Soil Hill & Whiteholme; Week 26th July - 01st August

Soil Hill

Unfortunately, due to the weather I did not visit Soil Hill too many times this week, but on the days that I did visit there were quite a few bits to keep me entertained. For starters on the 26^th I managed a whopping 45 species, which I think is my best count this year, but I can’t be certain about that. Willow Warblers were the stand outs of the week, with small numbers of juveniles present daily giving the place a very lively feel. A Grasshopper Warbler was also nice on the 26^th, as were two Grey Wagtail that flew south and 2 Common Buzzard that circled low overhead. Once the storm had passed, I returned to the hill but there was not the fall of passerines I dreamt about, the highlight on the 1^st being a Green Woodpecker that was calling from down in Bradshaw.

-Common Buzzard

Whiteholme Reservoir

Where Soil Hill was more tranquilo this week, Whiteholme was exceptional. With the storm in the offing I made a visit during the afternoon of the 27^th to sus out the habitat and see which birds were already present. I was stunned to spot a Red Knot still in its summer finery on the centre ‘island’. I then flew to the near shore and became unbelievably confiding, allowing me to gather some nice shots. It was carrying a limp but this did not seem to hamper it behaviour at all.

The 28^th was unexceptional despite the weather, but the storm continued and on the 29^th it delivered. Fog greatly hampered visibility but in the glimpses I was able to obtain of the ‘island’ I managed to spot 6 Arctic Terns all sitting out the storm, which then turned into 7 when they got up and had short fly around before presumably deciding against it. When the fog lifted again there was a summer plumage plover sitting on the island. Frustratingly, because of the wind direction, it kept facing me the whole time, and then the fog descended again. It was another 10 minutes before the fog lifted again, but the bird continued to face me. Consequently I moved along the shore to hopefully get an angle that would confirm my suspicions that the bird was a Grey Plover. I managed a better angle, but it was not needed, as the bird decided to leave the reservoir, flying low over my head revealing its stunning black axillaries.

And then to wrap it all up on the 31^st a stunning adult Turnstone arrived mid-morning and after flying around calling landed in the top NW corner of the reservoir. It lingered here for all of about 30 seconds before it took off again. Frustratingly I was trying to digiscope the bird at the time and as such lost it as it flew off, so I have no idea which direction it went. I did however scour the whole reservoir, and it was certainly not present on Whiteholme, nor on Blackstone Edge. Turnstone is my 150th species in Calderdale and the 15th species of wader on Whiteholme so far in 2021.

-Red Knot

-Arctic Tern

-Grey Plover

Species List:
Soil Hill: Canada Goose, Mallard, Red-legged Partridge, Common Pheasant, Feral Pigeon, Stock Dove, Common Wood Pigeon, Eurasian Collared Dove, Common Swift, Common Moorhen, Northern Lapwing, Black-headed Gull, Common Gull, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Grey Heron, Eurasian Sparrowhawk, Common Buzzard, Common Kestrel, Peregrine Falcon, Eurasian Magpie, Western Jackdaw, Rook, Carrion Crow, Eurasian Blue Tit, Coal Tit, Great Tit, Eurasian Skylark, Common Grasshopper Warbler, Sand Martin, Barn Swallow, Willow Warbler, Common Whitethroat, Eurasian Wren, Common Starling, Mistle Thrush, Common Blackbird, European Robin, Dunnock, House Sparrow, Grey Wagtail, Pied Wagtail, Meadow Pipit, Common Chaffinch, European Greenfinch, Common Linnet, European Goldfinch, Common Reed Bunting,
Whiteholme Reservoir: Canada Goose, Mallard, Eurasian Teal, Goosander, Common Swift, Red Grouse, Eurasian Oystercatcher, European Golden Plover, Grey Plover, Common Ringed Plover, Eurasian Curlew, Red Knot, Dunlin, Ruddy Turnstone, Black-headed Gull, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Arctic Tern, Great Cormorant, Common Kestrel, Carrion Crow, Northern Raven, Common Grasshopper Warbler, Northern Wheatear, Grey Wagtail, Pied Wagtail, Meadow Pipit, 

Spurn Week 18

Because I left for Christmas on the 22^nd this is going to be a very short post! Despite spending a bit of time out in the field, I failed to see a great deal, no real highlights at all.

However, on the night of the 20^th I went wader ringing for the first time. I had a great time, with a reasonable catch of birds of a few different species; Redshank, Dunlin, Knot and Oystercatcher. It’s exciting getting to handle a range of different birds and the experience as a whole was new for me. Hopefully it won’t be long before we are able to do it again.

We tried again for the Tawny Owl resident in Kew. We saw it a couple of times but once again it failed to go into the net. 

Species List:

Spurn Bird Observatory: Wigeon, Teal, Mallard, Shoveler, Pintail, Tufted Duck, Scaup, Goldeneye, Mute Swan, Shelduck, Brent Goose, Greylag Goose, Moorhen, Coot, Little Egret, Pheasant, Little Grebe, Cormorant, Gannet, Buzzard, Sparrowhawk, Kestrel, Golden Plover, Ringed Plover, Grey Plover, Lapwing, Knot, Dunlin, Turnstone, Redshank, Bar-tailed Godwit, Black-tailed Godwit, Curlew, Common Snipe, Mediterranean Gull, Black-headed Gull, Common Gull, Great Black-backed Gull, Herring Gull, Feral Pigeon, Woodpigeon, Collard Dove, Tawny Owl, Skylark, Meadow Pipit, Pied Wagtail, Wren, Dunnock, Robin, Blackbird, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Magpie, Carrion Crow, Starling, House Sparrow, Tree Sparrow, Chaffinch, Greenfinch, Goldfinch, Linnet, Reed Bunting, 

Spurn Day 2

Today the festival preparation began, so I decided to try and stay near enough to Westmere Farm for the days birding. It started with a little Seawatching where there were a few seabirds like Arctic Skua passing and a handful of duck, including a Pintail, which was a bit of a novelty.

I then headed round the triangle, through Beacon Lane, round to Wetlands and finished off at Sammies Point before work began. A Green Sandpiper on Holderness field was the highlight of the first half but the ponds had really impressive numbers of Knot and Grey Plover roosting, which was pretty cool to see. 

-Wader Roost

 Whilst walking to Sammies I was collared by Martin Stoyle, who asked if I was interested in moths. I said I had a passing interest, thinking it might be a rare brown migrant, but instead he produced 2 Convolvulus Hawkmoths which were a lifer and only my fourth Hawkmoth species ever. I was pretty impressed to say the least.

-Convolvulus Hawkmoth

There was nothing much doing at Sammies, but my trip there was cut short by a call to help with the festival preparations, and that is how I spent the rest of the day.

Species List:

Seawatching: Pintail, Wigeon, Arctic Skua, Grey Plover, Golden Plover, Dunlin, Ringed Plover, Sandwich Tern, Common Tern, Gannet, Black-Headed Gull, Great Black-Backed Gull, Red-Throated Diver, Fulmar, Razorbill, Common Scoter,

Triangle: Reed Warbler, Swift, Willow Warbler, Goldcrest, Tree Pipit, Cormorant, Sand Martin, House Martin, Linnet, Goldfinch, Swallow, House Sparrow, Mute Swan, Little Egret, Mallard, Rook, Jackdaw, Red-Backed Shrike, Starling, Robin, Black-Headed Gull, Common Tern, Knot,

Beacon Lane: Willow Warbler, Greenfinch, Linnet, Blackcap, Greenshank, Woodpigeon, House Sparrow, Blue Tit, Yellow Wagtail, Graylag Goose, Curlew, Green Sandpiper,

Beacon Ponds and Wetlands: Avocet, Turnstone, Greenshank, Little Grebe, Common Sandpiper, Sanderling, Dunlin, Knot, Redshank, Grey Plover, Golden Plover, Ringed Plover, Oystercatcher, Wigeon, Teal, Mallard, Mute Swan, Little Egret, Cormorant, Common Gull, Mediterranean Gull, Black-Headed Gull, Black-Tailed Godwit, Bar-Tailed Godwit, Pheasant, Lesser Black-Backed Gull, Herring Gull, Sandwich Tern, Kestrel, Peregrine,

Sammies Point: Reed Bunting, Curlew, Kestrel, Little Egret, Peregrine, Linnet, Spotted Flycatcher, Willow Warbler, Lesser Whitethroat, Garden Warbler, Whitethroat, Siskin, Great Tit, Chaffinch, Wheatear, Whinchat, Meadow Pipit,

New Brighton

I decided to go straight for the laughing gull the day after the news broke. I was confident I would not see it, and so it turned out, as the bird was there 20 mins before I arrived and then turned up an hour after I left but not through the 4 hours that I was there.

Having said that, I had a fantastic days birding mainly due to a rather impressive wader roost on the pontoons. I say impressive, but I have never seen one on a man made structure, and never this close. There was also an impressive diversity within the roost. At first glance it looked to be made up of Redshanks and Turnstones. There was a rather distinct pale Sanderling right at the front which stood out like a sore thumb. Next birds I spotted were a group of my favourite none snipe waders, Purple Sandpipers. Having not had a good view of this species for so long I was thrilled to be able to see these right down in front of me. I was even able to get some reasonable photos though they did spend most of their time asleep. Filtering through the masses I picked out another wader species, in a lovely Knot. When it was asleep (Most of the time) it was difficult to separate from the Redshanks, but one it looked up it stoop out rather nicely. But the flock still had another species. The final species was a Dunlin which must have steadily made its way to the front of the pack before I noticed it. It was great to see so many species all in the same space and all so close.

-Wader Roost

-Knot and Sanderling

-Dunlin

-Purple Sandpipers

And it was not a complete loss for gulls either, as there was a stunning adult Mediterranean Gull around, which flew right over the heads of the massed twitchers, its white wings looking smashing in the sunshine. I only managed a couple of shots as I spent most of its appearances admiring the beauty of the wings. It really was a smashing bird.

-Mediterranean Gull

So no laughing gull, but since it seems to have stuck I may give it another go at some point. I had a fantastic days birding. And on the way back I even spotted a fox sunbathing on the rail banking. What a great day!

Species List:

New Brighton: Feral Pigeon, Pied Wagtail, Sanderling, Turnstone, Redshank, Cormorant, Mediterranean Gull, Carrion Crow, Purple Sandpiper, Knot, Black-Headed Gull, Dunlin, Common Gull, Oystercatcher, Starling, Greater Black-Backed Gull, Magpie, Woodpigeon, Collard Dove,

Spurn Day 33

Doing the nightshift without a torch was not as difficult in practice as I had anticipated. Due to its lunar ways the moon was especially bright tonight, and I could even see my shadow in the moonlight, which is not something I can ever recall seeing before and was quite a surreal experience.

I spent the day lazing around due to the poor form of the weather. I headed up to Kew in the morning to do some washing and along the way spotted whitethroat and whimbrel as the highlights. Next stop was Canal Scrape where there were the usual Mallards and Coots but nothing different really. I ended up at the Seawatching hide rather early, at 4.55, to begin the evenings watch.

It started slowly, as it often does, but an early highlight was a swift that was hunting round the hide giving some exceptional views. I had not seen a swift like this at Spurn so I had wondered if it could be a pallid but I got good enough views to say that it was a standard swift showing off.

-Swift

The movement increased through the evening as was expected, as did the number of birders. Soon we had a small gathering and were keeping tabs on all the movement. There was good wader passage; Sanderling 11, Redshank 14, Oystercatcher 52, Knot 21, Whimbrel 14 and a single Black-Tailed Godwit going south, with large numbers of Knot going north off the Humber in huge expansive flocks.

-Knot

 Of course the Tern is the main thing that we were counting (though not me) and we had really good numbers though it was slow to start. By about seven it had started to rain, but it was only a short shower and the sun remained out giving us a fantastic double complete rainbow, the first of which was very rich in colour. The light was also fantastic for viewing the terns, as they flew south, making them all seem pristine white against the dark background. We also had a juvenile Little Gull, which also showed well against the dark background.

-Common Tern

Sadly I had to leave in order to make some dinner before my shift. Its safe to say that will not be a mistake I make again as they had 2 black and a rosette tern after I left, and it was the highest count of the year with 7000 commons. Next time I will have an early tea and stay for the whole passage.

It was already dark when I arrived at my shift, so nothing could be made out on the ponds sadly. The moon was incredibly bright again though, casting shadows like the source of illumination was right next to me, like a TV in dark room. I also saw a few shooting stars, and braved the wind in order to watch them.

The Daily Oystercatcher

Once more my life was deprived of oystercatchers, as my shift finished before light and began after it. I did spot a few oystercatchers while checking the pond for fox, and while they were probably from my family it is impossible to tell. Either way they were not happy I was there and as such I did not stay to try and recognise them.

Species List:

Seawatching: Swallow, Sand Martin, Fulmar, Gannet, Swift, Common Gull, Sanderling, Woodpigeon, Starling, Linnet, Whimbrel, Redshank, Oystercatcher, Common Tern, Knot, Ringed Plover, Mediterranean Gull, Greater Black-Backed Gull, Carrion Crow, Arctic Skua, Black-Tailed Godwit, Little Gull, Dunlin, Arctic Tern, Grey Plover, Turnstone,

Spurn Day 14

I arrived at the hut for 5.00 in the morning as per, ahead of another long but enjoyable shift. As soon as Keiron had left I evaluated the situation. It was foggy, so I could hardly see the far side of the pond, there was a North wind blowing, so it was freezing cold, and I was absolutely knackered. The solution, I decided, was to sleep off this grim morning in order to better appreciate the rest of the day.

I awoke from slumber at around 8.00 to see, much to my delight, that the day had cleared, though the wind had not dropped. The reduced fog meant that it felt much warmer so I set up for a morning check. First I headed over the Long Bank to do a morning Little Tern juv count, and registered a very poor 8, though the tide was out and there were possibly some on the beach.

Both Oystercatcher families were still out, as were 3 Little Egrets and 3 Little Gulls, 2 adults and a Juv. The decline in weather conditions meant that the Seawatching had improved and there was a steady stream of gannets moving to sea.

The first of the morning’s events occurred at 9.30. Still feeling groggy from my kip I was sat in the hut with the front open sorting out some notes when I heard some frantic squawking from outside the hide. I looked up to see a Sandwich Tern being mobbed by an Arctic Skua. I had never expected a Skua to actually enter the colony, only ever pass it by near the sea. Here was one actively hunting in my colony, meaning I would have to deal with it. But at the same time it’s an Arctic Skua right in front of me, and I hardly ever see this species. So I decided to spook the bird, with my camera. As soon as I saw it I jumped up and grabbed the camera. But the bird must have seen me as it immediately gave up its pursuit and headed seawards, where I managed to get a couple of record shots. Consider my duty done.

-Arctic Skua

That left me very satisfied with my mornings work, but also very surprised that such a sea-going bird had come into the colony to hunt my terns, very concerning. But I considered it a one off, a chance to get great views of the species. Wrong! At 10.00 the terns all went mad, flying all over the place, and who should fly straight through them but the same Arctic Skua. It must have gone back south out to sea and then come back up through the colony. Here though I failed to see it actively bother anything.

It just glided through the colony with a handful of angry Sandwich Terns on its tail. It followed the line of the pond straight up towards the hut, and after flying around the northern end of the pond decided to fly right over the hut, and over me. I could not believe it, how close it came, gliding some gracefully over me. It is possibly the best view of the species I will ever get. I was fortunate enough to grab a few shots of it as it drifted over, before heading out to sea. An experience I will never forget. I saw it a little later heading back south out to sea, and wondered if it was going to try a third time, but it never did.

-Arctic Skua

The birds were left in peace following the skua’s departure. But not for long though. At 10.20 all the birds went up again, and I mean all the birds. Even the Egrets went up, everything was up. I already had a worrying suspicion as to the cause of this disturbance but could not see it. I did see it though, in its usual spot, sat on the beach. The female Sparrowhawk had returned again, and was once more causing havoc among my terns. I scared her off, but I do not think she caught anything. Hopefully they will begin to get the message.

It was really not the terns’ day. We then had more bother from Kestrels, but fortunately only by their presence and not their hunting. And then the juv Marsh Harrier made an appearance. Last time the only thing this bird had upset were the Crows, but this time all the terns went up. Fortunately it did not come close and all quickly settled down, while the harrier dealt with its old adversaries up a the north end of the pool.

-Marsh Harrier being mobbed by Carrion Crow

The next hour was spent watching irresponsible birders, making sure that they did not disturb my terns. Once they had cleared off I headed back to the Warren to pick up some lunch. When I was almost back I spotted a large flock of Common Scoter flying northwards near the Seawatching hide. They were quite close to shore too, allowing me to grab some shots that were a slight improvement on what I had in the past. 

-Common Scoter

That was a very busy few minutes for me, as no sooner had the scoters gone than did another, or possibly the same, Arctic Skua come flying along the shore. It then took a turn inland and started flying over Clubleys towards the Humber. Half way across it found a Sandwich Tern with a full beak which it decided to mob. So far as I could tell the Tern got away. The Skua continued towards the Humber where I saw it turn south and then disappear below the tree line. It’s been quite a day for Skuas.

-Arctic Skua mobbing Sandwich Tern

I did not stay long for lunch, it being a busy predator day I wanted to get back to my terns as soon as possible. I made it back for 1.30 having not seen much on my walk back, only a Painted Lady in the same place as yesterday, so presumable the same one. It was still sunbathing despite the lack of sun, obviously still suffering from whatever it was that made it shiver when I saw it yesterday.

-Painted Lady

The ponds were very quiet when I got back, not a lot happening. I went round to Long Bank again to do another count. I swear I got corn bunting while I was over there, but I cannot be sure, as is usually the case when small brown birds whizz past you. I also counted a record 5 Kittywake on the bank with a few Little Gull. I’m getting good at this Kittywake spotting business.

On the way back I spotted a Knot among the small group of Dunlin feeding at north end of the pond. Since all my photos of summer Knot so far have been relatively poor I decided to take a few here, to boost my Knot gallery. They are not (!) bad. 

-Knot

With the tides changing the times that the waders arrive every day is getting later, and today it was around 4.00 that the first waders arrived. Until then I had not much to do at all, as a sea fret had come in and was making things difficult. Seawatching was out of the question and tern counting would be biased since I could hardly see half of them.

I did get some drama though when a familiar foe made another appearance. The female Sparrowhawk is really beginning to get on my nerves now. Again it left empty handed but once more made all my terns very on edge, making my job very difficult.

I was on Long Bank when the waders arrived, a very poor showing indeed, only a couple of hundred dunlin showing. There were 3 Grey Plovers among their ranks and the Summer Turnstone from yesterday. There was also the Curlew Sandpiper from yesterday, which was still looking lovely. Once more it came fairly close, and so I grabbed some more shots, though they would do well to add to yesterday’s photos. 

-Curlew Sandpiper

The final count of Little Tern juvs got a very respectable 30, not bad at all. There was too much movement though, as the terns were frequently being flushed, so much so that most of the Dunlin actually left, taking the Curlew Sand with them.

I decided to call it a night after the tern count at 4.30. The fret had made things very difficult, half the pool obscured. There had not anyone to send away during the entire afternoon shift and as a result there was little I could do besides watch the fog. As a result I drew the line and headed home. On the way back I spotted one of the Grey Seals near to shore, and since I have not taken any photos of them yet I decided to grab a few, since they are a regular feature of any day at Spurn.

-Grey Seal

And that was that. The fret came and went through the evening, but I remained exhausted so I did not go out again. Another birder was in the warren and he said that he had got nothing, so once more it seems I had the best of it up at the pools. Man, I love my job.

The Daily Oystercatcher

As mentioned both families were seen today. My family spent most of their time in their chick adult pairs, occasionally coming together to do some feeding. I managed to upset them multiple times while checking the fence and moving between Long Bank.

I was interested to note that when the above marsh harrier made an appearance, instead of the parents going off to mob them, they immediately ran to their chicks, as if to protect them. I don’t really see what an adult oystercatcher would have been able to do against a marsh harrier, but this was a different response to that seen to the Sparrowhawk over the last few days, a bird which was violently mobbed by the oystercatchers.

Species List:

Beacon Ponds: Little Tern, Sandwich Tern, Oystercatcher, Ringed Plover, Little Egret, Cormorant, Mute Swan, Dunlin, Gannet, Kestrel, Little Gull, Black-Headed Gull, Arctic Tern, Common Tern, Arctic Skua, Meadow Pipit, Linnet, Herring Gull, Great Black-Backed Gull, Skylark, Sparrowhawk, Sanderling, Swallow, Carrion Crow, Woodpigeon, Marsh Harrier, Common Scoter, Kittywake, Redshank, Common Sandpiper, Knot, Starling, Sand Martin, Curlew Sandpiper, Grey Plover, Turnstone, Wren, Grey Seal, Brown Hare, Gatekeeper, Ringlet, Small Skipper, Painted Lady, Wall Brown, 

Spurn Day 2

So day 2 begun, with my first shift. This shift began at 5.00 in the morning, so a 4.00 rising was required. To say it was testing is an understatement, it was really grim. Thankfully the rain had eased, leaving only the wind to contend with. On the way to the hide I passed a singing Sedge Warbler, which was a nice recovery.

I passed by the Tern areas to a chorus of angry adults overhead voicing their discontent at my presence. I met the other warden who was finishing his night shift and settled down for a 5 - 5 shift of watching Little Terns and anything else that may be around. The colony, some 45 pairs strong, is between the sea and a saline pool. On the pool there were the waders that had been brought up to rest by high tide, predominantley Dunlin, Redshank and Grey Plover. One of the latter was in stunning summer plumage, which is a plumage tick for me.

-Dunlin

-Grey Plover in Summer Plumage

As the morning wore on the numbers of wading birds began to drop as they moved off into their feeding grounds. It was during this time that I noticed an unusual specimen among the Dunlin. Its bright buff plumage drew me to it, that and the fact that it had no black on its belly. On closer inspection it was also larger than dunlin, and had a longer, curved bill. Could it be that I had found another lifer, curlew sand? I considered it and mentioned it to the warden as one, but I failed to see the white rump so I’m unable to confirm or deny it either way. I checked photos of curlew sand online and have not found a photo of a bird as buff as mine, so I have opted not to call it as one and wait for one with a white rump.

-Mysterious Wader, above the rock

But of course the birds that I was here to watch were the Little Tern. There were at least 7 juveniles and numerous adults. They often flew over the hut on their way between fishing and the colony. I got great views as they moved around the place, sometimes even fishing in the pond in front of me. To say it was only a lifer yesterday they have very quickly become a familiarity in my current line of work.

-Little Tern

During the latter part of the morning it got to a stage where my tiredness was beginning to catch up with me. It was a struggle to keep awake, and it was still less than half way through my first shift. However I was awoken from my drowsiness by a small flock of summer plumage Little Gull that flew over the pond, allowing me to get a great view of them coming towards me and grab a few record shots of these lovely birds. 

-Little Gull

Things frequently slowed down on the pool so I frequently looked out to sea. There were usually some gannets passing by but the highlights of my seawatch were the small groups of Common Scoter that flew past, quickly becoming a regular feature through the day. They were often far out to sea though, so it was difficult to get any decent photos of.

  In the dunes themselves there were a few insects around, but due to the wind they were not in excess. The most notable of these was a large orange moth flying around, but it did not land at any point so I was unable to get a clear identification of it. When I came up to it I got a better view of it and when it got trapped in some grass. It was a Garden Tiger Moth, but it did not stay still so I could not get any decent photos, only record shots.

-Garden Tiger Moth

The morning passed and the afternoon drew on. Soon the waders started to come back from their feed and accumulate on the pond. Among them there were a few summer plumage Grey Plover, adding to the one earlier and a few other dubious Dunlin that could have been something else but I was not it a position to comment anyway. I managed another year-tick in the form of a pair of summer plumaged Knot that had mingled in with the waders. It’s the first time I have seen a summer plumage knot, so that was an exciting development in the day.

-Summer Plumage Knot

My shift came and went, and so did I. On my walk back along the beach I had to pass a small group of Dunlin on the beach in front of me. Naturally I wanted to avoid spooking them but it was not going to happen, they had taken up all the space between the terns and the beach. I ended up having to send them up twice as the first time they did not get it that I was going that direction. For all that I managed to get some decent shots of the birds...

-Dunlin

When I had almost made it back the Warren, worn and weary, I found another species that required photographing. This time though it was not a bird but a mammal. A Roe Deer was muching grass in the field next to the road. It was very bold and I managed to get some decent shots before it ambled away, seeming pretty careless about my being there.

-Roe Deer

I headed back to the Warren to grab some dinner. After that I decided to go for a bit of Seawatching, to see if I could find anything. In about an hour I managed a good few Gannets, a couple of Guillemots and a pair of Sandwich Terns, so not overly productive but good practice.

I decided to have a wander around the warren to see what was about and to try and find the pools where the darters were. I headed towards the spit first but soon realised the pools were not that way. There was a Linnet singing from one of the signposts, and I spotted a few Whimbrel along the shoreline, which was my first time in a while seeing them. I continued along the shoreline to try and see if the ponds were behind the hedge, but they were not. I did succeed in flushing a Brown Hare and a Fox though, which definitely counts for something.

I eventually did find the pools in the field behind the Warren. As expected for this time of day there were no dragonflies, but there was a Roe Deer feeding in the long grass, possibly the same one as earlier. Again, it was quite bold too so I was able to get some good shots of it, even though the light was so low. 

-Roe Deer

And as such my first full day at Spurn, and my first working day finished. I was knackered and ended up in bed by 9.30. Looking forward to more of the same tomorrow!

Species List:

Beacon Ponds: Ringed Plover, Gannet, Woodpigeon, Blackbird, Little Tern, Sandwich Tern, Dunlin, Little Egret, Meadow Pipit, Shelduck, Little Gull, Greater Black-Backed Gull, Grey Plover, Oystercatcher, Redshank, Common Scoter, Avocet, Mute Swan, Common Tern, Sedge Warbler, Black-Headed Gull, Swallow, Common Gull, Carrion Crow, Feral Pigeon, Linnet, Swift, Herring Gull, Woodpigeon, Turnstone, Knot, Garden Tiger, 6 Spot Burnet Moth, Small Tortoiseshell, Meadow Brown, 22 Spot Ladybird,

Seawatching: Gannet, Swallow, Guillemot, Sandwich Tern, Common Gull, Fulmar, Shelduck, Great Tit, Grey Seal,

Warren Walk: Meadow Pipit, Linnet, Whimbrel, Swallow, Chaffinch, Yellowhammer, Pied Wagtail, Woodpigeon, Roe Deer, Brown Hare, Fox