Spurn Day 54

Having wandered down the point yesterday I was unsure of what to do with myself for today. It was due to rain all morning, so I was tasked with cleaning the Warren which I took to with relish. I have to say the Warren has never looked so clean and tidy!

After I was finished I headed over to canal scrape to have a look since it was not far. There were odd bits and pieces including the Redshank with only half a leg. There were a couple of snipe, but you only really saw them when they flushed. As for none water birds, there were a couple of Willow Warblers and a pair of Whinchat on the fence line at the back. On Redshank, not the limpy one, came and landed very close to the hide, so I decided to grab a few photos.

-Redshank

The weather continued to be quite grey so I decided to return. On the way back I called in on Paul and Tim who were ringing. They had caught a Meadow Pipit (They had caught a few but were dealing with one when I arrived). I got to take a few pictures of this bird that is subtly very beautiful.

-Meadow Pipit

when up close. I was then offered the chance to release it which was a fantastic experience.

The final tern task was to be complete in the afternoon, the removal of the gear from the beach. So that’s where I headed after lunch. It only took an hour, but it was hard going. In the end though we cleared it all and left the hut for another year.

While up there I had a look at the ponds but there was not much going on there, though there was a Little Grebe, which is a nice record, if not rare but not common. I arrived back at the warren absolutely finished and fell asleep until the tern count.

I may as well have stayed in bed as the count was poor and nothing else was moving. As such we called it a night early and rounded off a quiet days birding.

Species List:

Canal Scrape: Whinchat, Reed Warbler, Reed Bunting, Coot, Mallard, Redshank, Snipe, Willow Warbler, Meadow Pipit,

Seawatching: Sandwich Tern, Common Tern, Arctic Skua, Common Gull, Gannet, Fulmar,