Spurn Day 45

There was a lot of anticipation about today that there may be some birds about. As a result I crawled out of bed early and headed out to the canal to see if I could be the first to see something. There were plenty of birds about but nothing that had been brought.

I started at canal hedge. The main birds here were a very vocal family party of Reed Warblers. There were quite a few parties too. They were so noisy its a wonder that they had not been eaten already by some hungry predator. They were obviously very skulky but I on one occasion I got sight of them so I took a few photos of the juveniles. 

-Reed Warbler

I continued on my walk around the triangle area but did not really pick up much else. The highlight of my walk was when a young grey Cuckoo flew across the canal path and landed on the fence near Canal Scrape. It stayed there for a few minuets while being mobbed by the local passerines. In the end it decided it had seen enough and that staying there was not worth the harassment.

-Cuckoo

I arrived back at the warren with a decent list for the NGB patch challenge. I did not know where to set up in order to maximise the number of species I could get in the afternoon but I saw that Adam was up at numpties and wherever he is you stand a good chance of getting something, As soon as I arrived he picked up a Red-Throated Diver on the sea, which is a yeartick for me more importantly. Sadly he left pretty much as soon as I arrived.

I therefore spent the afternoon around the warren hoping to pick up some commoner species on the feeders there. I got a few bits and pieces such as Great Tit, Blue Tit and a lovely Wheatear in top of the heligoland trap, which sat nicely for a photo.

-Wheatear

That was is before the evenings seawatch. Movement was slow again but I got a spurn tick in the form of a Shag that went north. In terms of other birds there were Fulmar, Arctic Skua and a Razorbill. So the variety was decent but the numbers of terns was not particularly impressive, or at least compared to what it could have been.

Species List:

Mooching About: Robin, Whitethroat, Blackbird, Shelduck, Carrion Crow, Redshank, Ringed Plover, Dunlin, Little Egret, Knot, Whimbrel, Feral Pigeon, Reed Warbler, Linnet, Mallard, Coot, Magpie, Whinchat, Goldfinch, Blackcap, Wren, Willow Warbler, House Martin, House Sparrow, Kestrel, Yellow Wagtail, Greenfinch, Pied Wagtail, Herring Gull, Wheatear, Black-Headed Gull, Cormorant, Mute Swan, Lesser Black-Backed Gull, Sedge Warbler, Cuckoo, Great Tit, Dunnock, Snipe, Grey Plover, Curlew,

Vis Migging: Red-Throated Diver, Swallow, Common Gull, Oystercatcher, Sandwich Tern, Redshank, Common Scoter,

Seawatching: Oystercatcher, Common Scoter, Gannet, Fulmar, Greater Black-Backed Gull, Arctic Skua, Great Skua, Common Gull, Common Tern, Razorbill, Cormorant, Sandwich Tern, Shag, Manx Shearwater