Spurn Bird Observatory

For the 60^th birthday of PC, myself and a few friends attended Spurn for a surprise birthday party. While most of the weekend involved drinking and social activities there was a little time for birding and seeing some of the sights.

Just as I arrived an Oriental Turtle Dove was found in Easington. Initially I drove past it, not knowing what was occurring, and so missed the original sighting. It then took a further two hours before I finally connected with the bird, but I finally managed it. It then had the decency to linger into the weekend so the following day I returned and got more views of the bird perched more prominently than at first. This is my second of this species in the UK, and was the first for Spurn since 1975 and only the second ever record.  

There was a reasonable Swift passage during the weekend, with the highest count being 2500 on the 5^th. We also tried flick-netting low flying birds and as such caught two juveniles that we were able to ring, a ringing tick for me. Another species that seemed to be passing through in good numbers was Little Gull, with flocks exceeding 50 birds blogging about the area and often passing low over the observatory building.

In the sunny afternoons I went out hunting for dragonflies. Although it is still quite early in the season there were reasonable numbers, including a smart male Hairy Dragonfly that I removed from the Church Field Heligoland Trap. Although not the prize it once was, this species is always exciting to see. Also nice were up to three Common Emerald Damselflies on the back pond of the Churchfield, a good sign after none were recorded last year.

One afternoon we also went out twitching some Orchids, which seemed to be in good numbers here this year. There was a Southern Marsh Orchid in Church Field, Pyramidal Orchid down the Canal Bank and Bee Orchid at the top end of Sandy Beaches. Whilst there we spotted PK fishing on the beach, and watched him removed a Starry Smoothound shark from the sea. It was roughly a meter long, so not huge, but is my first actual wild shark that I have identified, so very cool to see. Sadly he had released it by the time we made it down onto the beach. 

-Happy 60th Paul Collins, SBO warden

-Spoonbill

-Little Gull

-Swift

-Oriental Turtle Dove ssp. meena

-Collared Dove

-Pyramidal Orchid

-Hairy Dragonfly

Species List:
Spurn Bird Observatory: Greylag Goose, Mute Swan, Common Shelduck, Mallard, Tufted Duck, Common Scoter, Common Pheasant, Feral Pigeon, Stock Dove, Common Wood Pigeon, Oriental Turtle Dove, Eurasian Collared Dove, Common Cuckoo, Common Swift, Common Moorhen, Eurasian Coot, Eurasian Oystercatcher, European Golden Plover, Common Ringed Plover, Eurasian Whimbrel, Eurasian Curlew, Bar-tailed Godwit, Black-tailed Godwit, Dunlin, Common Sandpiper, Common Greenshank, Common Redshank, Black-headed Gull, Little Gull, Mediterranean Gull, Common Gull, European Herring Gull, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Great Black-backed Gull, Little Tern, Sandwich Tern, Northern Gannet, Great Cormorant, Grey Heron, Little Egret, Eurasian Spoonbill, Eurasian Sparrowhawk, Common Buzzard, Western Barn Owl, Common Kestrel, Eurasian Magpie, Carrion Crow, Eurasian Blue Tit, Great Tit, Eurasian Skylark, Sedge Warbler, Eurasian Reed Warbler, Sand Martin, Barn Swallow, Common House Martin, Common Chiffchaff, Eurasian Blackcap, Lesser Whitethroat, Common Whitethroat, Eurasian Wren, Common Starling, Song Thrush, Common Blackbird, European Robin, Dunnock, House Sparrow, Eurasian Tree Sparrow, Western Yellow Wagtail, Pied Wagtail, Meadow Pipit, Common Chaffinch, Eurasian Bullfinch, European Greenfinch, Common Linnet, European Goldfinch, Yellowhammer, Common Reed Bunting, Roe Deer, Brown Hare, Common Frog, Common Toad, Smooth Newt, Grass Snake, Starry Smoothound, European Perch, Azure Damselfly, Common Blue Damselfly, Common Blue-tailed Damselfly, Hairy Dragonfly, Emperor Dragonfly, Four-spot Chaser, Black-tailed Skimmer, Common Darter, Ruddy Darter, Large Skimmer, Ringlet, Speckled Wood, Meadow Brown, Small Heath, Small Tortoiseshell, Painted Lady, Red Admiral,