The Spurn Premier!

This weekend we went to Spurn because we wanted to see the Premier of the Spurn Migration Festival DVD and hopefully while we were there add a few bonuses to our trip.

Day 1
The day started of with some ringing at Wheldrake Ings which was a great start to the weekend. We rung around 50 birds which included Blue Tits, Great Tits, Long Tailed Tits, Coal Tits and a single Willow Tit. We also rung Dunnocks, Tree Sparrows, Chaffinches and a Great Spotted Woodpecker which was great to see up close.

After the ringing had finished we set of for Spurn. We arrived at around 2pm and our first target bird was the Black Brant at Kilnsea. More or less as soon as we arrived Andrew Dove got us onto the Black Brant which was great! Cheers Andrew! It stuck out like a sore thumb, it was very distinctive with its light belly patch and the very white ring around its neck. other birds in the field included lots of Dark Bellied Brent Geese, 7 Whooper Swans and some Mute Swans. Here are some record shots of the Black Brant.

Black Brant

Whooper Swans

 
After that we got news of a Great White Egret at Sammys Point so we headed on over but despite looking for almost an hour we had no luck but we did see lots of Little Egrets, Redshank and Dunlin.
Afterwards we went to look for the 2 Snow Buntings of the Blue Bell car park on the beach. It didn't take long for them to appear. They flew towards us and landed right in front of us! Later they flew of further down the beach but eventually we found them again. A little while later some people from the observatory came down and tried to catch and ring them. After a good half and hour they managed to catch one of them. We then went to look for the second bird to try get some decent photos. It let us get very close, only a few feet away, it was really great to get so close to such a cracking little bird!

Snow Bunting

 

We then went back to the Blue Bell car park and in there they were showing the other Snow Bunting! It was brilliant to see it up close. What a little stunner!

Snow Bunting

 

We then went to get ready for the Premier of the Spurn Mig Fest DVD. We got a decent spot in Westmere Farm and sat down with our Pie and Peas ready to watch this great film. It was a fantastic way to sum up the Mig Fest and well done to the team who put it together. It was a brilliant film!

 

Day 2

This day was very quiet with the best bird probably being a Chiffchaff which we saw in some bushes next to the Blue Bell Café. We also saw a one legged Redshank from the Canal Scrape Hide. We had a look along the beach for the Snow Buntings but we had no luck at all.

 

Redshank

 

It was a very good trip with tons of great birds and the DVD was great!



Wonderful Warblers!

I woke up this morning and got all the gear ready to go to Flamborough. I then went to check Rare Bird Alert to see if any Yellow Browed Warblers were around. I was scrolling through and I came across a Raddes Warbler which was at Flamborough so now I was even more excited! I couldn't wait to get there.

As soon as we arrived we went over to see if we could see the Raddes Warbler. After about 10mins we saw it very briefly in flight and then after that it didn't show for a while so we went to have a look in a different area a bit further down where a few birders were also looking. We waited and waited but nothing was happening, we were about to go when my Dad said "there it is"! It was slowly making its way along the gorse bushes, showing well at times. It is a very nice looking bird, it had bright orange legs which were very distinctive. Another great lifer to add and a fantastic little bird to see.

Raddes Warbler

 

We then moved on to see if we could see anything going over the sea. On the rocks below the cliffs there was Curlew, Oystercatcher, Gulls and my Dad spotted a male Eider sitting on the rocks which looked great through the scope. We then decided to go to Thornwick Pool but on the way back to the car we had a look in this little ditch where we had at least 4 Stonechat, a Whitethroat and lots of Dunnocks.

 

Stonechat

 

When we arrived at Thornwick Pool a man asked us "are you here for the Yellow Browed Warbler". We didn't even know that there was one in this area but we said yes anyway. The man then pointed us in the right direction. On the way to find it I spotted a Chiffchaff flitting around in some trees which was nice to see. We were unsure that we were in the right area but we started searching around but thankfully I spotted a tiny bird flying around in some Willows and I then managed to confirm it as the Yellow Browed Warbler! Views through the bins were great as it was pretty close. They are stunning little birds.

 

Yellow Browed Warbler

 

We then went to see what was viewable from the hide. From the hide there was Teal, Mallard, Moorhen and Coots. As we were about to leave a spotted a Barn Owl flying across the field behind the pool and then a few seconds later it was followed by another one! two Barn Owls hunting in the same field. Awesome! Every few minutes they kept coming back with voles and mice. We then found out they were going into the barn next to the hide so we were almost certain they were nesting! A great end to a superb day!

 

 

Barn Owls

 

 

 

 

  

Masked Shrike!!!

On a dull, miserable Saturday morning I went through my usual routine of checking what birds were around both locally and across the UK (using Twitter and Rare Bird Alert). My heart stopped... the day suddenly became very much brighter indeed. A Masked Shrike had turned up at Spurn! To say I was excited was an understatement. This was only the third time this species had ever been recorded in the UK and here it was in my home county. Now all I had to do was to convince my Dad to get to Spurn and see this fantastic little bird.

Sadly I couldn't get there on Saturday but thankfully I convinced my Dad to take me on Sunday. We arrived at Spurn at around 2pm, we parked in Well Field and headed of to find this absolute mega! As soon as we reached the spot the Masked Shrike was immediately on show. What a little cracker! It was quite distant but nice scope views obtained. I was just about to look through the scope at it when it suddenly flew of but thankfully it came much closer! It showed very well and I was so pleased to see such a fantastic little bird. Below the Shrike there was a Roe Deer sitting down in the grass. We watched this cracking bird for quite a while and after we went to try and see the Red Breasted Flycatcher opposite the churchyard.

Masked Shrike and Roe Deer

 

When we reached the spot of the Red Breasted Fly we only had to wait about 5 minutes before this awesome bird gave brief but nice views, we saw it well 2 times and a few times more briefly but it was still a nice bird to see. After we went to look for the Barred Warbler which was opposite the Crown and Anchor but despite waiting for quite a while we had no luck but we did get a cracking Pied Fly in the Crown and Anchor car park.

 

Pied Fly

 

We then decided to try and go to see the Olive Backed Pipit. On our way we spotted a Wheatear which showed well on some rocks near the path.

 

Wheatear

 

When we got to the Olive Backed Pipit spot we asked a couple of birders if they had seen it and one replied not for a good hour so we waited a while but it didn't appear so we went to the Canal Scrape Hide to see if we could see a Jack Snipe. When we got to the hide a man pointed out a stunning Jack Snipe to us, he was hiding behind some reeds but occasionally he came out into the open. A little while later someone else spotted another Jack Snipe but this one was a little further away. In front of the hide there was a close Common Snipe feeding and 2 Wheatears.

 

Jack and Common Snipe

Wheatear

 

Sadly we didn't have much time left so we decided to have a quick check in at Sammy's point to see if there was much around and we spotted at least 2 Redstarts, a Willow Warbler and loads of Meadow Pipits.  

Redstart

 

 

 

 

Spurn Migration Festival 2014

On the 5th of September me and my Dad at around 10am set of for the Spurn Migration Festival. The drive was around 1hr 30 minutes and at around half past eleven we arrived at the B&B in Patrington. The mig fest was from the 5th to the 7th of September.

Day 1
As soon as we found our room we dropped our bags of and went straight to Spurn but firstly we decided to have a look in Kilnsea Wetlands as we heard there was a few Little Stints and Curlew Sandpipers somewhere on the wetlands. When we had reached the hide there was no sign of the Stints or Curlew Sand but there was some Med Gulls among the Black Headed Gulls. After quite a while of waiting we didn't feel to confident that we were going to see them but thankfully my Dad spotted 2 of the Little Stints to the far left of the hide and we decided that they would be better viewed from the gate as you came into the wetlands so we went over there and had cracking views of these fantastic little waders! First lifer of the trip!

Little Stint

 

After that brilliant start to the trip we headed of to the Crown and Anchor pub area to meet up with Rob Stokes who had later seen a Wryneck down by the rocks near the pub, we tried to re-find it but sadly we had no luck. We then had a good walk up to the Warren which turned out to be fantastic. When we were walking up to the Warren Rob spotted a very nice Spotted Flycatcher on a small dead bush. While we were watching this bird I saw a bird fly on to a branch just below the Spotted Fly and it was a cracking Pied Fly which also showed very well.

 

Spotted Flycatcher

 

Pied Flycatcher

 

A little bit further up the road we spotted our first Whinchat of the trip.

Whinchat

 

 

We then reached the Canal Scrape hide where we saw a Redshank and 4 Common Snipe. When we were walking out of the Canal Scrape area a bird flew straight in front of us, I got a good look at the bird and shouted Wryneck! It then flew into a bush where it was a little elusive but what a great bird to see, I was really pleased to finally see a Wryneck as it is a bird I have always wanted to see.

Wryneck

 

Near the Warren there was a small pool where we saw Reed and Willow Warblers, Chiffchaff and a Whitethroat. Meadow Pipits were in massive numbers, everywhere you looked you could see one. At the Warren we didn't see much so we went back to the Crown and Anchor area to look for the Wryneck. We saw some Birders behind Cliff Farm so we went to have a look and just on the rocks only a couple of feet away from the path there was a Wryneck! This one showed much better than the other one, it was incredibly close!

 

Wryneck

 

In the garden of Cliff Farm there was a Redstart and a Pied Flycatcher.

 

 

Day 2

Today we started of at Sammys Point in Easington as there is tons of bushes for migrants. There wasn't to much around other than a few Chiffchaffs but suddenly I then spotted a distant Skua flying over the Humber, Rob then confirmed that it was a dark phase Arctic Skua! The third lifer of the trip!

 

After that we went to Kilnsea Wetlands in hope of finding the Curlew Sandpiper. When we arrived we were straight on the Little Stints again and a few minutes later Rob spotted the cracking moulting adult Curlew Sandpiper!

 

Curlew Sandpiper

 

We then moved on a little further to Beacon Ponds were we spotted Pintail, Wigeon and a Wheatear plus I spotted a late Swift flying over.

 

We then headed to Cliff Farm to see the Barred Warbler. We only had to wait around 5 minutes before this awesome warbler was giving great views around the trees and bushes at Cliff Farm.

Barred Warbler

 

After we heard that some ringing was going on nearby so we went to have a look and we saw Spotted Flycatcher, Redstart and Meadow Pipit being ringed! It was very nice to see them in the hand. We then met up with Mike Buckley and after we went into the Crown and Anchor to have a drink and a chat. A little while after we said goodbye to Mike as he had to go. nice to meet you Mike.

 

Redstart

Meadow Pipit

Spotted Flycatcher

 

After we had a look in the Canal Scrape hide where we had fantastic views of Redshank and Yellow Wagtail.

 

Redshank

 

Yellow Wagtail

 

 

Later in the day we had a walk to the point but we didn't get to far as we didn't want to miss the hog roast which was on at 6pm but we did get the chance to scan through a big flock of Waders where we spotted 3 Little Stints and a couple of Sanderling in amongst hundreds of Dunlin. A little while later a Peregrine flew over and lifted all the Waders which was an amazing sight. We also spotted Whinchat, Wheatear and a few Gannets.

 

Dunlin

 

 

On that night we went to see Mike Dilgers talk in Westmere Farm which was great and the hog roast was also very nice.  

 

 

Day 3

Today we started by having a little look out to sea but we didn't see much other than a few Meadow Pipits coming in off the sea. After that we watched a Tree Sparrow and a Chiffchaff being rung. We then had a walk down to Cliff Farm where we spotted tons of birds. We spotted a couple of Lesser Whitethroats, loads of Whinchats, Reed Buntings, a Sedge Warbler, Chiffchaffs and Willow Warblers.

 

Whinchat and Reed Bunting

Lesser Whitethroat

 

Further on down the path my Dad spotted a couple of Curlew Sandpipers on the Humber and then next to Cliff Farm we saw 3 more Curlew Sandpipers.

Curlew Sandpiper

 

We then went to have a look for the Barred Warbler and while we were looking we had nice views of a possible Siberian Lesser Whitethroat. The Barred Warbler also showed pretty well.

 

Barred Warbler

 

After we heard there was news of a Wryneck at the Caravan park. We spent about half an hour looking but we had no luck. Later on we had a drink and a bun in the Blue Bell Café. After that we went back to the cars and said goodbye to Rob as it was a long drive for him. It was really nice to meet you Rob. About 30 minutes later we were told that the Wryneck at the Caravan park was showing well so we rushed down there and as soon as we got there we were enjoying brilliant views of this super bird.

 

Wryneck

 

By now it was just about time to go home but we had one last check in Kilnsea Wetlands for the Little Stints and they were showing well, a really superb bird. This time there was 3 of them. As we were about to get in the car to go home I spotted a big bird of prey fly from behind the car park, I got my bins on it to confirm it was a Hen Harrier! What a great way to end the trip on, it was constantly being mobbed by Meadow Pipits and Corvids. 

Little Stints

Hen Harrier

 

After a superb few days birding it was time to leave Spurn. It was nice to meet some great people and it was fantastic to see some top birds.