The annual Spurn BBQ gave me an excellent excuse to return to Spurn, primarily to see people before I leave but also to fit in some early autumn birding as the migration season begins to gain momentum. I arrived on Thursday and stayed until the following Tuesday, giving me plenty of time to enjoy the birding between hangovers.
There was
some nice birds during my stay, the undoubted highlight of which was the
juvenile Black Stork that was tracked down the coast on the Sunday. A group of
us spent our day on the Obs platform, scopes at the ready, awaiting for the
bird to appear over the horizon. Rainstorms hindered its progress and it took
longer than anticipated to arrive, but once we received news that it had passed
over Holmpton we knew that it was a matter of time. Once we picked it up the
bird spent most of its time flying over Easington and landing in fields. Most
birders drove up to get a better view but a small group of us stayed on the
platform where, although distantly, we could watch the bird as the local Peregrine
forced it down again and again until it landed in a ditch out of sight. It was
not until the next morning that it finally came south, passing low over the
platform just above us, but frustratingly the wrong side of the sun. A brilliant
Spurn tick for me, making up for missing out on the bird in 2015.
Other birds
were also around. An Osprey flew south on the Tuesday, and there was a constant
trickle of waders flying in off the sea as we watched from the Obs platform.
Turnstones, Black-tailed Godwits and Whimbrels were all among the highlights.
Passerine-wise it was still a little steady but there was a nice scattering of
Willow Warblers that helped keep the ringing entertaining in a morning. We also
tried Storm-Petrel ringing but we failed to even attract any, never mind catch
them. It was not a complete loss though, as, in addition to some incredible
shooting star action, we also caught a Sandwich Tern, which was a ringing tick
for PC. And that does not happen often!
The weather
was warm so in the afternoons we went out to hunt for Odonata. I had a Spurn
tick when JHF pulled a male Brown Hawker out of the Church Field Heligoland trap.
This is was the easiest species I still needed at Spurn, so was a welcome addition
to my list. There was an influx of Banded Demoiselles over the weekend as well.
I caught up with two in the end, one in Kew and another in Sykes Field, but
there were double-figures over the weekend, an event only previously documented
once at Spurn. There were Small Red-eyed Damselflies to enjoy as well, but the
highlight was a female Southern Migrant Hawker that I removed from the end of
the Church Field Heligoland. My suspicions were raised so I grabbed some photos
on my phone, but then talked myself out of it and let it go, forgetting all
about it until the next morning when I opened the book and realized what a fool
I had been. Still, the first female for Spurn, and not a mistake I will be
likely to make in future…
Spurn Bird Observatory: Greylag Goose, Mute Swan, Common Shelduck, Mallard, Common Scoter, Common Pheasant, Feral Pigeon, Stock Dove, Common Wood Pigeon, Eurasian Collared Dove, Common Cuckoo, Common Swift, Common Moorhen, Eurasian Oystercatcher, European Golden Plover, Common Ringed Plover, Eurasian Whimbrel, Eurasian Curlew, Bar-tailed Godwit, Ruddy Turnstone, Red Knot, Sanderling, Dunlin, Common Snipe, Common Sandpiper, Common Greenshank, Common Redshank, Common Guillemot, Black-headed Gull, Little Gull, Mediterranean Gull, Common Gull, European Herring Gull, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Great Black-backed Gull, Little Tern, Common Tern, Arctic Tern, Sandwich Tern, Black Stork, Northern Gannet, Great Cormorant, Little Egret, Western Marsh Harrier, Common Buzzard, Western Osprey, Eurasian Sparrowhawk, Western Barn Owl, Common Kestrel, Merlin, Peregrine, Eurasian Magpie, Carrion Crow, Eurasian Blue Tit, Great Tit, Sedge Warbler, Eurasian Reed Warbler, Barn Swallow, Common House Martin, Willow Warbler, Garden Warbler, Lesser Whitethroat, Common Whitethroat, Eurasian Wren, Common Starling, Song Thrush, Common Blackbird, European Robin, Dunnock, House Sparrow, Eurasian Tree Sparrow, Grey Wagtail, Pied Wagtail, Western Yellow Wagtail, Meadow Pipit, Tree Pipit, Eurasian Bullfinch, European Greenfinch, Common Linnet, European Goldfinch, Yellowhammer, Common Reed Bunting, Roe Deer, Red Fox, Brown Hare, European Rabbit, Common Lizard, Banded Demoiselle, Azure Damselfly, Common Blue-tailed Damselfly, Small Red-eyed Damselfly, Migrant Hawker, Southern Migrant Hawker, Brown Hawker, Emperor, Common Darter, Ruddy Darter,
