Spurn Day 10

It was another quiet night, the quietist there has been so far in fairness. Day broke to a pretty sparse Beacon Pool, not much was around. There was a Brown Hare that needed seeing off and 5 Swifts up high but screaming, and of course the usual suspects.

Today was a really quiet day for me, though not so much on other fronts as corys shearwater had been recorded while I was asleep. There had also been an apparent little stint, but accounts of this find seemed to suggest it would be difficult to track down.

I awoke later than usual, at around 2.00. I decided after much lounging to do some Seawatching for a bit since there obviously seemed to be some movement. Unfortunately for my 2 hour stint there was no movement, the only real note was a flock of some 30 Common Scoters going south. There were a few Gannets moving south too and some Sandwich terns hunting but otherwise it was very slow.

Since I needed some stuff groceries wise Paul drove me into Withernsea in order to gather some stuff. On the way I had the best spot all day when I spotted a Barn Owl sat on a roadside post. I got very excited about this as it’s obviously not something I see every day, obviously Paul thought I was a little too over-excited about it. We also drove past the spot where the Little Owl had been and it was still there, though this time it looked awake rather than asleep.

And to be honest that is about it. There really was not much else happening. I arrived at my shift in order see what was around, only for after 5 mins a dog ran into the area and needed dealing with. I had to chase the damn thing all the way round area A and then up the beach. The owner was almost at the northern end of the beach so what she was letting her dog do I have no idea.

By the time I had finally got rid of the dog it was almost dark and I could not make out anything on the edge of the pond. I did hear a couple of Common Sandpipers though, which counts for something.

The Daily Oystercatcher

Both chicks were fine this morning, busying themselves along the edge of the pool. There were no other waders in so they had the whole beach to themselves. I got to watch one of the adults feed the chicks was looked like some kind of shellfish. All was well when I left them.

When I arrived in the evening I had hoped to watch them for a bit but as things took a canine turn. All four birds, adults and 2 chicks were perched on the edge of the water when I arrived but were promptly scared away by the dog and it was too dark to re-find them when I made it back.

Species List:

Beacon Pools: Dunlin, Ringed Plover, Sandwich Tern, Oystercatcher, Little Tern, Mute Swan, Cormorant, Whimbrel, Black-Headed Gull, Lesser Black-Backed Gull, Swift, Linnet, Brown Hare,

Seawatching: Swallow, Common Scoter, Sandwich Tern, Oystercatcher, Gannet, Meadow Pipit, Curlew, Sand Martin, Lesser Black-Backed Gull, Ringed Plover, Whimbrel, Grey Seal,

Driving: Barn Owl, Little Owl, Rook, House Martin, Blackbird, House Sparrow,

Beacon Pools: Oystercatcher, Cormorant, Little Tern, Sandwich Tern, Ringed Plover, Mute Swan, Dunlin, Lesser Black-Backed Gull,