Spurn Day 4

On the Saturday of the festival the walks began, and my walk was down the Penninsula. Had it not gone ahead, at one point which that looked likely due to the tide, I would have life ticked Corys at Seawatching but it did go ahead and I had the honour of taking a small party down the point, with Marcus.

Just before we set off on the walk down there was a radio message called out about a Ruff showing off the warren. This was my current worst yearlist miss, so I rushed down to make sure I got it, and sure enough there was indeed a nice fresh juvenile Ruff feeding on the mud, which was a nice enough start to the day.

Birds on the walk itself were pretty thin on the ground, with only a few birds to be seen. The highlight, and only bird that really showed was a nice Pied Flycatcher. We did also have an Arctic Skua over the breach, which gave us a promising start and hope that we would be able to show people the birds, but sadly not.

The only saving grace was Chalk Bank Hide where there were a few Waders roosting and a few raptors hunting them. We had a tagged Marsh Harrier which has been in the area for a bit. Granted the tags are a little unsightly but they do mean that we can tell where it’s from. We had good number and variety of waders, as well as a few different kinds of gull. The highlight of the gulls was a splendid young Lesser Black-Back.

-Marsh Harrier

 I was really nervous before but it seemed to go well despite the lack of birds. The people who came down said they were pleased with what we had seen, so I like to think I helped make it worth their while

In the afternoon I wandered up to Westmere farm to have a look at some of the more unusual moths that had been caught that morning around the site. Convolvulus Hawkmoth was there to admire again, as well as a Red Underwing, a lifer and a couple of others which I did not recognise.

-Convolvulus Hawkmoth

-Red Underwing

Species List:

Spurn Peninsula: Ruff, Greenshank, Arctic Skua, Pied Flycatcher, Sparrowhawk, Merlin, Avocet, Redshank, Dunlin, Knot, Little Egret, Blackbird, Whitethroat, Kestrel, Pied Wagtail, Gannet, Teal, Bar-Tailed Godwit, Grey Plover, Sanderling, Turnstone, Whimbrel, Curlew, Great Tit, Blue Tit, Dunnock, Woodpigeon, Feral Pigeon, Carrion Crow,