Spurn Week 13

Sadly it took until the Thursday before I was able to get out and actually do anything again. Ringing was seriously slow now, and most of my time was spent doing typing in Kew. That said, we still caught a few Blackbirds and a Fieldfare was a nice treat. The Tawny Owl graced the trees at the back of Kew throughout the week, every day becoming more obvious as the number of leaves on the trees drop off.

-Fieldfare

Monday was a day that promised very little. I was heading off with Paul to Patrington to do some jobs, but when Paul came along to pick me up he announced that we had a little detour to Hull to pick up a bird. The bird in question was a European Storm Petrel, only the second one I have ever seen. It stayed with us all afternoon before I ringed it in the evening and released it after dark. The bird was very healthy, and flew off strongly out to sea. Hopefully we will see it again sometime in the near future.

-European Storm Petrel

Tuesday was another day of very little event. But we caught another Water Rail, the second of the autumn, and this time I was able to complete the ring myself. A pretty satisfying experience to say the least. 

Species List:

Spurn: Wigeon, Teal, Mallard, Whooper Swan, Mute Swan, Shelduck, Brent Goose, Water Rail, Moorhen, Coot, Grey Heron, Little Egret, Pheasant, Little Grebe, European Storm Petrel, Cormorant, Buzzard, Sparrowhawk, Kestrel, Golden Plover, Ringed Plover, Grey Plover, Lapwing, Knot, Dunlin, Redshank, Bar-tailed Godwit, Curlew, Common Snipe, Mediterranean Gull, Black-headed Gull, Common Gull, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Great Black-backed Gull, Herring Gull, Feral Pigeon, Woodpigeon, Tawny Owl, Ring-necked Parakeet, Skylark, Meadow Pipit, Pied Wagtail, Wren, Dunnock, Robin, Blackbird, Fieldfare, Redwing, Song Thrush, Chiffchaff, Goldcrest, Long-tailed Tit, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Magpie, Carrion Crow, Starling, House Sparrow, Tree Sparrow, Chaffinch, Greenfinch, Goldfinch, Siskin, Linnet, Lesser Redpoll,