Spurn Week 22

Spurn 14.11.2016

With the autumn continuing to slow down I had booked my interview at the passport office for today. As a result the day was spent out in Leeds doing odd bits and pieces and finally getting my passport. All in all a productive day if it did mean getting no birding done…

Spurn 15.11.2016

The autumn continues to draw to a close, with bird numbers dropping off daily. The bushes felt really quiet today, but I decided to make a real fist of it and see if I could find something. I first headed up round the Wetlands, Ponds and Beacon Lane followed by the Triangle and Canal. Variety was a little thin on the ground, with nothing really different being in the area. A small group of Black-tailed Godwits on the Humber was nice, and a flushed Woodcock flew straight at me whilst I was in the triangle.

After lunch things started to pick up a bit. I headed round Sammies point to have another look at the Richards Pipit at Long Bank Marsh, but on my way across I picked up a few skeins of Pink-footed Geese going south. In the end I probably had somewhere between 200-250 birds going south. It feels quite late for them to be moving, but perhaps this is the first really ideal conditions. Wildfowl was on the move generally, as I also picked up two flocks of Whoopers heading south when I went round Wetlands a second time.

-Pink-footed Geese

-Whooper Swans

The Richards Pipit was still present but continued to be mobile and not particularly easy to work with. I did manage to get a few more photos as it sat out in the open a bit, just a bit distant. Naturally though they continue to need work…

-Richards Pipit

Species List:

Kilnsea Wetlands, Beacon Ponds & Holderness Field: Gadwall, Greenshank, Canada Goose, Mute Swan, Wigeon, Teal, Mallard, Sparrowhawk, Little Grebe, Blackbird, Redwing, Snipe, Goldcrest, Greylag Goose, Whooper Swan, Redshank, Dunlin, Black-headed Gull, Great Black-backed Gull, Common Gull, Little Egret,

Beacon Lane & the Triangle: Little Grebe, Stonechat, Stock Dove, Black-tailed Godwit, Woodcock, Skylark, Moorhen, Mallard, Teal, Wigeon, Blackbird, Redwing, Robin, Reed Bunting, Wren, Skylark, Meadow Pipit,

Sammies Point & Long Bank Marsh: Pink-footed Goose, Shelduck, Lapwing, Peregrine, Kestrel, Long-tailed Tit, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Meadow Pipit, Richards Pipit, Redshank, Dunlin, Bar-tailed Godwit, Curlew, Blackbird, Redwing, Reed Bunting, Robin, Wren, Carrion Crow, Magpie,

Spurn 16.11.2016

Another bright but breezy day to be out and about birding in the Spurn area. As my days here draw to a close, it makes you realise just how privileged I have been to spend the year here. I got up early and headed to wetlands for high tide, but the waders were already beginning to move off when I arrived there. Nothing much different from previous days; but still good numbers of wildfowl, plus a flyover Peregrine and at least 2 Black-tailed Godwits in the roost.

I made my way up Easington Lagoons, through Easington village and then down towards the riding school and Sammies point to make a circuit of my walk. Whilst passing Easington Lagoons John Hewitt announced over the radio that he’d had a ringtail harrier down the Humber, that looked like a Pallid but it had been lost over the Humber. I was a bit peeved to have missed the bird, but it going missing helped disperse thoughts of being gripped off. No matter anyway, as whilst on the beach I picked up the bird quartering the fields on the far side of long bank. Views were not exceptional, but I managed a few pics of the bird over Easington before it drifted further north and apparently out to sea.

-Pallid Harrier

On the rest of the walk there were a few nice bits but it felt generally quiet, with many of the October thrushes already gone. A couple of Kingfishers at Sammies was nice, flying fairly close in the ditch right below me. The Richards Pipit continued to be present in the field, but in blustery conditions it’s a wonder I saw it. The bird was clearly not inclined to fly and was keeping a low profile in the field, but a scanning with the scope through the grass I was surprised to pick out its head poking out from the grass. First time I got to see it through the scope, showing the facial markings much more clearly.

In the afternoon I went round the triangle but that produced absolutely nothing of note, or much at all really!

Species List:

Kilnsea Wetlands, Beacon Ponds & Easington Lagoons: Curlew, Redshank, Dunlin, Greenshank, Grey Plover, Bar-tailed Godwit, Black-tailed Godwit, Little Grebe, Teal, Wigeon, Mute Swan, Mallard, Greylag Goose, Pink-footed Goose, Grey Heron, Little Egret, Pallid Harrier, Peregrine, Pied Wagtail, Skylark, Meadow Pipit, Linnet,

Easington & Sammies Point: Goldcrest, Long-tailed Tit, Kingfisher, Richards Pipit, Lapwing, Little Egret, Brent Goose, Shelduck, Curlew, Redshank, Dunlin, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Redwing, Blackbird, Pheasant, Collard Dove, Woodpigeon, Little Egret, Meadow Pipit,

Triangle: Shelduck, Brent Goose, Pink-footed Goose, Mallard, Teal, Wigeon, Blackbird, Redwing, Curlew, Little Grebe, Redshank, Dunlin,

Spurn 17.11.2016

The westerly wind greatly intensified today, making birding harder than it had been all autumn. At some points it was even difficult to stand up in. As per I headed round to the wetlands first thing to try and catch the high tide waders, but I was stunned to find no waders present, despite the tide still being high. It’s possible a predator or otherwise flushed them before I got there.

There remained decent numbers of wildfowl, but the overall totals had dropped from the previous day. Sadly though there was nothing different to the previous day. I finished off my walk by making a loop down Beacon Lane and the top road of the triangle, but saw very little. Once back at the obs I was not inclined to go out birding again, with the wind continuing to be extremely unpleasant.

Species List:

Kilnsea Wetlands: Gadwall, Teal, Wigeon, Mallard, Mute Swan, Greylag Goose, Brent Goose, Little Grebe, Little Egret, Reed Bunting, Blackbird, Redshank, Curlew, Dunlin, Knot, Golden Plover, Grey Plover, Black-headed Gull, Great Black-backed Gull, Magpie, Carrion Crow, Starling, Woodpigeon,  

Spurn 18.11.2016

Rather than waste time trying to bird in the howling gale, I headed straight down to the Seawatching hide in the morning. It was a good move, as there were good numbers of Swans and Pinkies moving. In total we logged 80+ Whooper Swans flying out at sea and a similar number of the Pink-footed Geese. A few divers also were on the move, and there was a drake Long-tailed Duck that flew south past fairly close in.

-Pink-footed Geese

-Whooper Swans

-Long-tailed Duck

Once Seawatching had dried up I spent the rest of the day doing odd bits in and around the Obs, the continued wind making birding extremely difficult and not much fun at all.

Species List:

Seawatching: Whooper Swan, Pink-footed Geese, Wigeon, Teal, Common Scoter, Red-throated Diver, Guillemot, Razorbill, Long-tailed Duck, Herring Gull, Common Gull, Great Black-backed Gull,

Spurn 19.11.2016

Continuing from yesterday, the wind remained extremely strong and difficult to bird. As a result I headed off down to numpties in the hope of a few birds moving past. A few swans and geese were on the move, with a few divers also thrown into the mix, including a few sat on the sea. On the whole though it was a fairly quiet affair! A few passerines were moving overhead, but not in any real numbers. As with previous days, the wind was making birding a bit of a challenge and most of my time was spent in the Obs.

Species List:

Numpties: Goldfinch, Siskin, Greenfinch, Chaffinch, Linnet, Tree Sparrow, Pied Wagtail, Whooper Swan, Pink-footed Goose, Greylag Goose, Brent Goose, Meadow Pipit, Wigeon, Red-throated Diver, Herring Gull, Common Gull, Great Black-backed Gull,

Spurn 20.11.2016

Today was a complete write off as a result of the previous night’s celebrations of the autumn. As a result the entire day was spent in bed and no birds were seen today

Spurn Week 21

Spurn 07.11.2016

With northerlies still the main wind on the agenda I decided to finally spend some time at the Seawatching hide. In the hour that I spent though, I missed basically everything that went past. The only time I got were four Snow Buntings flying north along the cliff top, and a few commoner seabirds.

I spent the most part of the day around the obs, trying to catch up on the odd jobs that had accumulated during October when I was too busy birding to be working. I did make one rush out of the garden when the Pallid Harrier from the day before was picked up flying south already at the Warren. We drove down in time to see it circling high above the breach, before seeing it slowly fly down the peninsula and then off the point towards Lincolnshire. It was always distant and against the light, so there was very little I picked up on it unfortunately, It’s just a good thing I connected with it well yesterday.

In the evening when we had all but wrapped up with work I went out again to have a look at a Water Rail that had been trapped in the Churchfield. It was obviously getting gloomy by this point which made taking photos a struggle, but it was a fantastic species to see in the hand, a cracking little bird. It was fairly placid in the hand, which was somewhat unexpected, I had thought it would be kicking and screaming!

-Water Rail

Species List:

Triangle: Wigeon, Pallid Harrier, Rock Pipit, Meadow Pipit, Mallard, Teal, Skylark, Greenfinch, Goldfinch, Kestrel, Sparrowhawk, Moorhen, Water Rail, Waxwing,

Spurn 08.11.2016

Again we spent all day working in the garden. We burned all the unusable wood from the shed, which helped take the edge off the first frost of the autumn. The only time I left the garden was for a grey phalarope but sadly it cleared off before I connected with it. However, dragging me away from the garden did bring me to a flock of four Waxwings sat in a tree just down the road, which looked absolutely stunning to say the least.

Species List:

Spurn Bird Observatory: Waxwing, Grey Wagtail, Greylag Goose, Robin, Fieldfare, Blackbird, Redwing, Goldcrest, Brent Goose, Mute Swan,

Spurn 09.11.2016

A bit of wasted day, but given it rained all day perhaps I have an excuse. Work started on the shed again, but the cold and persistent rain soon put pay to that idea. In the end, the day ended on something of a damp squib.

Spurn 10.11.2016

The ongoing shed project is doing a good job of keeping us busy. However, good progress was made and it looks like it will be wrapped up in the next few days freeing up more time for birding and other odd jobs

However I did get out birding a little bit today, namely a long overdue look for the Richards Pipit at long bank. Given its now in its fourth day present and it’s a lifer I should have probably gone earlier, but just chose not to. However, I finally cracked today and made my way up. It was only a short while in the area it was frequenting before I heard the diagnostic call, alerting me to the bird incoming. However, I was looking directly into the sun and it took a few heart stopping moments before I was able to connect the bird to the call. The bird’s silhouette was everything I had imagined it to be against the sun, looking more like wagtail than any species of pipit I have previously seen.

The bird landed in the field not too far in front of me. I dropped my bag to try and get the camera, but the next thing I knew was the bird was calling from the next field south. It took some time before it returned, following exactly the same pattern as before. This time I had my camera and eventually managed to grab some record shots. Sadly though, when it landed it did exactly the same as before, leaving after only a few seconds. In all I managed to get one acceptable photo of the bird…

-Richards Pipit

Species List:

Long Bank Marsh: Richards Pipit, Meadow Pipit, Starling, Skylark, Fieldfare, Redwing, Blackbird, Peregrine, Grey Heron, Little Egret, Wigeon, Mallard, Mute Swan, Knot, Grey Plover, Dunlin,

Spurn 11.11.2016

We spent the day burning off the excess wood from the garden livestock shed that we were stripping down. I did go out birding a bit, mainly round the triangle, but there was not much to see. A bit of viz-mig early morning soon died off leaving us only with what there was already present. A few Waxwings were undoubtedly the best of it, but even they were only flyovers as they headed north out of the area.

Species List:

Triangle: Waxwing, Blackbird, Redwing, Fieldfare, Shelduck, Mallard, Wigeon, Teal, Little Grebe, House Sparrow, Tree Sparrow, Chaffinch, Brent Goose, Meadow Pipit, Skylark,

Spurn 12.11.2016

Today was something of a write off given that it rained all day, not letting up until the evening. I decided to venture out into the downpour once, which was during mid-late morning in the hope of something dropping in. I made my way up round Kilnsea Wetlands and Beacon Ponds. The overall number of birds was quite low, with wildfowl moving about in the rain, the best I could manage for Wigeon was just over 150, but I did not count Holderness Field due as a result of a lack of effort on my behalf.

The undoubted highlight was a Black-throated Diver that flew in over the ponds before getting lost in the mist. When I first picked it up I thought it might be grebe, but when I saw clearly that it was a diver I made a move to photograph it, just putting it down as a red-throat. It was only when I came to do log that I thought to have another look, which is when my suspicions were aroused. Consulting with other birders the consensus was unanimous that it was indeed a Black-throated Diver.

-Black-throated Diver

Species List:

Kilnsea Wetlands & Beacon Ponds: Little Grebe, Black-throated Diver, Mallard, Wigeon, Teal, Mute Swan, Black-headed Gull, Reed Bunting, Herring Gull, Great Black-backed Gull,

Spurn 13.11.2016

The weather was much improved on yesterday’s poor excuse and as a result I actually did get outside to do some proper birding. There was tree planting planned for the morning so as a result I headed up to Kilnsea Wetlands first thing. The numbers of birds was well down, but there were a few nice bits and pieces, namely a Brambling on the fence line and a Goldeneye female on the wetlands themselves.

Tree planting was done by lunchtime, being out and about at Spurn even whilst busy still brought out some good birds, including a Waxwing that flew over us whilst planting the trees. In the afternoon I went for a walk round the triangle, but sadly that was extremely unproductive and there was nothing of any particular note. A Merlin flying distantly down the Humber was probably the best of it, but it was so distant it hardly warrants a mention.

Species List:

Kilnsea Wetlands: Goldeneye, Starling, Skylark, Meadow Pipit, Brambling, Reed Bunting, Wigeon, Mallard, Mute Swan, Teal, Woodpigeon, Carrion Crow,

Triangle: Shelduck, Redshank, Knot, Dunlin, Turnstone, Curlew, Blackbird, Redwing, Robin, Dunnock, Reed Bunting, Waxwing, Great Black-backed Gull, Common Gull, Herring Gull, Mallard, Mute Swan, Little Egret,