July at Spurn

Junes Squacco Heron remained around the area for the start of July, and I occasionally spotted it as it flew between the various water bodies that compose the triangle and the wetlands. Birding was generally pretty slow for the most part during the start of the month, with very few birds turning up in the nets. A young Great-spotted Woodpecker was the best we managed in the net, and we also finished off the Barn Owl chicks and ringed an unwell Guillemot that we had been tasked with restoring to health. We also targeted the Marsh Warblers on Beacon Lane and caught the male bird, but obviously had to remain quiet as a result of the breeding attempt. The birds fledged three chicks, making it a very successful breeding attempt. An impressive arrival of Silver-Y moths was a none avian highlight, with any flowering bush covered in them.

-Squacco Heron

-Marsh Warbler

The month really kicked off on the 14^th when a Greater Sand Plover was found on the beach at Beacon Ponds. Sadly I was at work when it was discovered, and when I clocked off it was already dark. Given that waders at Spurn usual make a swift exit from the area I was not optimistic of it still being around. The following morning the bird was rediscovered in the same place, but sadly I was not at Spurn until late morning after which the bird had disappeared. Of course the damn this reappeared once I started my shift and was unable to twitch it. I managed to negotiate a half an hour break mid-afternoon to finally see it, much to my relief.

On the 19^th we ringed the Sparrowhawk chicks in the nest behind the pub, but ringing was otherwise very quiet until the 23^rd when we started using Corner Field. On our first day we managed an impressive 56 birds of 11 species including; 28 Swallows, 2 House Martins and a few Sand Martins. Sadly the nets never really reached this kind of numbers again as when we opened them, but we still caught a few nice birds there.

On the 25^th the highlight of the month was discovered down the canal; a cracking male Southern Migrant Hawker. I was away for most of the day twitching Franklin’s Gull, and when the news broke that a SMH had been seen at Spurn it very much took the glamour of the twitch away. The journey back was filled with suspense but fortunately the dragonfly remained in the same location for the whole day and the following days, so I was able to see it and really appreciate this stunning rare insect.

-Southern Migrant Hawker

-Emerald Damselfly

On the 27^th July, whilst hungover as hell early morning, news filtered through of a probable Semipalmated Sandpiper on wetlands. It took a while for everyone to be satisfied with the identification of the bird, but it showed fairly well allowing for good photos to be taken. It was a really smart little wader, and a nice end to the month.

-Semipalmated Sandpiper

Ringing remained slow at the end of the month but a couple of Stock Dove pulli were a nice addition to the Spurn ringing yearlist.

Species List:

Spurn Bird Observatory: Greylag Goose, Mute Swan, Shelduck, Gadwall, Wigeon, Mallard, Teal, Tufted Duck, Pheasant, Little Grebe, Grey Heron, Squacco Heron, Little Egret, Gannet, Cormorant, Peregrine, Kestrel, Sparrowhawk, Marsh Harrier, Buzzard, Moorhen, Coot, Oystercatcher, Avocet, Lapwing, Grey Plover, Golden Plover, Ringed Plover, Greater Sand Plover, Whimbrel, Curlew, Dunlin, Redshank, Greenshank, Semipalmated Sandpiper, Green Sandpiper, Black-headed Gull, Common Gull, Great Black-backed Gull, Herring Gull, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Sandwich Tern, Little Tern, Common Tern, Feral Pigeon, Stock Dove, Woodpigeon, Collard Dove, Cuckoo, Swift, Barn Owl, Little Owl, Magpie, Carrion Crow, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Skylark, Sand Martin, Swallow, House Martin, Chiffchaff, Sedge Warbler, Reed Warbler, Marsh Warbler, Blackcap, Lesser Whitethroat, Whitethroat, Wren, Starling, Blackbird, Song Thrush, Spotted Flycatcher, Robin, Wheatear, House Sparrow, Tree Sparrow, Dunnock, Yellow Wagtail, Pied Wagtail, Meadow Pipit, Chaffinch, Greenfinch, Linnet, Goldfinch, Yellowhammer, Reed Bunting,

Scaling Dam twitching Franklin's Gull

Somehow I found myself with a day off, and this helpfully coincided with the reappearance of a Franklin's Gull in Cleveland. With nothing else on the cards I decided to head up with IS and RJS. We set off at around 7.30, but had we set off any later we would certainly have missed the bird. When we arrived it was still sitting in front of the hide, but was asleep and largely obscured by Black-headed Gulls.

Once it did finally wake up, it flew to the front of the hide, where it had a quick drink and a preen, before then flying over the hide not to reappear again. In total we probably saw the bird for less than 15 minutes, and of those most of the time it was poor views. 

-Franklin's Gull

Given its behaviour the previous day, we decided it probably wasn't worth waiting around for, so we headed off back towards Spurn. On the way back we called in at Wykeham for honey buzzards but sadly drew a blank there. A cracking singing male Crossbill was the highlight of the hour or so that we spent there.

Species List:

Scaling Dam: Canada Goose, Greylag Goose, Mallard, Franklin's Gull, Black-headed Gull, Herring Gull, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Ringed Plover, Willow Warbler, Pied Wagtail, Blackbird, Jackdaw, Carrion Crow, Rook, Woodpigeon, 

Thorne and Hatfield

Over the summer Tim was working on ringing Nightjars on the peat bogs between Doncaster and Goole. I managed to negotiate a day off work and had the pleasure of going out with him. During the day we worked Hatfield Moor tracking individual adult Nightjars with radio transmitters in the hope of finding some nests. We found three nests; the first had some fledged chicks we Tim stumbled across by chance, the second had two mid-sized chicks one of which I was able to ring, and the third nest had two chicks that had just hatched. At the final nest we also caught the female, on whom we put a data logger.

In the evening we went out onto Thorne Moors where we set up nets to try and catch adult birds to retrieve data tags. We caught three adult birds, a female and two males. All the birds were already ringed , but it was still fun to hold the birds whilst the tags were put on them. The mosquitoes were an absolute nightmare but it was worth the pain. 

Thorne and Hatfield are both excellent sites. Whilst out on the reserves we had excellent views of Turtle Dove and Hobby, and we heard the Cranes calling distantly, although we did not see them. We also had plenty of dragonflies including hundreds of Black Darters, plus Southern, Brown and Common Hawker, the latter (My favourite dragonflies) are the first I have seen for some years. 

-First Nightjar chicks

-Younger Nightjar chicks

-Adult female Nightjar

Species List:
Thorne and Hatfield Moors: Greylag Goose, Mallard, Teal, Tufted Duck, Grey Heron, Little Egret, Hobby, Kestrel, Little Owl, Pheasant, Grey Partridge, Lapwing, Redshank, Turtle Dove, Stock Dove, Woodpigeon, Green Woodpecker, European Nightjar, Jackdaw, Carrion Crow, Rook, Meadow Pipit, Linnet, Greenfinch, House Sparrow, Reed Bunting, Southern Hawker, Brown Hawker, Common Hawker, Emperor Dragonfly, Black-tailed Skimmer, Common Darter, Black Darter, Emerald Damselfly, Common Blue Damselfly, Large White, Ringlet, Meadow Brown, Common Blue, Peacock, Small Tortoiseshell, Red Admiral,