Spurn

I finally spent some time at Spurn this year with a two weeks stint beginning at the end of September and into early October. The first week was prolonged south-westerlies and whilst this meant a reasonable passage of Meadow Pipits it also meant that ringing and birding was quite restricted. Still, there were a few rarer species around, including a late Red-rumped Swallow and a couple of Great White Egrets. I spent most of my spare time trying to catch Wheatears with trip traps and spring traps, of which I had some results.

-Turnstone

-Sparrowhawk

-Barnacle Goose

Into my second week and things began to pick up a little. More easterly in the wind and birds started to arrive. First of all was a Spurn, British and World tick for me in the form of a Booted Warbler which was ringed on its second day, but lingered for a good few days afterwards. A Rustic Bunting was equally nice arrival although it was very tricky to connect with and I did not see it until its third day in the area. There were also a few commoner migrants that arrived. I was ringing at the warren for most of this period and caught a number of nice birds. Yellow-browed Warbler was always a treat, whilst Rock Pipit, Grey Wagtail and Yellowhammer were only the second time I have ringed them. In a single morning I caught seven Yellowhammers. In addition I also caught 3 Great Spotted Woodpeckers, Stonechat and a Siberian Lesser Whitethroat

-Booted Warbler

-Yellow-browed Warbler

-Grey Wagtail

-Great Spotted Woodpecker

-Stonechat

-Brambling

-Great White Egret

-Rock Pipit

-Knot

-Yellowhammer

-Whimbrel

It all kicked off again on my last day when the wind returned to the east and brought in fresh thrush arrivals. With it came a fantastic Siberian Stonechat that was trapped and ringed in the afternoon. A Jack Snipe on Canal Scrape also showed fantastically well, rounding off an amazing couple of weeks.

-Siberian Stonechat

-Jack Snipe

 

Species List:

Spurn Bird Observatory: Greylag Goose, Pink-footed Goose, Brent Goose, Barnacle Goose, Canada Goose, Mute Swan, Whooper Swan, Common Shelduck, Garganey, Northern Shoveler, Gadwall, Eurasian Wigeon, Mallard, Northern Pintail. Eurasian Teal, Greater Scaup, Eider, Common Scoter, Red-breasted Merganser, Common Pheasant, Little Grebe, Great Crested Grebe, Feral Pigeon, Stock Dove, Woodpigeon, Collared Dove, Common Swift, Water Rail, Common Moorhen, Pied Avocet, Eurasian Oystercatcher, Grey Plover, European Golden Plover, Northern Lapwing, Common Ringed Plover, Whimbrel, Curlew, Bar-tailed Godwit, Black-tailed Godwit, Ruddy Turnstone, Red Knot, Curlew Sandpiper, Sanderling, Dunlin, Jack Snipe, Common Snipe, Common Sandpiper, Spotted Redshank, Common Greenshank, Common Redshank, Great Skua, Pomarine Skua, Arctic Skua, Common Guillemot, Razorbill, Black-legged Kittiwake, Black-headed Gull, Little Gull, Mediterranean Gull, Common Gull, European Herring Gull, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Great Black-backed Gull, Common Tern, Sandwich Tern, Red-throated Diver, Sooty Shearwater, Manx Shearwater, Northern Gannet, Great Cormorant, Grey Heron, Little Egret, Western Marsh Harrier, Eurasian Sparrowhawk, Common Buzzard, Tawny Owl, Short-eared Owl, Great-spotted Woodpecker, Common Kestrel, Merlin, Hobby, Peregrine Falcon, Magpie, Jackdaw, Rook, Carrion Crow, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Skylark, Bearded Tit, Booted Warbler, Sedge Warbler, Reed Warbler, Barn Swallow, Red-rumped Swallow, House Martin, Yellow-browed Warbler, Chiffchaff, Blackcap, Garden Warbler, Lesser Whitethroat, Common Whitethroat, Goldcrest, Eurasian Treecreeper, Wren, Common Starling, Song Thrush, Redwing, Blackbird, Ring Ouzel, European Robin, Red-breasted Flycatcher, European Pied Flycatcher, Common Redstart, Black Redstart, Whinchat, European Stonechat, Siberian Stonechat, Northern Wheatear, Dunnock, House Sparrow, Tree Sparrow, Grey Wagtail, Yellow Wagtail, Pied Wagtail, Meadow Pipit, Tree Pipit, Rock Pipit, Chaffinch, Brambling, Greenfinch, Linnet, Lesser Redpoll, Goldfinch, Siskin, Lapland Bunting, Yellowhammer, Reed Bunting, Rustic Bunting, Roe Deer, Brown Hare, Rabbit, Common Darter, Migrant Hawker, Small Copper, Speckled Wood, Wall Brown, Small White, Red Admiral, Painted Lady,

October at Spurn

I arrived back from Germany late in the evening of the 8^th of October, ready to continue ringing and birding until the end of the month. My return started with a bang, as the previous evening a Red-flanked Bluetail had been found at the Potato Fields. I cycled down but the bird proved extremely elusive and only the occasional fleeting glimpses were obtained. During the afternoon I even headed down for seconds but on this occasion I did not even see the bird. On the same day I had a Shore Lark fly south over the breach, although consensus is that it was the bird that had been seen regularly in front of Chalk Bank hide.

-Red-flanked Bluetail

Now that the license to occupy has been renewed there was finally the opportunity to ring again at the Warren. During my first week back I spent most of my mornings down here, picking up such goodies as Rock Pipit, Yellow-browed Warbler and plenty of commoner birds.

Between ringing and working at the pub I had limited time available for actual birding. That being said, just being at Spurn means birds are around, and when I clocked off work on the 11^th at lunchtime, I was immediately greeted by Jonnie Fisk racing out of Kew to inform me that an Olive-backed Pipit was flying overhead. We both got onto the bird as it called and whizzed overhead. I got to enjoy nice on the deck views of this bird as well, when it set up at the north end of the canal. On the 9^th I also saw the juvenile Rose-coloured Starling that had turned up along the canal during my stay in Germany. It occasionally drifted down towards the Warren, but despite trying to use tapes we failed to catch it.

The weather turned at the end of the week, but at Hornsea Britain’s first White-rumped Swift made for an exciting turn of events. I was of course working and did not get to see the bird, and it never made an appearance at Spurn.

Ringing ticks continued to pour in over the next week; Stonechat, Grey Wagtail, Coal Tit, Yellowhammer and Barred Warbler, a bird which I myself drove into the Heligoland trap. I was of course buzzing when I pulled it out of the catching box. As I was walking the trap, the bird ahead of me, I began to wonder what on earth this bird was, but I had inkling long before I reached the end that it was indeed a Barred Warbler. Even rarer for Spurn, although not this autumn, was a Cettis Warbler that Tim caught in Corner Field. On the 20^th we caught a Willow Warbler in Kew. Not only is it an extremely late date, but the bird was enormous with a huge wing comparatively. We took some feathers for DNA but it seems unlikely that anything will come of it.

-Coal Tit

-Grey Wagtail

-Yellowhammer

-Rock Pipit

-Willow Warbler

-Cetti's Warbler

-Barred Warbler

The highlight of the autumn for some was a Great Skua that was picked up aisled on the beach and brought to Kew for some TLC. Of course, it being a great skua, the bird was violent and aggressive but easy to look after as we threw it any manner of roadkill to keep it occupied. When the day came for its release it was ringed and brought down to the Bluebell. I had the privilege of holding the bird during its transport, and in a moment of lapse concentration was reminded why these birds are so vicious, as it marked my face less than an inch from my right eye. The bastard then did not even fly off, and returned to our care for a few days before we let it loose on the Humber. Because of its temperament, I gave it the name Lucifer.

-Great Skua 'Lucifer'

Towards the end of my stay the ringing list got a real boost. A Merlin caught on the 24^th was sadly not ringed by me, but was still an absolute treat to see in the hand, a bird very rarely caught at Spurn. A Waxwing on the same day spent the afternoon around the trees at Kew but frustratingly bounced out of the net. We also finally caught the Kew Tawny Owl after nearly 12 months of trying. Our method was brutal but effective, and I had the honour of finally ringing it. Right before I headed off to Germany there was an influx of Mealy Redpolls, including some real stunners. I was able to ring around 20 birds, and among them, although not ringed by me, was a cracking Coue’s Arctic Redpoll, a solid Spurn tick. On the same day I caught a Firecrest, which was a nice bonus to what felt like a real autumn day.

-Merlin

-Tawny Owl

-Coue's Arctic Redpoll

My last days were dominated by birds on the sea. I spent very little time at the Sea-watching Hut but did enjoy a nice Pomarine Skua passage when I finally did venture down. I flew out to Germany again on the 29^th effectively ending my autumns birding at Spurn.

Species List:

Spurn Bird Observatory: Greylag Goose, Mute Swan, Whooper Swan, Shelduck, Gadwall, Wigeon, Mallard, Teal, Pheasant, Grey Partridge, Little Grebe, Grey Heron, Great White Egret, Little Egret, Gannet, Cormorant, Peregrine, Kestrel, Sparrowhawk, Merlin, Marsh Harrier, Buzzard, Moorhen, Coot, Water Rail, Oystercatcher, Lapwing, Grey Plover, Golden Plover, Ringed Plover, Bar-tailed Godwit, Black-tailed Godwit, Curlew, Dunlin, Redshank, Greenshank, Common Snipe, Jack Snipe, Black-headed Gull, Common Gull, Great Black-backed Gull, Herring Gull, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Great Skua, Pomarine Skua, Arctic Skua, Guillemot, Razorbill, Feral Pigeon, Stock Dove, Woodpigeon, Collard Dove, Short-eared Owl, Long-eared Owl, Tawny Owl, Magpie, Carrion Crow, Jackdaw, Coal Tit, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Skylark, Shore Lark, Sand Martin, Swallow, House Martin, Chiffchaff, Willow Warbler, Blackcap, Lesser Whitethroat, Cettis Warbler, Goldcrest, Firecrest, Waxwing, Wren, Starling, Rose-coloured Starling, Blackbird, Song Thrush, Fieldfare, Mistle Thrush, Redwing, Robin, Redstart, Black Redstart, Wheatear, Red-flanked Bluetail, House Sparrow, Tree Sparrow, Dunnock, Yellow Wagtail, Pied Wagtail, Grey Wagtail, Meadow Pipit, Olive-backed Pipit, Chaffinch, Greenfinch, Linnet, Lesser Redpoll, Mealy Redpoll, Coue’s Arctic Redpoll, Goldfinch, Reed Bunting,

Dorset Holiday Day 3

I aimed to keep up with my early starts for the duration of the holiday, so set my alarm for 5.30 in the morning with the aim of doing the moths on the toilet block followed by a visit to nearby Winfrith Heath, which has become something of a local patch for the holiday.

I did the quick moth round, but there was nothing really any different. Most of yesterday’s moths were still in the same location as they had been, and the number of new moths was low. The only real addition to the moth fauna of the holiday was a Dark Arches that was on the toilet block where the hawkmoth had been the day before.

Next I cycled on to the heath. It was a muggy morning but as the morning drew on the sun decided to make its first appearance of the holiday, and by the time I was heading back for breakfast it was a very pleasant and warm day.

This was reflected in the fact that a number of insect species were on the wing, despite the early time of day. I finally got my Odonata list out of the hangar with a good number of Banded Demoiselles that were associating with the bracken alongside the river. I was able to add to that a nice female Keeled Skimmer and brief views of a Golden-Ringed Dragonfly. 

-Banded Demoiselle

-Keeled Skimmer

-Painted Lady

 Despite the weather picking up, there were no reptiles on any of the open areas of ground, nor were there any on the corrugated iron sheets that had been put down. Fortunately the birds more than made up for this, as I got a bumper haul of species from the morning.

I got a few Siskins in flight from the nearby pine trees, and a Tree Pipit chilling on a small conifer in the middle of the heathland. The real stars of the day were the Dartford Warblers. I am accustom to seeing these birds flit in and around the gorse, so I felt my luck was in when I encountered 2 juveniles flitting along the fence line adjacent to the railway. I was pretty thrilled about that, but it got even better when I wandered round the main hillock on the heath, as round the far side there was a superb adult which was sitting out in the open only around 6 feet away. I got a few nice photos of the exceptional view I got of it. It was calling similar to a Whitethroat when in distress, so I decided that it was probably best to leave it, just in case it was upset. And then, on the bird front, if it could not get any better, I had a flock of around 7 flyover Crossbills, which was an unexpected bonus.

-Dartford Warbler

I arrived back at the caravan site for around 8.30 ready for breakfast and a full day out in what appeared to be the first nice day of the holiday. The consensus was that my family were heading to Portland Bill for a walk, so I decided to go down with them and have a look round the site which I had not looked at before.

We arrived at the Bill for around 10.30, upon which my family decided to go for a morning drink at the café. As a committed birdwatcher I decided to do my first independent Seawatching from the Bill, in the hope of getting a Balearic Shearwater and a few other coastal species.

I probably spent an hour watching the birds off the Bill. There were not masses of birds moving but there was decent quality. I felt I was tested but managed to do it reasonably well, and it was my first outing with the new scope in Seawatching.

There were a few Guillemots moving, blogging to and fro as well as plenty of Gannets of a number of different ages. The first real nice birds for the watch were 2 Pale phase and a Dark phase Arctic Skua that flew through relatively close in, and I got really nice views through the scope. They were a yeartick and my second yeartick was Shag, with a few of them in the area flying to and fro. At 11.10 I was treated to my target bird, when a mid-distance Balearic Shearwater flew past. It was banking in and out of the waves at it moved past but I was able to pick up the key features as it whizzed on by. Unknown to me at this point but there had been one ‘lingering’ all morning before, but to see it for myself was pretty special and I was chuffed to bits with that. I also had a Mediterranean Gull and 4 Common Scoter fly past. So overall it was an exceptional session. Also of note were 3 Rock Pipits that were blogging around the shore below me, a nice holiday tick. 

-Rock Pipit

At this point my family returned, explaining that they intended to go for a walk along the cliff up to a nearby cove for lunch. Since movement was slow and I had most of what I wanted I decided to go with them. The wind was still quite strong so there were not many insects on the wing along the coast. However there were a few more birds that were not seabirds around. The highlight of these was a pair of Raven feeding in a field, but there was also a very confiding Kestrel, perched on a fencepost just over 9 feet away.

-Kestrel

-Raven

As we walked along the coast we began to dip in and out of old limestone quarries where it was more sheltered. Here there were a few more butterflies on the wing, which finally meant my holiday butterfly list was getting somewhere. My dad pointed out a Marbled White, but soon these were everywhere, while there remained good numbers of Meadow Brown and Gatekeeper.

It started to get exciting when I spotted a Skipper roosting on the path. Sadly I had the wrong lens on and my attempts to get a photo were poor, but I head a sneaking suspicion that it might be a Lulworth Skipper, a Dorset specialty. Before I managed any decent record shots it took flight and I lost it, but I remained optimistic that the photos might show it was, when compared to a guide book back at the caravan.

I need not have worried, as further along the coast I found another skipper which was far more obliging, allowing me good views of all the features I needed, leaving me in little doubt that I had found a Lulworth Skipper. All doubts were finally laid to rest when I compared this individual to the book back home, showing beyond all doubt that I had my first butterfly lifer of the year. I had a strong feeling when I initially saw it that this was a Lulworth and so had taken plenty of photos for the record, but the initial shots also showed that the first skipper had been a Lulworth too. Both were females. What a super little thing.

-Lulworth Skipper

Buzzing from that I continued along my way. By now my parents had long gone due to my constantly being distracted. My brother came back though, saying he had found a lizard, so we headed up that way to see a stunning Common Lizard sunning itself under the wall alongside the road. I grabbed a few photos of this one, but it was the first of many along the coast route, though many were only fleeting glimpses. 

-Common Lizard

Butterfly numbers had picked up through the walk, and I was beginning to build up a decent species list. There were a few Lulworth Skippers around, as well as Small and Large Skippers to offer comparisons. A few blue butterflies also appeared, initially only Common but soon a few Chalk-Hill too, which are always a delight to see. The real bonus butterfly was a Grayling which I accidentally flushed, but was able to follow back to its landing point on the path to grab some photos. It’s an England tick for me, having only seen them previously in Scotland, and then a long time ago. Overall I was thrilled and it could not get much better.

-Grayling

-Chalk-hill Blue

Or that’s what I thought until after lunch when me and my brother began looking again. We had a while to wait while my dad fetched the car, so we had a look at the grassland on the Northern side of the cove in which we had eaten lunch in the hope of maybe finding an Adonis blue, the only other potential butterfly lifer. Sadly not, but I did get a superb alternative. 

I was just strolling through the grassland, my brother along the cliff-top when I spotted a large Yellow Butterfly flying over the shrubs. I had seen this only one time before but I knew immediately what it was; Clouded Yellow. I immediately began shouting and calling as I could not believe what I was seeing. We were able to follow its movement along the cliff as it rested on a number of flowers. Sadly it never rested wings open, which was disappointing, but I managed some nice shots of it perched up wings closed. If there was anything that could have been added to the day I had already had, this would have been. What a superb insect.

-Clouded Yellow

It had been thrilling to see that, and that’s an understatement. What an insect filled day. And it was not just the butterflies, as I was able to finally, finally see a live Cockchaffer beetle. My brother found it crawling on the floor, but it did not stick around long before flying off. There were not only Cockchaffer but also their green cousins in the form of Rose Chaffers, which were sitting in their usual position atop a large white flower.

-Cockchafer

-Rose Chafer

After that we had a quick look at Chesil Beach, but the weather had started to set in and there was nothing of any real note there. We ended the day back at the Caravan, where we stumbled across a Common Shrew that had come into the Awning. I managed to get it out when it ran into a food crate, but it was full of energy, as Shrews are. A final note is that out evening meal was interrupted rudely by a massive House Spider. What a superb day.

Species List:

Winfrith Heath: Linnet, Blackbird, Robin, Rook, Carrion Crow, Woodpigeon, Tree Pipit, Chaffinch, Stonechat, Magpie, Cormorant, Siskin, Swift, Dartford Warbler, Great Tit, Willow Warbler, Crossbill, Skylark, Keeled Skimmer, Golden-Ringed Dragonfly, Banded Demoiselle, Meadow Brown, Gatekeeper, Painted Lady, Large Skipper,

Portland Bill: Guillemot, Gannet, Arctic Skua, Shag, Herring Gull, Rock Pipit, Balearic Shearwater, Great Black-Backed Gull, Mediterranean Gull, Cormorant, Common Scoter, Linnet, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Starling, Kestrel, Oystercatcher, Woodpigeon, Black-Headed Gull, Skylark, Lesser Black-Backed Gull, Pied Wagtail, Raven, Swallow, Common Buzzard, Common Lizard, Common Blue, Chalk-Hill Blue, Small Skipper, Large Skipper, Lulworth Skipper, Small Tortoiseshell, Marbled White, Meadow Brown, Gatekeeper, Ringlet, Speckled Wood, Small Heath, Grayling, Large White, Clouded Yellow,