A few days at Spurn

Got a message from Tim on Thursday asking if I wanted to go for some LSWs. We did and failed but he convinced me to go to Spurn for a few days. I had to come back on the Saturday for a 21st but the conditions looked great and he was confident there would be plenty of birds.

Sadly it did not materialise like that. There were 3 good birds over the weekend, but only 1 of which I managed to connect with; Turtle Dove (Bee-eater and Serin the others). Another Turtle Dove however is always great and appreciated. 

There were good birds about. On the first day I got to see my Little Terns again after a long time apart and spurn-ticked Garganey with two on Holderness fields. An evening walk down the canal yielded Cuckoo, fantastic views of Hobby and Spurns first Spotted Flycatcher of the year. Other year-ticks included Lesser Whitethroat and Whimbrel. 

Day two I decided to do sammies early morning and missed Serin for my troubles. The only decent birds I got in return were Tree Pipit and Short Eared Owl. The day was hot and with no birds grounded it was hard work. A short walk down the point was made but the only notable sighting was a pair of Common Lizards possibly fighting, but looks like a male and female (?), on the road which were very preoccupied and easy to view.

Day three was shrouded in sea fret but a few birds had dropped in. Spotted Flycatchers had increased and I had my first Whinchat of the year. The Turtle Dove was also today, although the view was only brief sadly. Something of a Spurn mega on wetlands with a Canada Goose thats apparently set up for the last month or so...

-Little Tern

-Garganey

-Hobby

-Lesser Whitethroat

-Short-eared Owl

-Common Lizard

-Whinchat

-Spotted Flycatcher

-Canada Goose

-Brown Hare

Species List:
Spurn Bird Observatory: Blue Tit, Oystercatcher, Blackbird, Robin, House Sparrow, Collard Dove, Swallow, Dunnock, Carrion Crow, Whimbrel, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Starling, Mallard, Greylag Goose, Mute Swan, Avocet, Shelduck, Skylark, Pied Wagtail, Little Grebe, Ringed Plover, Little Tern, Garganey, Sandwich Tern, Little Egret, Common Tern, Black-headed Gull, Herring Gull, Black-tailed Godwit, Turnstone, Dunlin, Wigeon, Sand Martin, Gadwall, Yellow Wagtail, Meadow Pipit, Reed Bunting, Linnet, Bar-tailed Godwit, Kestrel, Lesser Whitethroat, Whitethroat, Spotted Flycatcher, Hobby, Cuckoo, Sedge Warbler, Reed Warbler, Reed Bunting, Starling, Short-eared Owl, Wheatear, Tree Pipit, Cormorant, Common Sandpiper, Grey Plover, Jackdaw, Whinchat, Canada Goose,

Shropshire Day 3-Part 1

Day 3, and another cloudless sky. That doesnt mean that it was warm though. Since it was such a nice day, we decided to go for a riverside walk at a special national trust car park nowhere near any kind of settlement.
After travelling all the way over the river on the train yesterday we recognised the great big water treatment plant that stretched across the river like an ugly monster. Since the weather was so good I was secretly hoping that I might find a migrant hawker.
We saw very little until we made it upstream of the water treatment plant, and then there was plenty of wildlife, First was a blue tit, hunting on the plant itself, and then a raven flew overhead from upstream over us and into the woods to our right. As you walk upstream we were on the right side of the river headed that way, and there were woods to our direction where there were sounds of phesants and other birds.

-Raven
slightly furthur on and we found our first wildfowl. Granted, it was only canada geese, with a graylag in tow, but there were a couple of interesting variations and abbarents in the flock, which attracted my attention, although they are more likely domestic birds.

-Canada geese
we decided that when we reached the stile at the end of the current feild then we would turn back, due to a frustrating lack of river wildlife. Most of the interesting birds seemed to be passing us by, like this cormorant flying over head.

-Cormorant
Walking back proved to be far more fruitful than walking up. Even though we were walking the same stretch of river. The first thing we saw was a flock of long-tailed tits in the willow, quite close, offering great views

-Long tailed tit
Dont ask why the bottom half of the above photo is as it is, I diddnt take it like that and it certainly isnt like that in real life. As I was wrapping up with the long-tailed tits my brother called me to say that he had found a dragonfly. I hurried over to find a red male common darter resting on a dock leaf. It diddnt seem to care that we were watching it, it just perched there, so I got down and tried to get some photos.

-Common Darter
It was whilst I was watching the Dragonfly that a kingfisher flew upstream towards us and looped round to land in a willow, not 20m away, and on the same side of the river as me. Allowing me a great oppertunity to take photos of kingfisher, which is a really nice bird. However the bird only stuck around for a few seconds before continuing upstream.

-Kingfisher
I turned my attention back to the dragonfly, but it seemed to have woken up a bit more and started moving downstream it small steps. luckily I could easily keep up with it, allowing me to get some photos of this october dragonfly.

-Common Darter
I eventually left the darter in peace to try and catch up with my family, who had probably back at the car by now. On the way i spotted a few buzzards flying low in the sky. They were out because of the thermals so it was easy for them to rise up out of the forest. Either way it was a good thing because it allowed me to get great views of this stunning predators.

-Common Buzzard
For a few minuets the air was filled with birds, woodpigeons, crows and buzzards, but it all quietened down pretty quick, so i carried on walking back towards the car. I walked along the river edge hoping to maybe flush other kinds of dragonflies. I managed to find a couple of other darters, allcommon, although only one satyed still, that being an old specemin given the darkness of its exo-skeleton!

-Old Common Darter

So that finished the early morning walk, though there was still plenty of the day to go, and it got even better than that. This was just the beginning...

Lakeland day 4

My dad decided that today, seeing as though it was boiling hot again, we would walk down to the reservoir and then go on the boat again, for the last time this holiday. The only issue was that there was now a serious haze building up to spoil the views. I caught a newspaper headling-"killer smog hits britiain", but I seriously doubt that this is killere smog, just some heat haze.

-Heat Haze
In the toilets there was anoth stunning moth that I had to remove to try and get a photo. I think its a carpet moth, but thats as far as my identification can go!

-Carpet moth
The walk was a good one, going from woodland to farmland, to woodland and then to the lake. On the way there I spotted an orange tip butterfly and an oystercatcher. In the second section of wood there was a split in the path, I went one way and my family went the other. My path went up to a large mound of rock, perhaps a roche moutonee! (Thats a glacial landform) but it gave great views of the surrounding countryside. When I left the hill ,I found another path that would take me around the the mound, across the road and into the woods next to the lake. I walked round to the boat facility, but my mum and dad were not there yet so I wandered around the back of the cafe in the scrubby woodland there. Good thing I did too, I got another new bird! It's one I have wanted to see for so long! everywhere you go they apparently live there, they live locally at Elland Gravel Pits But They have eluded me for so long. Yes Its the elusive garden warbler.

-Garden Warbler

The only issue was that it only stuck around for a few minuets! And then trying to track it down was an absolute nightmare. The call would normally be a good thing, but to the untrained ear (mine) it sounds just like a blackcap, which were absolutely everywhere in this wood. I must have followed about 10 calls all of them being blackcaps.

-Blackcap (male and female)

I caught up with my family for lunch and we then decided to go on the boats, our original intention. The row started as usual with the mallards and canada geese. But near the reedbeds there was a smaller grey goose associating with the graylags, and after photo analysis it became clear that it was a white-fronted goose. This bird I have only seen in Norfolk, in a huge flock. The fact that there was only one was making me doubtful as to weather it was genuine. It flew off quite well though, which infuriated me, because my photos were not great. I didn't see where it landed but I was hoping we would encounter it again.

-White fronted goose
there were lots of barnacle geese flying overhead which just highlights the blue sky and the lack of clouds. The geese look stunning against the blue backdrop.

-Barnacle geese
Near the island there were mergansers swimming about and also a female perched up high on a rock, which is not a usual view, as they are often swimming rather than perched.

-red breasted merganser
A bit further round there were some barnacle geese roosted, which suggests that they were happier on this new island, probably because of the lack of interference with their lives.

-Barnacle geese
On the return trip I spotted That there were a number of geese rested on the grassy back of the lakeshore and I wondered if the white-fronted goose might be there. I asked if I could have a look and my parents said I could and that they would pick me up after they had been shopping. When we landed I set off immediately and in good spirits, due to the potential of seeing a rare bird. On the way there I got a great view of a willow warbler resting above my head, which offered me potential to get some more willow warbler photos-willow warbler being a bird that you have never taken enough photos off!

-willow warbler
I made it to the Field where the birds were. They were still there, but to reach them I had to cross a sedge filled swamp-not nice. Luckily it was worth it because The white-fronted goose was amongst the graylag geese. It was roosted but I disturbed it and I immediately wandered if it was going to fly off. Luckily not, it just walked away, so I gave it a wide birth and tired to get closer from a different angle. I managed to get some decent shots, and these also prove that the bird had no ring on its leg, so i am now pretty sure that it is a wild bird.

-White fronted goose
There were also a few other birds there, notable the barnacle geese, probably grazing on the grass that they cant find on their wooded island. I cant imagine that they would be breeding but they sure look like they are.

-Barnacle geese
Having had my other memory card broken, I was having a bit of a problem with photo shortage so I was reluctant to take photos of things I didn't need. Luckily the white-fronted goose was very camera friendly, staying in the open and not flying away (but walking away!)

-White-fronted goose
It was kind of special to see all the different kinds of geese all in one place, there were also canadas there too which I had not mentioned. The star no doubt the white-fronted. I decided to leave as I could see that the geese were getting nervous, and so to avoid disturbing them.

-Barnacle geese, graylag geese (behind)
back at the boat depo there was a family of ducks with four ducklings, which are the first I have seen this year and therefore is quite special to me. It was a bit nerve racking because the males were still trying to mate with the female and the ducklings were ending up all over the place, but when I left there were still four so that's good.

-Mallard duckling

This has to bee the best day of the holiday, its sad that it has to be the last full day, but even so, There is still tomorrow to look forward to!