Whitehaven & St Bees

Whilst working in Cumbria I have had a little more time to head out birding. I visited RSPB st Bees a couple of times and also been around Whitehaven Harbour. Bird wise there was nothing particularly out of the ordinary, although a Spotted Flycatcher in the sycamores around the farmhouse was very nice. There are also a few Stonechats as well as a single Wheatear. As for the harbour, there was a limited array of species but some Rock Pipit were nice, as was a small group of Redshanks. At both locations we found hybrid Hooded x Carrion Crows. 

-Carrion Crow x Hooded Crow

-Redshank

-Meadow Pipit

-Stonechat

Species List:

RSPB St Bees: Common Scoter, Common Pheasant, Grey Partridge, Rock Dove, Common Woodpigeon, Black-headed Gull, European Herring Gull, Great Black-backed Gull, Red-throated Diver, Northern Fulmar, Great Cormorant, Eurasian Sparrowhawk, Peregrine Falcon, Magpie, Jackdaw, Carrion Crow, Raven, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Barn Swallow, Chiffchaff, Whitethroat, Wren, Common Starling, Blackbird, Robin, Stonechat, Wheatear, Dunnock, House Sparrow, Grey Wagtail, White Wagtail, Meadow Pipit, Rock Pipit, Common Linnet, Goldfinch, Yellowhammer,

Whitehaven Harbour: Mute Swan, Rock Dove, Common Woodpigeon, Collared Dove, Oystercatcher, Redshank, Common Guillemot, Black-headed Gull, European Herring Gull, Great Black-backed Gull, Great Cormorant, Magpie, Jackdaw, Starling, Robin, Rock Pipit,

Piling Lane Ends twitching Eastern Black-eared Wheatear

During my time at work in Cumbria, a mysterious wheatear that had been lingering in Lancashire was finally confirmed as an Eastern Black-eared Wheatear, based off white bases to the mantle feathers that had been observed in some photographs. As a result I decided to make a move and head down to see the bird on my way home from work.

It was an really nice and confiding bird, although with many other people present I was reluctant to try and get too close. Still, on a couple of occasions the bird came to us giving fantastic views in very nice evening light. A Northern Wheatear offered a nice comparison for the rarity. 

Other birds were a bit thin on the ground, but there were large flocks of Pink-footed Geese already back on their wintering grounds.

-Eastern Black-eared Wheatear

-Pink-footed Goose

Species List:

Piling Lane Ends: Greylag Goose, Pink-footed Goose, Common Shelduck, Common Pheasant, Stock Dove, Common Woodpigeon, Eurasian Curlew, Black-headed Gull, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Grey Heron, Little Egret, Carrion Crow, Barn Swallow, European Robin, Northern Wheatear, Eastern Black-eared Wheatear, Meadow Pipit, 

Migfest 2019

It has been some time since my last visit to Spurn but what better event to return to than the Migfest. It was, as usual, a fantastic social event with great avian offerings. I was involved in a handful of guided walks, as well as the usual car parking duties.

Over the weekend, through luck or judgement, I managed to connect to a number of the weekends star species. The long staying White-rumped Sandpiper was nice, although it remained distant for most of the time. Mandarin was a Spurn tick for me when a moulting male flew over us off the sea and landed for a short while on the Humber before flying off again. Throw in a nice mix of regular migrants; Pied Flycatcher, Spotted Flycatcher and Whinchat and it made for an excellent weekend.

-Barn Swallow

Species List:

Spurn Bird Observatory: Greylag Goose, Shelduck, Mallard, Eurasian Teal, Mandarin, Common Swift, Stock Dove, Woodpigeon, Collared Dove, Ruddy Turnstone, Little Ringed Plover, Ringed Plover, Curlew, Whimbrel, White-rumped Sandpiper, Dunlin, Sanderling, Knot, Common Redshank, Common Snipe, Green Sandpiper, Little Egret, Eurasian Sparrowhawk, Eurasian Reed Warbler, Sand Martin, Barn Swallow, Common House Martin, Willow Warbler, Blackcap, Lesser Whitethroat, Common Starling, Common Blackbird, Spotted Flycatcher, European Pied Flycatcher, Whinchat, Northern Wheatear, House Sparrow, Tree Sparrow, Yellow Wagtail, Common Linnet, Reed Bunting,