Spurn Day 1

For day one at Spurn it was a fairly regular affair, with a little Seawatching in the morning followed by a wander around. The seawatch had good number of Skuas moving which was nice, and there were 2 Pomarine Skuas amongst them, which were only my second and third ever and first of the year.

The mornings walk round was interrupted by a Barred Warbler, after I had reached the wetlands. Fortunately Ian was also at Wetlands and kindly drove me down to take a look at this monster in the hand. As always it’s a pleasure to see birds in the hand, but this was an improvement on previous Barred Warblers as I managed to get some decent photos of it.

-Barred Warbler

 Once the warbler had been released we drove up to Corner Field to take a look at the long staying Red-Backed Shrike. I picked it up in a tree in the corner and so we began to try and get some decent shots. They are nothing exceptional but for the light and distance they will do for a start. Either way, it’s a lovely bird to see.

-Red-Backed Shrike

I then proceeded to walk up Beacon Lane in search of anything, but was cut short upon arriving at long bank when I received a phone call from Tim saying the Black Stork at Sunk Island had been refound and that we were going for it. I ran to the wetlands car park to begin two hours and wild goose chasing without a sniff of stork.

We decided we would try again later, but called off at a field in the area to check out the gulls for any goodies. It was here that Tim picked up the Stork flying over the trees at the very far end of the field. We got to watch it for only a minute or so before it dropped below the trees. Within five mins a whole raft of birders had arrived and we had not even put the news out, so we decided to leave it until this evening and then come back in the hope it was showing.

I then spent the afternoon wandering around the Canal where I finally added Garden Warbler to my yearlist, as well as seeing some other goodies, such as Siskin, Peregrine, Siskin, Greenshank and the rest.

In the evening we headed out to Patrington to pick up Ed, and to have a look for the stork. Having scouted the area in the morning we now had a good idea of where to go, and at the first ditch we rocked up at it was there, distant and moving away, but there. I managed a few record shots and got to watch it for a while before it lumbered round the corner. It was amazing. 

-Black Stork

We arrived back at Spurn and finished the day with Seawatching. Here I added Great Skua and Sooty Shearwater to the yearlist, as well as seeing Black Tern and Kittiwake for the day list. It was quite a way to begin the week at Spurn.

Species List:

Seawatching: Red-throated Diver, Gannet, Sandwich Tern, Yellow Wagtail, Common Tern, Swallow, Greater Black-Backed Gull, Arctic Skua, Common Gull, Fulmar, Pomarine Skua,

Triangle, Beacon Lane: Yellow Wagtail, Swallow, Sand Martin, Great Tit, Magpie, Woodpigeon, Pied Flycatcher, Little Egret, Redshank, Dunlin, Peregrine, Feral Pigeon, Spotted Flycatcher, Moorhen, Common Gull, Black-Headed Gull, Dunnock, Blue Tit, Starling, Mediterranean Gull, Willow Warbler, Collard Dove, House Sparrow, Siskin, Tree Sparrow, Meadow Pipit, Curlew, Bar-Tailed Godwit, Barred Warbler, Red-backed Shrike, Greenfinch, Linnet, House Martin, Graylag Goose, Goldfinch, Kestrel, Sparrowhawk, Greenshank, Ringed Plover, Herring Gull, Great Black-Backed Gull, Robin, Blackcap, Garden Warbler, Redstart, Lesser Whitethroat,

Seawatching: Sooty Shearwater, Manx Shearwater, Red-throated Diver, Kittiwake, Great Skua, Common Tern, Sandwich Tern, Black Tern, Oystercatcher,