Spurn Day 7

Day 7 in Spurn, and the wind was now well and truly east. Sadly, for the best of it, I would not be around, but I hoped something good might drop in during the day. I was not disappointed, as during the seawatch Paul popped up to tell us that he had caught a Wood Warbler. We went down and had a look at a very nice specimen in the hand.

-Wood Warbler

 The sea was very quiet, but there were very good numbers of duck moving, with both Scoter and Teal passing north in abundance. Among their ranks were other ducks, including a few Wigeon and at the last 2 Shoveler in a large Scoter Flock. It has made a real difference having a scope, and being able to determine the features on the ducks for myself. Two Grey Wagtails also made a welcome addition to the morning.

-Common Scoter

 Same as the previous days, I wandered around the triangle, then Beacon lane before Wetlands and Ponds. It was a pretty reasonable haul of species but nothing really stands out as being unusual or irregular for spurn. Rob had found a second Wood Warbler in Canal Hedge, and seeing this bird was probably the highlight of my stroll around.

As the afternoon wore on, Paul and Tim tried again to capture the Red-backed Shrike in Cornerfield. After quite a while it finally crashed into one of the nets and we finally got to see the bird in the hand. Once Tim had drawn his fingers away it was very placid, but initially it would not remove its beak from his finger. I’ll let the photos do the talking, as it was pretty awesome to see. 

-Red-Backed Shrike

By the time we had finished with the Shrike, the evening had drawn on. As a result I headed down for tea. Post-tea I headed up to Seawatching but it was very quiet, so did not stay long. Even so, it had been a pretty awesome day, and seeing the Shrike in the hand was definitely one of the highlights of the week.

Species List:

Seawatching: Common Scoter, Wigeon, Teal, Gannet, Red-throated Diver, Fulmar, Sandwich Tern, Common Tern, Sooty Shearwater, Sparrowhawk, Arctic Skua, Tufted Duck, Wood Warbler, Razorbill, Grey Wagtail, Mallard, Kittiwake, Shoveler,

Triangle and Beacon Lane: Wren, Whinchat, Red-backed Shrike, Magpie, Little Grebe, Mallard, Reed Bunting, Swallow, Blackbird, Woodpigeon, Starling, House Sparrow, Carrion Crow, Robin, Goldfinch, Collard Dove, Blue Tit, Dunnock, Great Tit, Greenfinch, Meadow Pipit, Pied Flycatcher,

Wetlands and Holderness Field: Grey Heron, Woodpigeon, Yellow Wagtail, Starling, Mallard, Willow Warbler, Magpie, Meadow Pipit, Pied Wagtail, Feral Pigeon, Linnet, Greenshank, Teal, Black-Tailed Godwit, Ruff, Sandwich Tern, Wigeon, Shoveler, Mute Swan, Cormorant, Black-Headed Gull, Lapwing, Little Egret, Common Gull, Curlew, Little Grebe, Herring Gull, Lesser Black-Backed Gull

Kilnsea and Canal: Skylark, Swallow, House Martin, Blackbird, Linnet, House Sparrow, Woodpigeon, Wren, Turnstone, Dunlin, Ringed Plover, Redshank, Little Egret, Pied Flycatcher, Oystercatcher, Shelduck, Whitethroat, Wood Warbler, Reed Bunting, Snipe, Meadow Pipit, Whinchat, Great-Spotted Woodpecker, Robin, Willow Warbler, Red-Backed Shrike,