alongside some showy Turnstone and Grey Plover. There was also a large twisting and turning flock of Knot out again on the open estuary. Above: Ringed Plover Below: Turnstone and a sneaky Dunlin Below: Flock of Knot We then moved on and headed down to Canal Scrape where a Moorhen was now happily feeding over on the far bank alongside a diving Little Grebe. A late Migrant Hawker was hawking the end of the pathway and may mark one of the latest Spurn records of this species of Dragonfly! We headed along to the Breech. We hadn't got very far when I noticed something running along the dunes to my left hand side. At first I wasn't quite sure what it was, but then I saw it sitting out in all its glory briefly before it bounded off into the undergrowth again. It was a Weasel. We then headed along the Breech however bar a Kestrel it was a rather uneventful trip. Once we had made it to the headland we found an unidentified caterpillar (although I do believe it is a moth of sorts) and also a rather tatty Red Admiral. Above: Red Admiral Below: Unidentified Caterpillar We continued our trek and bar a few migrating Blackbirds, Redwings and Meadow Pipits there wasn't too much moving over head. This was until we had reached Chalk Bank. I heard a familiar call coming in from the North and eventually picked up a passerine flying in along the peninsular. I got Simon onto it to and as it flew over head and called it showed us it's lovely white wing patches. Yep, that's right it was another Snow Bunting and it was Simon's first one too, and yes that does also mean there was a lot more jumping for joy. To be honest I couldn't believe my luck. We carried on with renewed hope, however we made it finally down to the point by only seeing Roe Deer to add to our totals. The sun was starting to head down now and the colour of the sky was starting to become amazing and a thing of real beauty. Above: Roe Deer When we got to the point we went in hunt for the others' Yellow-Browed warblers alongside Dante and Harry. Although we didn't manage to re-find them we did find a Goldcrest and a Blackcap. The best bird however was one that Simon spotted heading towards us on the sea. It was a Red-breasted Merganser and it flew past us heading towards the mouth of the Humber, however it attempted to make its way into the river, before giving up and continued its journey South along the coast! Just when we were getting ready to leave the Blackbirds that were covering the point started to call and eventually the sky was full of them spiralling upwards and then slowly starting to make the next phase of their journeys South for the winter! What a sight it was too as there must have been over 100 of them all spiralling up together. This signalled that it was time for Simon and I to make a hasty retreat back to the Observatory so that we could still actually see on the way back. A Kestrel over Chalk Bank and the noise of the Starling flock settled into the reed beds at Canal Scrape were the only things of note. An so we settled into the Observatory for the evening and I slept to the sound of the local Tawny owl and the lashing winds whilst lying on the sofa next to a nice and warm fire place. I will now leave you with some photos of the journey back, before the final blog post of this trip....! Above and Below: Kestrel
It was a dull damp morning when we headed out to the Wetlands. There weren't actually many Thrushes about for once with only a few Blackbirds and Redwings lining the hedges as we headed up the road. A Mistle Thrush was an interesting sighting, because they are rare at Spurn and this was only the second or third one there this year. 2 Little Egret came over the road quite low and disappeared into the dark fields on the other side of the road. A field on the right hand side of the road brought about 103 Curlew coming in from the Humber to roost as the high tide approached. When we got to the wetlands it was obvious that we were the first ones there. A few Song Thrush fed in the bushes at the entrance to the reserve and a Reed Bunting was the first of 9 that we saw at the wetlands. We were just nearing the hide when I spotted the ghostly figure of a Barn Owl drifting past us. It performed quite well for us as it swooped up and over the nearby barn, before settling on a fence out in the open. It casually moved towards the cover of the bare bushes and instantly fell asleep and so we headed into the hide. Below: my attempt of capturing the Barn Owl in the poor light! When we first got into the hide it was obvious that the majority of the waders hadn't come in yet with only 101 Dunlin. 5 Pied Wagtails ran about energetically in front of the hide looking for their small insect prey. A group of 19 Pink-footed Geese sat in front of the hide still mostly asleep, alongside 2 Greylag, 5 Lapwing, a Brent Goose, some Black headed Gulls and a few Common Gulls. There were also large numbers of Teal and Wigeon, but we waited till nearer high tide before we counted them. Above: Pink-footed Geese with Teal, Wigeon, Dunlin, a few Knot and a couple of Bar-tailed Godwit. Below: Teal Above: Dunlin Below: Pied Wagtail The Pink-footed Geese started to wake up and once they had all managed to preen themselves effectively they started to call and with that they took off and weren't seen again. In the end we spent around about two hours in the hide and by the end of it we had reached a total of 5 Pintail, 5 Shelduck, 3 Little Stint, 35 Bar-tailed Godwit, 46 Meadow Pipit right in front of the hide feeding on the same insects that the Wagtails were feeding on, 3 Grey Wagtail, a Kestrel, 401+ Dunlin, 3 Swallow, 232 Teal, 383 Wigeon, 14 Shoveler, 3 Grey Heron, a stunning Female Goldeneye which sat out on the open water alongside 2 Tufted Duck, 10 Mute Swan, 22 Skylark, 62 Grey Plover, 150+ Redshank and finally 17 Little Egret. It was awesome to see such large volumes of these birds at a close range. The Little Egrets were also really feisty which was a surprise to me as I have seen them get along in larger groups before. A Peregrine also drifted over the pool during the middle of our stay in the hide, but it didn't attempt to take anything and therefore everything stayed put. At one point there were so many Dunlin arriving that it was hard to keep track. It was also awesome to see both Skylark and Meadow Pipits so close to the hide. It was also awesome to think that for majority of our time in the hide Joel and I were the only ones there! News soon filtered through that we had missed a Long-eared Owl, Snow Bunting, and Lapland Bunting where the others were, so we decided to head out to our next destination. Above: Pink-footed Geese departing Above: Mute Swan, Wigeon, Greylag, Teal Below: Dunlin Above: Goldeneye and Black Headed Gulls Below: Mute Swan Above and Below: Meadow Pipit Above: Reed Bunting Below: Skylark Above: Assorted Waders Below: Joel's awesome shot of one of the Little Egrets inflight. Along the way back to the main entrance to the Reserve a Common Snipe flew out of the ditch down to the left hand side of the path calling loudly as it went up into the air and headed off quite high and off into the distance. Next we headed up the road towards Easington. Along the way we passed a field which had some Swans in it. Not expecting too much we decided to take a quick look at them and this turned into a much longer look. Out of the 6 birds in the field only 2 of them were Mute Swans, the other 4 were in fact Whooper Swans. There were 3 stunning full plumaged Adult birds alongside a greyish youngster. This is the first time that I had ever seen Whooper Swans in the UK having only seen them this time last year in Iceland! We watched them for quite a while until we decided to press on and head to our final destination to see what rewards we could gather! Below: Whooper Swan family We continued our trundle up the road. We then reached a small farm near Lockham Road. Here we found a few more Pied Wagtails, a Robin, and a flock of 59 Pink-footed Geese flew over migrating towards the peninsular. Below: Pink-footed Geese The next section of road was pretty deserted with a few Redwing and Blackbirds in the limited amount of cover along the edges of the road. A flock of Common Gulls, Black Headed Gulls and Lesser Black Backed Gulls were in one of the ploughed fields and they were joined by a rowdy group of male Pheasants. Once we had got into the actual village of Easington a Brambling called as it flew overhead and Chaffinches and Goldcrests surrounded us in the hedges around the roads. Our main aim was to try to see if the Rosy Starling was still around, however despite the large numbers of Starlings the Rosy was nowhere to be seen. Our efforts were then hampered by a diving Merlin as it swooped in an attempt to get at its prey, however it left empty handed and wasn't warmly greeted by the local Kestrel! As we got to the path that runs around the Gas Terminals a Chiffchaff called from the Willows on the right hand side of the road. A Kestrel sat on the fence that ran alongside the path, but not much else was seen! We continued our trek around the Terminals, however it was eerily bird-less. It was a shame to think that we had passed sites that last year had produced big time, however this year with a lack of easterly winds the large movement hasn't happened, or at least not yet! There was a decent sized flock of Linnets on the side of the path along with Meadow Pipits, and a few Skylarks doing what I like to call their Happy Song. This is because it puts a smile on your face even if nothing much has gone your way. We continued to this encouraging sound. Next we headed down the main road between the Gas Terminals and here we picked up 2 Male Pheasants, a Stonechat, a Reed Bunting, and lots more Meadow Pipits! Above: Male Pheasant Below: Female Stonechat We continued our journey, but with only picking up 2 more Chiffchaff and a Flock of Blue Tits and Great Tits, we headed back down the long straight road towards the observatory, via an obligatory Tomato soup stop! Along this road we eventually found some bird life with a small flock of Tree Sparrows sitting in a hedge on the left hand side of the road and another smaller flock on the right hand side of the road. Below: Tree Sparrow Next we reached the small farm that we had stopped at this morning. Again we stopped but this time because I had heard an odd call. A Bunting was sitting on the wire overlooking the barns. A combination of the bad light and also where the bird was means that the identification of this bird is open to much doubt. The ID we settled on in the end after much discussion was Yellowhammer, however it didn't call like any Yellowhammer I had ever heard. Others have suggested Reed Bunting, and even Rustic, while my initial though was 1st Winter Pine! The Call was a sort of TSEEP and it eventually flew off towards Easington village calling as it went in the North Westerly direction. None of us know for sure what this bird was but we have some record shots which are below to see if anyone has any other suggestions! Above: My photo Below: Joel's photo We hadn't gone too far before the sound of Brent Geese saw us turn to the North where a large flock of almost 250 Brent Geese had appeared on the horizon. They flew low over the fields until eventually they came to a stop in a ploughed field. Below: Brent Geese After this we moved on and it wasn't long before Paul pulled up alongside us and offered us a lift back to the observatory and so back we went. Once we were back Joel and I sat by the fire for a bit to warm up and as we did we watched Tree Sparrows, Dunnocks and also House Sparrows feeding on the observatory's feeders. Above: House Sparrow with a Tree Sparrow hiding Below: Dunnock Above and Below: Tree Sparrow After we had warmed up a bit I decided that since there was still quite a lot of daylight left, I would head down to the Sea Watching hide to do a Sea Watch for an hour and a half. Along the way I decided to have a look at the waders on the mud just in front of the Observatory. There were 4 Turnstone, 3 Ringed Plover, Grey Plover, Redshank, Dunlin and Curlew. Above: Dunlin Below: Ringed Plover Above: Grey Plover Below: Turnstone I continued along to the Triangle where a Greenfinch was happily sitting on top of a bush. After watching this Greenfinch for a little while I noticed that the bush was full of Thrushes. Redwings and Blackbirds were the most common however 2 Ring Ouzel were about as well, what I think was a Juvenile and a stunning Male! The Male remained an elusive figure with just the occasional flyby, however the Juv sat out in the open for a while showing its full plumage! Above: Ring Ouzel Below: Redwing I moved on as I wanted to have a decent amount of time to sea watch. I had a quick look at Canal Scrape and this produced the first Moorhen of the day. Once I had reached the hide I had only been sitting down for nearly a minute when a large Diver flew South. It was in fact my first ever Red-throated Diver and to be honest it was quite close in and gave quite a good view of its plumage as it flew South! It was quite a while before anything else had come past. Eventually a steady trickle of Great Black Backed Gulls came through heading North. A Common Scoter then pursued them in its journey North. Next up was another Red Throated Diver heading South past the hide, but this time at quite a distance and the record shot I took was atrocious. After a long wait at about 16:30 3 I picked up 3 ducks far away near the rig that stood next to the wind turbines. When I got these small dots into my scope, I realised that it was a group of Eider Duck heading South a female with 2 Males trying to keep up with her as she sped past. This was another long awaited British tick having only seen rafts of these amazing birds on my trip to Iceland last year. A long wait in the cold hide with no one else around saw a final Red-throated Diver head South at 16:55 and at 17:00 I decided to call it a day! Below: Spot the Diver... I decided to walk back along the triangle and as I did I stopped to watch the Starling Murmuration with another Birder. It was amazing watching nearly 3,000 birds twisting and turning above the reeds in front of us. One of the Ring Ouzels was also showing nicely in the background with a group of Redwings and Blackbirds. Next up was something that you would expect to see in August a Swallow came in with the Starlings and started joining in with the Murmuration, however I don't think it quite got the signals right as when the Starlings finally dropped down into the reeds it was still left above them! When the Starlings went down into the reeds a Common Snipe flew up calling loudly and a Water Rail wailed from the depths of the reed beds. Above: I promise the bird in the left lower centre is the Ring Ouzel Below: Starlings.... Just as we were leaving to head back to the Observatory a flock of 11 Whooper Swan flew over us heading South towards Spurn Point. Now dinner beckoned and back we went for some Couscous and to start planning for our final full day!
The day started with us all up for first light. It was a stunning clear crisp morning after the storm that raged on last night. To say that it was warm outside would be a lie. It was freezing, almost literally with a nagging South Westerly breeze not really helping things. I decided to head out first to see if I could locate the Yellow-browed Warbler with Joel and sure enough we re-found it with great views and as a bonus it started calling too so that everybody could hear it. Blackbirds and Starlings streamed out of the roosts overhead as did the local Redwings. 3 Lesser Redpoll and a Siskin also came through overhead, and 2 Brambling, 4 Chiffchaff, were also present in the garden. A flock of 10 Little Egret also flew over. We had to go up to church field to collect the rings that we would need when we headed down to the point. Whilst we were doing this a total of 74 Woodpigeon flew over migrating South alongside 4 Meadow Pipits, 12 Tree Sparrow, and a flock of 250, or possibly slightly more, Grey Plover. Above and Below: Blackbirds + Starlings streaming out of their roosts. Once we had collected the rings we headed down to the triangle. Again there wasn't too much here. The only thing that was noticeable was the huge amount of Redwing and Blackbirds that were feeding in the bushes and it didn't take us long until we picked out our first Ring Ouzel of the day. 3 Water Rail were also heard and seen in the reed beds near the new visitor centre. Above: Ring Ouzel As we headed towards the Breach it was becoming obvious that the waders had decided to roost in the salt marsh for a change rather than heading to Kilnsea Wetlands. In the Grasses there was a large mixed flock of Dunlin, Curlew, Knot, Redshank and Grey Plover. Brent Geese were also sheltering on the outskirts of the Marshes! Above: Curlew and co Below: Brent Geese So onto the Breach we went and had a pretty uneventful trip down to the point. All the time overhead we had flocks of birds heading South and by the end of the day our totals stood at: 90 Goldfinch, 208 Siskin, 32 Lesser Redpoll, 4 Brambling, 19 Chaffinch, 77 Linnet, 130 Meadow Pipit, 64 Tree Sparrow, 8 Reed Bunting, 52 Skylark, 4 Greenfinch, a Grey Wagtail, and 2 Pied Wagtail. When we were nearing Chalk Bank, Jacob heard a call over the radio to tell us that there was a Great Northern Diver heading South. We quickly ran to the highest place possible in the hope to see it and sure enough we did. Although that wasn't the first bird that I could see when I put up my binoculars. To my surprise I was staring at 2 Goldeneye. Both the Goldeneye and the Great Northern Diver kept heading South at quite a pace and so soon they were out of view to the south of us. Both of these species were lifers for me and a welcome addition to the day. Just as we were about to head off, Dante spotted a large group of small gulls slowly working their way North up the Breach in the distance. These small gulls had Black Wing Tips and when we saw them in Dante's camera at full zoom we managed to identify them as Little Gulls. This was then confirmed by a message over the radio, however it also confirmed that another potential Lifer was heading its way South towards our position. We sat in wait for these black birds with a silvery white gloss to the wing. Eventually all 4 of them were picked up and they passed just close enough for a few quick record shots. What a day this was with these Velvet Scoter being my 4th Lifer of the day so far! Above and Below: Joel's attempt at photographing the Velvet Scoter. (Below are cropped) Next we decided to peer into the Chalk Bank wader roost and managed to pick up 2 Cormorant amongst the 420 odd Oystercatchers that still sat there waiting for the tide to recede and expose the food rich mud flats for them to feed on. Above and Below: Oystercatchers, a Cormorant, and a Herring Gull We then moved on, but we hadn't got far until something had drawn all of our attentions. A Yellow-browed Warbler was calling from deep in the thickets around us. We spent the next 10 minutes looking for it, but frustratingly it remained heard, but not seen, but we did manage to see lots of Redwing and Blackbirds. Just as we were giving up 3 very late House Martins flew South over our heads calling loudly as they went. Above: Redwing What came next was only a surprise to me and Joel. Dante and Jacob had been told about them over the radio, but hadn't bothered to tell us. Let's just say that we could hear them a long time before we could see them. Eventually 8 pinging Bearded Tits flew South overhead. They were actually struggling unlike most of the birds and were taking quite a battering from the head winds. The group consisted of one stunning Male and 7 Juv/ female types, making me assume it was a migrating family group! Above: Dante's shot of the Male Bearded Tit, what a bird! We continued our trek down to the point and just before we got to the lighthouse a rather large brown bird was flushed off the track literally less than a metre in front of me. It flew right past Dante and Joel who were scouting through the bushes round the side of the lighthouse at this stage and they claim that this bird didn't stop, but it flew out to sea and wasn't seen again. It was a Woodcock and the second one of the trip so far. The first thing we did when we arrived at the point was to set about looking for the Black Redstart that we had seen yesterday. Sure enough it was still in its favourite position along the sea wall. Above: My horrific shots of the Black Redstart Above: Dante's shot of the Black Redstart Below: Joel's shot of the Black Redstart Next we got down to some ringing. We did a first push on the Heli and unfortunately a Brambling and chiffchaff were missed, however we did get a large mix of Redwing, Starling, and Blackbird. We continued to do this throughout the day and also added Goldcrest, Great Tit, and Robin to our ringing list. Above and Below (Joel's Photo): Blackbird Above and Below: Goldcrest We also spent a fair amount of time birding around the area. On 3 occasions we managed to bump into the 'same' Ring Ouzel as yesterday. Other interesting sightings included 4 Shelduck, and also between 10am and 11am the sky was filled with easily 150,000 Knot as they came in from their overnight roosts to feed on the rich mud flats on the Humberside of the spit. 4 Barn Swallow also flew over heading hurriedly South for they knew it wouldn't be long before winter comes. To be honest the best moment was when me and Jacob were waiting near to do the next round of the Heli. I spotted 2 small birds coming in off the sea. I couldn't pick up any features on them, but Jacob did and to our surprise Jacob's suspicion was proved correct when they both landed in the brambles next to us and started to call. They were both Yellow-browed Warblers!!! What a surprise that was to see this happening right in front of my eyes. They literally just came in off the sea and were now busily feeding up in the bushes in front of us. After this initial sighting they remained elusive throughout the day until they were heard no more, and so presumably they had continued their Westward migration and carried on their journey. Above: Blackbird Below: 1000's of Knot Above and Below: Blackbird Above: Kestrel Below: Ring Ouzel Above and Below: Redwing Above and Below: George's fabulous photos of Redwings! After this flurry of activity drying up and the same with the ringing we decided to head back to the Obs. Along the way back we added Stonechat to our list. With 5 birds being seen staking out their posts and then when the opportunity was right they flew up to grab the reward of a little tiny insect and return to their perch to eat it up. Near Chalk Bank there was a flock of waders which I thought looked interesting and sure enough they were with 18 Sanderling being seen. A rather interesting individual turned out to just be a juv after a bit of careful debating, and to be honest that was my original thought in the first place. Below: Sanderling Next we came across a group of Roe Deer feeding on the dunes. Unusually they ignored us as we trekked past them. The rest of the journey to the Breach was quiet bar a nice Kestrel hovering above our head. On the Breach itself it was a bit more active with a large amount of gulls about and a quick scan of these brought up a Juv Gannet which was attempting to feed unusually close to the shore. Above: Roe Deer Below: Kestrel On the way past we had a look at Canal Scrape. A Little Grebe was the only new addition to the list as it dived in search of food as we went past. Once back in the Observatory garden we had another look for the Yellow-browed Warbler! Sure enough it was still there and it gave us some decent views. Whilst Joel and I were looking at the Yellow-browed Warbler, Jacob went off to do a sea watch from the sea watching hide and Dante went to Sammy's Point. Eventually George, Joel and I headed to Sammy's point to meet up with Dante. Along the way the only thing of note was the fact that a Goosander flew in from the Humber and headed towards Kilnsea wetlands. This was interesting, because it was the second one of the day and these are quite a rare bird for Spurn. We continued on a bit further and found a group of Brent Geese and a few Shelduck dotted around the mudflats. A caterpillar we found on the river wall we think could possibly be a Black-tailed Moth. If so these have caused quite a stir in the local area recently, partially because they are everywhere, and also because they can cause skin irritations if they are touched by humans. The next thing to cause a stir was a Brambling that flew over calling quite high up and at this point we had just about caught up with a frustrated Dante. Above: Brent Goose Below: Record Shot of the Brambling Above: Shelduck Below: Presumed Black-tailed Moth Caterpillar We next had a quick look through one of the fields, but only managed to dig up Blackbirds, Redwings, Song Thrushes and a few more Goldcrests for our troubles. Whilst we were in this field a flock of around 250 Brent Geese erupted from another field over near the wetlands, spooked by something that we couldn't see. Eventually they finally settled, however a few were displaced and ended up coming and feeding just next to the sea wall on the mudflats! Above: Brent Geese incoming! The journey back along the sea wall was amazing to say the least. The sunset was literally out of this world and the large flocks of Knot had gathered out on the estuary and were performing the equivalent of a murmaration. They glistened as they twisted and turned and the fading light made it even more emphatic.
After this we headed back to the Obs and ordered an Indian takeaway to tuck into after log in the evening and to prepare ourselves for the next day. I will now leave you with the stunning sunset and wader display. Pity George got in the way of what was going to be my best picture. (The below picture) Dante and I were both up before dawn on Tuesday and we had left the campsite by 07:15 with our supplies for the day including the necessary flask with warm Chicken soup for lunch. It was a lovely crisp clear morning and as we headed down the path towards the triangle I picked up the first Short-eared Owl of the day hunting silently over the farmland. This was an awesome sight and to be honest it was barely visible in the dull pre-dawn light! What was noticeable was the massive invasion of Thrushes over night with the place full of Blackbirds and Redwings. They were quite tame as they were busy refueling after their journey across the North Sea. It looked as though there had also been a fall of Wrens, Robins and Dunnocks overnight with nearly every bush holding at least one of these birds. Grey Plover and Curlew were vocal from the salt marsh next to us and as the sun appeared on the horizon it gave us a false sense of what the day was to bring. Brent Geese were also on the mud flats with at least 91 counted. When we reached the end of the canal a Water Rail flew up out of the reeds while 2 others stayed hidden in the rails calling. The Water Rail did however flush a Kingfisher out of the reed beds and it called rather angrily as it flew out of the bed and headed down towards the Breach, which is where we headed. There was a bitter cross wind when we were crossing the Breach, but the scenery was amazing and kept us going. We were also spurred on by the fact that the tide was on the rise and if it was high enough it could cut us off and therefore we need to be quick! Once we arrived at the other side of the Breach we split up to search through the undergrowth to see what we could find! Most of what we found involved yet more Redwings and Blackbirds, but with the odd Fieldfare mixed in as well! Most of the interesting birds were either migrating overhead or over the North Sea. Our vis mig totals were quickly adding up and by the end of the day we had recorded 80 Meadow Pipit S, 27 Siskin S, 48 Linnet S, and finally 20 Lesser Redpoll S. We also had a total of 85 Wigeon S along with 5 Teal over the North Sea. The weather however started to turn against us and in the end we decided to head for the High Tide Wader Roost Hide at Chalk Bank. Unsurprisingly it was busy here with Waders as it was high tide and since it was raining we decided to count everything. We spent around an hour and a half in the hide whilst the monsoonal rains lashed against the hide soaking everything on the outside. The Wader Roost numbered 417 Oystercatchers, 160 Dunlin, 6 Bar-tailed Godwit, 6 Little Egret, an unseasonable Avocet, 70 Turnstone doing what they do best, 14 Redshank, 5 Sanderling, and 12 Ringed Plover. There was also quite a bit of movement about including 13 Lapwing heading South, 4 Common Scoter heading South, and also 2 Cormorant heading North past the hide during the worst of the weather. The best sighting was probably the rather wet Merlin that I picked up sitting on a post to the left hand side of the hide. He was rather bedraggled due to the rain and eventually flew up and sat on the deck right in front of the hide, before eventually being scared off by a crow. Once he had moved on a pair of Stonechat came out of the cover and started to feed on the insects in front of the hide as the rain started to subside! Above: Little Egret, Oystercatchers, Turnstones Below: Oystercatcher, Turnstones, Dunlin Above: Oystercatchers, Avocet, Dunlin, Turnstone Below: Turnstones Above and Below: Dunlin and a Turnstone Above: Grey Plover, Dunlin, Oystercatcher Below: Ringed Plover Above: Turnstone Below: Curlew and Dunlin Above: Stonechat Below: Little Egret, Dunlin, Grey Plover, Turnstone Above and Below: Sanderling Above and Below: Oystercatcher, Cormorant, Turnstone Above: Turnstone and Ringed Plover Below: Merlin It was now about 10am and the rain had died down quite a lot and so therefore we decided to set off and out into the elements once more. However just as we were doing so a group of Brent Geese came down to rest on the ever expanding Mudflats! Above: Brent Geese Below: Oystercatcher and Cormorant Above: Brent Geese with Oystercatcher, Dunlin, and Turnstone And so finally we left the hide to gloomy skies and flooded roads. We split up yet again to check to see if the rain had dropped anything in and for a change it was me hitting the jackpot. I came up to a bush that I could see lots of movement in and stopped short of it. Eventually up came a male Blackcap. It must have given the all clear signal as it flew to cover on the other side of the path as 3 females and 4 more males came out of the bottom of the bush where they had obviously been sheltering from the wind and rain. Once they had cleared the bush I could still see something moving, and some patience was rewarded with a Reed Bunting! Above: Reed Bunting We then continued into potato fields where the first Woodcock of the trip was seen as it flew out of the long grass ahead of us and flew towards the point. The poor conditions had obviously sent the next bird a bit wayward as a Juv Gannet flew overhead coming from a long way into the Humber and heading out to sea. 2 Curlew were also performing well down on the beach below and called noisily to warn others of our presence, and so we backed off rather cautiously. Above: Curlew Once we were back on the main track we located some resourceful Linnets that were using the large puddles in the path as a place to bathe and drink. Above and Below: Linnets We hadn't gone very far before an explosion of noise had us looking to the sky as a flock of at least 100 Thrushes moved through above us featuring Blackbirds, Redwings, and Song Thrushes. Above: Migrating Thrushes Below: Blackbird Once we were finally at the point we quickly located a Black Redstart on the sea wall, however it soon moved on to the roofs of the houses and views were short, but sweet as it flew about looking for the little insects for its brunch. Below: Black Redstart What a stunner the Black Red was and it performed well at times despite the distance, between us and it. Dante and I then decided to go and see what George and Jacob were doing and as we did so a Ring Ouzel flew up into one of the nearby bushes and gave us some great views albeit briefly. Above: Ring Ouzel taken by George. After this Dante and I headed down to the dense cover at the end of the point however nothing much was present bar a huge number of Thrushes, a few Goldcrests, and also a Chiffchaff. An interesting Bunting was also briefly seen, but it flew before a better view of it was had and frustratingly goes unidentified. A flock of Brent Geese was also a nice addition, but nothing too out of the ordinary. Above: Brent Geese Once we were back near to the ringing site we found a total of 5 Brambling feeding in the undergrowth and eventually with much patience they gave us some great views of some stunning birds. To think that just under a week ago I had never seen one and now they are literally everywhere. Above: Bramblings Below: Dante's much better shot of one of the Bramblings We decided that we would next join in with some ringing alongside George and Jacob. Over the next hour or so we rung several Redwings, Blackbirds, and Starlings and got to see birds up close; I had personally never seen such amazing views of them. It is also amazing to see the intricate details and to learn a bit more about the birds. Above: Blackbird Below: Redwing Below: Starling At around 3pm and with the ringing drying up we decided to head briskly back so that we could have a chance at catching up with a certain bird before dark. The Black Redstart was showing better now and so we decided to have a little bit of a stop to admire this beautiful bird! Below: Black Redstart We then headed along the point to some dramatic skies and also 2 House Martins flew south over our heads which is rather a late sighting! Once we were back at the Warren some rather tame fresh in Blackbirds were feeding on the muddy banks looking for worms. Then another odd sighting when looking towards Canal Scrape. A pair of swallows were hawking insects over the water and looked as though they were ready to go to roost in the reeds! Whilst we were watching these a Ring Ouzel briefly sat at the top of one of the bushes to the left hand side of the scrape before it flew back into cover. Below: Blackbird Once we arrived at the Observatory it didn't take us long to get the Yellow Browed Warbler as it quickly hurried after invisible insects in the fading light of a willow tree. What an amazing end to the day. Now as we said our goodbyes, this is when things got interesting as when we returned to our tent we found out that the weather had not been the most kind to us and therefore not only was our tent wet, but so were most of our belongings and so when we went to log at the Observatory we ended up booking ourselves into the dry as more rain was forecast overnight and the chance of surviving it without drowning more belongings and ourselves was slim.
The train journey from London to Hull was smooth and quick and with decent birding from the train the journey went by quickly. From the train we could see massive amounts of Thrushes and Wood Pigeons moving and the odd interesting bird such as Cormorants and a Ringed Plover! The train did however arrive into Hull late and therefore we missed the bus by a minute so a lengthy stop in Subway was to be had fueling for the big trip. The bus journey was smooth and the Wifi helped a lot and so we ended up arriving in Patrington with over an hour until the bus to Easington was due and so therefore a sky watch was to be had. Most of the notable birds to come through were the 52 Redwing, however we did see 2 Skylark, a Meadow Pipit, 2 Bullfinch, a Kestrel and 3 Common Buzzards circling the road as the bus finally arrived. We then arrived in Easington where we met John and were given a lift to Driftwood campsite via a possible stop at Kilnsea Wetlands. However a certain Sandpiper was not showing and so we decided to head to the campsite to set up our tent! Once we had set up our tent we decided to have a quick scan around and it was obvious that there had been a large thrush movement with over 140 Redwing and a similar amount of Blackbird on the field next to where we were staying. A flock of 40 Brent Geese flew overhead and Tree Sparrows sat in the bushes next to us and yes these were my first ever of a quickly declining species in the UK and so this was my first lifer of the trip! Above: Redwing We then headed to Sammy's Point to see what was about. The Seawall was quiet except for 2 Rock Pipit. The scenery was stunning and was like nothing that I had ever experienced before. Little Egret, Grey Plover, Curlew, and 100's of Dunlin were dotted around the salt marsh with the calls of Redshank coming from dense in the cover. It was great to see such large numbers of waders and to think that some of the birds that are rare and bird guides-able in London are as common as mud up here! Above: Little Egret We then headed off the sea wall into a field that felt quite rare and with dense cover we decided to split up to get the best out of the field. Every bush that we passed was full to the brim of both Redwing and Blackbirds with at least 10 of each per bush and by the end of this field we had a total of 218 Blackbird and 75 Redwing. It was literally like walking into thrush mania and proves that migration is awesome. Other birds that we managed to dig out of this field were 3 Kestrel, 3 Meadow Pipit, 18 Linnet, 5 Reed Bunting, 2 Dunnock, 5 Robin, and 2 Goldcrest. All of which were sheltering from the howling wind above them. Above: Linnet Above: Goldfinch The sound of Geese could be heard approaching us - this was to be a familiar sound over the coming days - as a flock of 19 Pink-footed Geese came overhead. These birds were my second lifer of the day having come from a county that rarely if ever records Pinkies! Above and Below: Migrating Pink-footed Geese And so with nothing else lurking in the hedges or the sky, we headed back. Along the way back a nice Kingfisher flew past calling and briefly sat on a post jutting out of the salt marsh. It then flew off calling and headed towards the Triangle and the new much hated National Trust visitor centre! We then got back to the main road and a quick scan and listen brought us a pair of Brambling calling from the bushes. Their call is unmistakeable and it I guess sounds a bit like a pathetic, squeaky, roar. We then met Jacob who was staying at the Obs and was on his bike heading down to the Wetlands! Whilst we were talking to him we spotted a group of Brent Geese flying past and also Blackbirds started to spiral in from absolutely nowhere, with 158 counted falling out of the sky. This was not the only big movement of birds as just before dark at a similar time to the Blackbird fall, around 10,000 Starlings flew overhead to their evening roost. These Starlings flew so close that you could heard their wings beating. What a sight to end the day, and so at 19:30 we went to bed preparing for an early start the next day and listening to a Tawny owl calling over our tent! Above: Blackbirds Below: Brent Geese Below: Starling Numbers had stared to build ahead of the final decent!
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AuthorI have been a birder since i was 8 however only really started to be able to go out to places by myself in Summer 2016 (Blame the parents) My blogs will be from all over the place, but mainly from RSPB Rainham Marshes and Totteridge Valley! Photography done by Samuel Levy aged 17. ArchivesCategories |