Soil Hill & Whiteholme; Week 17th - 23rd May

Soil Hill

Once again Soil Hill was very steady with no significant arrivals during the week. Overall numbers of Whitethroats and Willow Warblers remained fairly consistent, although a sucessful Whitethroat territorie on Taylor Lane from 2020 at last returned, bringing the total number of territories up to at least nine. The Sedge Warbler finally returned on the 17th but was elusive and difficult to get to grips with. Otherwise notable observations were limited. A single Siskin flew north on the 22nd, a pair of Mistle Thrush were present on the 23rd and a pair of Collared Doves flew over the Ned Hill Track on two dates during the week. 

-Sedge Warbler

Whiteholme Reservoir

Passage wader numbers continued to drop and despite ideal conditions there was nothing of real note on any dates, with Dunlin numbers starting at seven on the 18th but dwindling down to just two on the 22nd. Ringed and Little Ringed Plovers remained present, with Oystercatchers also making intermittent appearances. There were a couple of notable sightings during the week. On the 17th there was a pair of Shelduck on the far shore. Although I can't be certain, I think this is a Calderdale tick for me, having failed to connect with any last year. Finally on the 22nd there was something more notable when I picked out a roosting Common Tern early morning. It remained settled for maybe 30 minutes before it was flushed by a Crow and flew strongly SW calling.

-Shelduck

-Common Tern

Species List:
Soil Hill: Canada Goose, Mallard, Red-legged Partridge, Common Pheasant, Feral Pigeon, Stock Dove, Common Wood Pigeon, Eurasian Collared Dove, Common Swift, Common Moorhen, Eurasian Oystercatcher, Northern Lapwing, Eurasian Curlew, Common Snipe, European Herring Gull, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Black-headed Gull, Common Kestrel, Eurasian Magpie, Western Jackdaw, Rook, Carrion Crow, Great Tit, Eurasian Skylark, Sedge Warbler, Barn Swallow, Willow Warbler, Common Whitethroat, Eurasian Wren, Common Starling, Mistle Thrush, Common Blackbird, European Robin, Dunnock, House Sparrow, Pied Wagtail, Meadow Pipit, Common Chaffinch, Common Linnet, European Goldfinch, Eurasian Siskin, Common Reed Bunting,
Whiteholme Reservoir: Canada Goose, Common Shelduck, Mallard, Eurasian Teal, Eurasian Oystercatcher, European Golden Plover, Northern Lapwing, Common Ringed Plover, Little Ringed Plover, Eurasian Curlew, Dunlin, Common Sandpiper, Common Tern, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Common Buzzard, Common Kestrel, Peregrine Falcon, Carrion Crow, Northern Raven, Eurasian Skylark, Barn Swallow, Eurasian Wren, Northern Wheatear, Pied Wagtail, Meadow Pipit,

Spurn Week 1

Spurn Day 1 - Wednesday 23^rd August

Having earned a little money from my stint as a Bee-eater warden I decided to spent the rest of my year volunteering back at Spurn, whilst at the same time beginning to train to become a ringer. For my first day I was given a real treat in the Juvenile Rose-coloured Starling that had been found the previous weekend was still present and frequenting the feeders at Driftwood. The light was pretty awful but it’s still a decent Spurn tick. In the evening I headed down to the evening tern roost. It was a fairly healthy movement, but still not spectacular. There were over 4000 Common Terns plus a couple of Skuas and Manxies. All this and just in the first few hours, only at Spurn.

-Rose-coloured Starling

-Common Terns

Spurn Day 2 - Thursday 24^th August

Sadly my first full day at Spurn was spent taking down the Little Tern electric fence. This is the worst job of the whole project, so it was a bummer to spent my first day doing it, but once it’s over then it’s not a concern until next year.

As a result I was only able to spent the evening birding. Instead of going down to the evening tern roost I decided to check the high tide roost on the wetlands. There were a few birds present, the standout of the waders being a nice Juv Little Stint, and a few very nice Ruff. A couple of Short-eared Owl were also quite nice, especially when it perched up near-ish to the hide.

-Short-eared Owl

Spurn Day 3 - Friday 25^th August

In my quest to actually find something decent this autumn I decided to work the point as much as possible. It did not get off to an amazing start, with a Spotted Flycatcher about the best bird that I could muster. A couple of Whinchat and a single Wheatear made up the rest of the migrant contingent. It was a pleasant enough walk though, and something I am deffo looking forward to for the rest of the autumn.

Whilst I was down the point a couple of Great White Egrets had turned up on the Wetlands. Upon my return from the peninsula I headed straight off to see them. They were a little distant but I was able to get substantially better views than the last time I had seen this species at Spurn. In the afternoon we had something of a Spurn mega. Tim retrieved a Southern Hawker from the Heligoland trap in Churchfield. This is the first Spurn record since one in 2013, the latter was found by me and was probably my best find of that year.

-Great White Egret

-Southern Hawker

Spurn Day 4 - Saturday 26^th August

Continuing with the theme of working the point as much as possible I headed down the point once again today. Sadly the species composition was much the same as the previous, although I expected nothing less. Once back north of the breach I spent the afternoon doing not very much. In the evening we had a BBQ for the birthday of a Spurn regular. Whilst not likely to be a birding hotspot on the face of it we did have a pretty sweet evening bird wise, with a number of Mediterranean Gulls flying over, a Hobby trying to take out Swallows and the Rose-coloured Starling which dropped into the bushes in Steves garden after spending an hour or so on show with the large Starling flock.

Spurn Day 5 - Sunday 27^th August

After a late night of celebrating a Spurn birthday I was not quick off the mark in the morning. I spent the morning beginning my ringing work by handling my first birds. The vast majority of the birds we caught were Tree Sparrows, although I was also able to handle the only House Sparrow we caught. We added a Willow Warbler to our totals which was also nice, and even posed nicely for a few photos.

In the evening I did a walk around the ponds and wetlands, sadly not much was around although a Common Sandpiper was my first of the year. I also had a Short-eared Owl and a few more Willow Warblers. Ultimately though I failed to see anything overly unusual, besides the usual juvenile Rose-coloured Starling, which was still associating with the large Starling flock around Kilnsea.

Spurn Day 6 - Monday 28^th August

The initial stages of my ringing training involved becoming comfortable handling birds. As a result I spent most of the morning in Churchfield hoping to catch some birds which I could then study and handle. Sadly birds were in very short supply and the only thing we caught was a single Willow Warbler. In the afternoon I was drafted in to cover the new Spurn shop outside the Obs. It was a pretty tedious task and there were sadly no birds involved at all.

-Willow Warbler

Spurn Day 7 - Tuesday 29^th August

After a long and ultimately pointless day venturing into Hull, it was nice to return to Spurn to find that there had been an extremely light fall of migrants. I initially went hunting for the pied flycatchers in the crown car park but failed to connect. I then proceeded to work the canal but to no reward, despite an hour trying. Five Willow Warblers were all I could muster. I ended my search at the Warren where I worked with Kieran, watching him ring what little birds were being trapped. Just as we were wrapping up news came through that Paul had caught an Icterine Warbler. We headed up to see the bird in the hand. Sadly it was not a sitter, but I was able to get a few nice shots of it in the hand. A pretty sweet end to a rather uneventful day!

-Icterine Warbler

Species List:

Spurn Bird Obs: Wigeon, Teal, Mallard, Gadwall, Brent Goose, Greylag Goose, Mute Swan, Red-throated Diver, Gannet, Manx Shearwater, Cormorant, Hobby, Kestrel, Sparrowhawk, Marsh Harrier, Common Buzzard, Moorhen, Coot, Grey Heron, Great White Egret, Little Egret, Oystercatcher, Ringed Plover, Grey Plover, Golden Plover, Lapwing, Knot, Sanderling, Dunlin, Little Stint, Curlew Sandpiper, Turnstone, Bar-tailed Godwit, Whimbrel, Curlew, Greenshank. Common Redshank, Ruff, Common Sandpiper, Green Sandpiper, Wood Sandpiper, Common Tern, Arctic Tern, Black Tern, Herring Gull, Common Gull, Great Black-backed Gull, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Kittiwake, Little Gull, Arctic Skua, Great Skua, Woodpigeon, Collard Dove, Feral Pigeon, Short-eared Owl, Skylark, Meadow Pipit, Yellow Wagtail, White Wagtail, Whinchat, Stonechat, Robin, Pied Flycatcher, Wren, Dunnock, Blackcap, Whitethroat, Lesser Whitethroat, Reed Warbler, Sedge Warbler, Icterine Warbler, Willow Warbler, Chiffchaff, Starling, Rose-coloured Starling, Magpie, Carrion Crow, House Sparrow, Tree Sparrow, Goldfinch, Greenfinch, Chaffinch, Reed Bunting, Migrant Hawker, Southern Hawker, Ruddy Darter, Common Darter, Common Emerald Damselfly, Speckled Wood, Red Admiral, Small Heath, Common Blue, Small Tortoiseshell, Meadow Brown, Small White, Green-veined White, 

Kent - Triple Lifer Day

Of course, as soon as I could I made my move for the Oriental Turtle Dove in Kent. It was only right, given its a species I have long wanted to see, seemed predictable in its pattern and was particularly expensive to get to (Less than £50 for a journey into Kent is not bad). Its my first ever visit into the south-east so that alone was something I was excited about. I was very excited for the whole thing in fact.

I set off from my house at 01.00 to get a taxi to Meadowhall to get my coach into London. Once in London I made the short walk from the coach station to Victoria train station where I got a half an hour train to Otford where the dove was residing. I was on site by half 6 in the morning, the earliest I could have realistically been. I swear I only got about two hours kip on the coach, and I did have fears for how my body would hold up, but fortunately I was fine until the train back to London in the evening.

In the three hour morning wait the Dove showed for a grand total of 5 seconds at 7.30. Super looking bird and well worth the trip down, but sadly a little brief. It spent all its time in the garden feeding out of sight. I was obviously a little disappointed at its showing but I knew I was coming back later in the day and fancied my chances then. Plus I'd seen it, and there are plenty of birders who have not. Also on site were a couple of Ring-necked Parakeets, and commoner garden species. 

-Oriental Turtle Dove

It was also great to meet a few of the Norfolk NGB's there, who arrived just in time to see the bird. In total we managed to clock up just over 30 species for the site during the time there.

When it became apparent that the bird was not going to show again I made my move. I had decided to get the train down to Tonbridge and walk along the river, as a couple of European Turtle Doves had been seen there over the last couple of days, and as my biggest tarts tick I felt this needed attention. From Tonbridge, once I connected (or not) with any doves I had planned to go to a country park near Maidenhead for Nightingale but when I suddenly learnt that would take an absurd amount of time I decided instead to walk from Tonbridge to Paddock Wood train station along the river Medway, before getting the train back to Otford for the evening.

Once I gathered my bearings in Tonbridge I was soon out into the countryside along the river. I quickly picked up my first Swift of the year, followed by both Sedge and Reed Warbler. Oddly I also had my first Robin and Great Tit fledglings of the year, showing just how much faster things really do move down south.

The river walk was lovely. I was surrounded by singing Whitethroat, Yellowhammer, Wren, Blackbird, Song Thrush, Willow Warbler, Sedge Warbler and Cuckoo, although I failed to see the later species. I was also serenaded by Turtle Dove. I was strolling along and suddenly I picked up on the purring sound coming from the trees across the river. However it stopped too quickly and I lost any location I had on it. It took it 20 mins or so to start again but by then I had already picked it up in the top tree, badly backed against the light and rather distant. Through the scope the views were fantastic but I sadly failed to get that with the camera.

Its so sad to think this is my first ever Turtle Dove, but I guess thats a sign of the times. Its such a smart bird it really is so sad whats happened to them. But I finally connected with one and got to spend a good hour watching it chill in the top of the tree. Given the poor conditions I only included a couple of my record shots, no point using up data.

Double Turtle Dove lifer day...

-European Turtle Dove

The weather was on point today, with glorious sunshine and barely any wind. It was lovely. There were plenty of butterflies on the wing, including Holly Blue, Speckled Wood, Orange Tip and Peacock.

Continuing along the walk I had a bird whizz over my head. It only took a short view to realise it was in fact a Hobby, my first of the year and very exciting too. It circled a couple of times over the field allowing me to get a few nice record shots of what was probably my best unexpected species of the day looking back. A really nice surprise.

-Hobby

I had looked on the Kent Bird Club sightings page before I left and found a few bits and pieces on an old gravel pits near paddock wood at the end of my walk, so I decided to call in there. A few Nightingales were reported there and since I had now ruled out going to Maidenhead it seemed like my best chance of seeing one. The site was really smart, although there were fewer waterbirds than I imagined for the quality of the site. However, the bushes were full song and it did not take long for me to pick out a Nightingale. I headed over to where it had called from and somehow managed to miss it, only spotting its bright red rump flying away from me. However, with some persistence I did manage to get a shot of it sat out in the almost open. Lifer number three. Whilst I waited I also got another yeartick when two Common Tern flew overhead.

-Common Tern

-Nightingale

Although the bird itself proved elusive during my hour trying to get a photo of it, it kept singing the whole time and that song was beautiful, really pleasant to listen to. 

I had not quite realised but the walk between the stations was well over 10km, and with carring the tripod on my shoulder, wearing two jackets as it was cold when I set off and all my gear in my backpack, I was more than a little exhausted when I stumbled into the station. Still, I got half an hours sit down as I made my way back to Otford. On the way I recieved a notification informing me of the bird showing again.

And when I arrived on site it was doing just that, siting out fairly well in an area we could get much closer to it than before. The only downside was the light was against us but that was only an issue for photographers. For me, a good record shot is all I ask and I definately got that. Through the scope I got fantastic views of the bird preening as well as moving round. All in all I got everything I wanted. What a superb bird.

-Oriental Turtle Dove

The Parakeets also kept appearing, with one bird sitting out in the open so much it would have been rude not to take a photo...

-Ring-necked Parakeet

My coach back left London at half 8, so I left the Dove at 19.00 to make sure I was there in good time. By that time the bird had dropped back into the garden and with the light continuing to fade there really was not worth staying for.

I arrived back home in Sheffield at 00.30, by the completely exhausted but so thrilled about an incredible days birding, possibly one of the best I have ever had. Three lifers, year-ticks galore and a host of other awesome birds, more than I could have dreamed of at the start of the day.

Species List:

Otford: Robin, Kestrel, Blackbird, Starling, Oriental Turtle Dove, Feral Pigeon, Ring-necked Parakeet, Magpie, Carrion Crow, Great Tit, Blue Tit, Chaffinch, Woodpigeon. Goldfinch, Dunnock, Greylag Goose, Herring Gull, Jay, Collard Dove, Grey Heron, Wren, Sparrowhawk, Pied Wagtail, Jackdaw, Greenfinch, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Common Buzzard, Stock Dove, House Sparrow, Long-tailed Tit, Mallard,
Tonbridge: Swift, Grey Wagtail, Feral Pigeon, Woodpigeon, Goldfinch, Sedge Warbler, Blackbird, Herring Gull, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Collard Dove, Mallard, Magpie, Long-tailed Tit, Robin, Whitethroat, Reed Warbler, Song Thrush, Blackcap, Yellowhammer, Linnet, Chaffinch, Dunnock, Wren, Swallow, Pied Wagtail, Stock Dove, Turtle Dove, Jackdaw, Carrion Crow, Herring Gull, Common Buzzard, Starling, Chiffchaff, Goldcrest, Bullfinch, Hobby, Skylark, Nightingale, Common Tern, Moorhen, Coot, Great-crested Grebe, Tufted Duck, Mute Swan, Wheatear,

Portsmouth and New Forest

Granted this was a long time ago, dropping my brother off in Portsmouth for his year long placement. On the day when we dropped him off I headed to Titchfield Haven due to the fact he could only have two visitors. Few bits and pieces, a flock of Pale-Bellied Brent Geese was pretty nice and a set of very unwary turnstones which were running around only a few meters away. Pretty awesome. 

For the afternoon we headed down the coast where there were a few Sandwich Terns, and a juvenile tern with them which is probably a Common. There were also a few Med Gulls around, which are always nice to see.

The next day we headed into the New Forest, first time for me. It was pretty cool, a very beautiful place, but the weather was a little off being overcast all day. Birds were at a bit of a premium, but we saw a few goodies, if not regular species such as Common  Buzzard and Little Egret. Insects were a little better with Migrant Hawker and Hornet on the agenda looking lovely.

We were sposed to be staying til Wednesday but as it happened there was a severe rainstorm on Wednesday night and the caravan awning collapsed on me, drenching all my clothes and leaving me with nothing for the rest of the week. With that in mind, we decided to call it quits and go home early.

-Pale-Bellied Brent Geese

-Turnstones

-Common (?) Tern

-Migrant Hawker

Soil Hill: Patch ticks number 70 and 71

First time back up the hill since coming back from the holiday and with the persistent rain I did not expect anything much, most birds presumably taking shelter. That being said, I was almost immediately proved wrong when I was walking up the road to the hill. I noticed a bird which resembled a Black-Headed Gull, but seemed to have a jizz more like a tern. I raised my bins and quickly saw that it was a tern, with a more pronounced bill making it a Common Tern. I grabbed the camera from my bag and grabbed a couple of record shots which are awful but still enough to confirm it, my 70th patch species.

-Common Tern

This was followed on the top by number 71 when an Oystercatcher flew over the hill very low and really quite close to me. It was moving quicker than the tern had been so my record shot is nothing more than its back end drifting away, but that left me buzzing.

-Oystercatcher

I got a reasonably good species haul today, with around 20 species recorded. Other highlights included a juvenile Wheatear and a Pheasant family. I flushed the adult female and had interest in getting a better look where it landed when I heard a soft cheep from my feet and looked down to see two stripy very young pheasant chicks. Needless to say, I very quickly moved on.

-Juvenile Wheatear

Species List: Linnet, Feral Pigeon, Common Tern, Lesser Black-Backed Gull, Blackbird, Swift, Meadow Pipit, Skylark, Black-Headed Gull, Lapwing, Mistle Thrush, Stock Dove, Carrion Crow,Wheatear, Woodpigeon, Swallow, Oystercatcher, Common Gull, Starling, Pheasant, Kestrel, Dunnock.

Spurn Day 52

I awoke late by birders standards today, and headed up to the Numpties watchpoint to see what was moving. There was good movement with a wide variety of species. The highlight included a Great-Spotted Woodpecker by the warren which was a spurn tick for me. 4114 Swallows went south, 161 Sand Martins and 507 House Martins, though I was not there for all of them I did take part in the counting process. 

There were also a few Mediterranean gulls, a couple of Rooks, and a few waders such as Turnstone and Bar-Tailed Godwit. It was late morning by the time that we had finished up at the watchpoint and it left me with plenty of time to wander around.

I headed off down to Big Hedge first in order to have another look at the Red-Backed Shrike that was still there. It continued to show very well, but today I did not to try and approach it but just to watch it from the hedge. It still gave fantastic views as it moved up and down the hedge. But I did not stay too long admiring.

-Red-Backed Shrike

I wandered all over through the day, including Sammies Point, Kilnsea Wetlands and Beacon Ponds. The highlight of my mooching was the 3 Little Stints that were still on wetlands looking really nice and quite close, so I could try to take a few photos of them. Sadly they were still too far away to get any really good photos. 

On the ponds there were still a few wildfowl, including Tufted Ducks, Wigeon and Teal. The real reason for all my mooching was to do a full Little Egret count for the reserve since Andy had mentioned at log the previous night that they should really get one for every month. The total I managed was 13 birds, most of them at sammies, though I was unable to go down the point to count.

At 6.10 I headed up to the seawatch to watch the terns go past. It was a phenomenal tern count 10360 Common Terns flew past, in the second highest count for over 3 years, the highest also happened during my time. It was fantastic to observe, though it did not feel like such a high count as it had done on the previous night. This time it started slowly and yet subtly built up into the impressive count that we got.

But it was not just the Common Terns that were phenomenal, as there were also a couple of more unusual terns, not least the much awaited appearance of a Roseate Tern, which Tim spotted flying far out with a few commons. At first I struggled to pick it up, but once I had got it you could see how much whiter it was, though most other details were lost due to distance. It was fantastic to finally get one though, and add it to my year-list. 

Species List:

Vis-Migging: Fulmar, Great-Spotted Woodpecker, Greenfinch, Snipe, Dunlin, Tree Sparrow, Great-Crested Grebe, Skylark, Oystercatcher, Sandwich Tern, Whinchat, Arctic Skua, Wigeon, Common Teal, Mallard, Reed Warbler, Starling, Swallow, Sand Martin, House Martin, Swift, Meadow Pipit, Feral Pigeon, Pied Flycatcher, Great Tit, Dunnock, Little Egret, Redshank, Knot, Linnet, Cormorant, Marsh Harrier, Mediterranean Gull, Magpie, Turnstone, Ruff, Bar-Tailed Godwit, Rook, Yellow Wagtail, Ringed Plover,

Mooching About: Pied Flycatcher, Red-Backed Shrike, Little Egret, Wheatear, Whinchat, Golden Plover, Willow Warbler, Spotted Flycatcher, Whitethroat, Reed Bunting, Little Stint, Grey Heron, Sanderling, Tufted Duck, Wigeon, Mute Swan, Cormorant, Kestrel, Teal, Sparrowhawk

Seawatching: Sanderling, Gannet, Oystercatcher, Sandwich Tern, Black-Headed Gull, Arctic Skua, Whimbrel, Fulmar, Puffin, Roseate Tern, Mediterranean Gull, Shelduck, Common Tern, 

Spurn Day 39

Today we make a triumphant return to days. Now I will be able to lay eyes upon the chick that has, quite literally, kept me up at night. Obviously today was only a buffer shift as I spent the morning in bed recovering from the final nightshift, and this will be the final one, as it won’t be long now until said chick is ready to be on its way.

The buffer shift is usually quiet, due to the afternoons being generally quiet with birds now. There was a Black-Tailed Godwit and a few summer plumage Grey Plover in, as well as the usual suspects. Those suspects did include my Oystercatcher family, though they are now very mobile and often disappear for long spells, but their progress has been outstanding, and the change is noticeable since I left them a week ago.

In light of the fact that I would need some form of picture for the blog I grabbed a snap of one of the Dunlin behind the hut. They are really quite striking birds when you get them close, with detailed scally plumage, and a speckled black chest.

-Dunlin

The seawatch however was far from quiet. We had incredible numbers of Common Tern streaming down all evening. We also had other birds moving in impressive numbers too, making it quite some evening.

It’s hard to know where to start really, but in terms of bird orders we had 9 Manx Shearwater which was impressive and a whopping 19 Fulmar, which was an outstanding number of these birds. Wader-wise we clocked up Ringed Plover, Turnstone, Redshank, Dunlin, Knot, Sanderling and 2 Snipe coming in, the first time I have seen them on seawatch.

But todays real stars were the terns. In Common Tern we had an incredible 10,120 birds move through. They just kept on coming and coming, with a few Arctic Terns thrown in too, though there were undoubtedly more than the 81 we counted. We also counted 1 Black Tern which I can say with pride I found. But regardless of all else, let’s just think about 10,120 terns, an incredible passage and the first time that Spurn have had over 10,000 for 3 years I recall.

Species List:

Beacon Ponds: Sandwich Tern, Little Tern, Herring Gull, Black-Headed Gull, Common Gull, Greater Black-Backed Gull, Redshank, Dunlin, Sanderling, Grey Plover, Little Egret, Ringed Plover, Black-Tailed Godwit, Cormorant, Kestrel, Mallard, Mute Swan, Oystercatcher, Swallow, Sand Martin,

Seawatching: Common Tern, Sanderling, Dunlin, Woodpigeon, Herring Gull, Oystercatcher, Redshank, Turnstone, Snipe, Sandwich Tern, Black Tern, Knot, Swallow, Black-Headed Gull, Fulmar, Mediterranean Gull, Feral Pigeon, Swift, Ringed Plover, Greater Black-Backed Gull, Manx Shearwater, Arctic Tern,

Spurn Day 38

It sadly rained substantially today, so most of the day was spent in the warren not doing much. I went for a walk to canal scrape but it was usually quiet and the only thing I really picked up was a Sedge Warbler at the bottom of Canalside.

In the evening though it picked up substantially, and we enjoyed a nice evenings seawatch. It started off a little slow, but we soon had good numbers of Common Tern passing through, along with a few other bits and pieces.

There were a few Swifts moving tonight too, a total of 40 birds moving over, including one flock of 26, which were high up but flew right over our heads. I also got a spurn tick in the form of Shag, and the evening was topped off with a lovely Black Tern moving through in the later hours. We counted 5050 Common Tern in total, which is an impressive count, the second highest I have seen in my time here.

Species List:

Seawatching: Common Tern, Swallow, Sandwich Tern, Swift, Black-Headed Gull, Arctic Tern, Shag, Linnet, Feral Pigeon, Woodpigeon, Oystercatcher, Gannet, Greater Black-Backed Gull, Common Scoter, Little Tern, Arctic Skua, Knot, Black Tern, Grey Plover,

Spurn Day 34

Given that I hardly see the light on a nightshift anymore I would be forgiven for not getting much wildlife on them. However, tonight was an exception to this rule. At 3.50 in the morning I heard the sound of distressed Oystercatchers, so went outside to have a look. Naturally I anticipated fox, so was scanning the shoreline when a ghostly form flew overhead, the form of a Short-Eared Owl. Unexpected would not quite cover it, given that this is the first time I have encountered one on duty. In hindsight it is possible that it was in fact a long-eared, but my memory seems to serve that the breast was relatively unstreaked and that the bird did have dark wingtips, so I would be more satisfied with the Short-Eared identification.

That was not all for the night though. As Keiron wandered up the beach to relieve me of my duty I noticed something rabbit sized move in the dunes. Of course rabbits do not live on this part of the reserve so I went to check it out. I found a Leveret cowering on the dune, not 3 feet away from me. I watched it without moving and after a bit it sat up and moved off into the dunes. It was an incredible view of the animal, unlike any I have ever had of Hare before.

When I awoke from my sleep it was still blowing a gale and I was not particularly enticed to go out and have a look. Eventually I did though, and ended up wandering along the coast to canal scrape. Along the coast I found a single juvenile Mediterranean Gull feeding along the surf. Initially its identity escaped me but I managed to get close enough to make sure that it was a Med Gull and that I had not made a mistake

-Mediterranean Gull

 On Canal Scrape it was almost barren of birds, with Mallard, Coot and Reed Warbler being the only birds there, with Willow Warbler and Woodpigeon in behind and the Swallows nest within the hide itself.  I bumped into a Brighouse birder in there though, Mick Sharp, shout out there. We headed back to the coast to try and find another Med Gull but sadly failed. We did find a few Turnstone, Sanderling and Ringed Plover though, probably there was the wind had kept the tourists from the beach.

I headed in after that for an early tea in order to avoid missing anything at the evenings tern count. Once more I was first in the hide, and started counting immediately. It was another great nights tern counting, only this time I had the whole thing, so was able to fully appreciate it.

Once more it took a while to get going, with birds not really beginning to move until around 6.30, but by 7.00 there were large flocks of Common Tern moving through, along with a few waders and gulls. I was on the duty of counting Sandwich Tern and anything not a Common Tern. There were surprisingly few Sandwich Tern, only 83 in almost 4 hours. As for waders species, the numbers were very good; Sanderling 71, Dunlin 57, Knot 138, Whimbrel 7, Turnstone 10, Ringed Plover 34, Redshank 12, Oystercatcher 16, Black-Tailed Godwit 9, a very enjoyable evening counting them.

There were a number of out of ordinary birds too tonight, starting at 18.45 when the first one came through. I was watching a flock of Common Tern and noticed near the front an adult Black Tern flying with them. I called it out first, but I get the impression that it had been found simultaneously by a number of us. Either way, it was a great find, the only downside being that it was perhaps a little too close ad that I was unable to get any decent photos as the bird dropped below the cliff before I had managed to get my gear sorted.

-Black Tern

At 19.11 another different bird came past. One of the guys had already noted that there must have been a predator around as the swallows were clearly not happy. However, it took a good half an hour before the predator revealed itself by flying right in front of the seawatch hide. It was a lovely female Sparrowhawk, and she flew right along the cliff top in front of us. It was an exceptional view, but the light was too poor to take it cleanly in the photos, so my only efforts were very blurry.

-Sparrowhawk

After that I had a bit more luck, both bad and good. First of all the inevitable had to happen. So far this week I had managed to dip a whopping 6 rosette terns all for bizarre reasons. When one was announced I immediately went for the kit to try and find it among the flock and finally end my back luck. However, as was inevitable I could not find it before the terns had moved on, as is standard. I think rosette tern can now replace gropper as my bogey bird!

However it was not all bad as at 19.12 just after the sprawk another Black Tern flew past, but this time further out, so I had more time to set my photos, though they were obviously not very good simply because of the distance. It came in with a flock of Common Tern but seemed to get left behind by them and was soon flying on its own.

-Black Tern

But that was not the end of it. At 19.29 one of the birders spotted a Barn Owl hunting over Clubleys scrape. I had been worried I would not manage a photo of this species this year, but now I had the chance to put that right. In fairness I may as well not have done as my efforts were extremely poor but they were only record shots for my year list. Another fantastic species for the evening!

-Barn Owl

 But of course the real stars of the evening were the Common Terns themselves, and there were plenty of them. In total 7470 were counted, the highest of the year, and since I had been there since the start I had effectively seen all of them. They were incredible, sometimes massive flocks flying right alongside the cliff right next to us, and in the evening light they looked incredible.

-Common Tern

And I made it to the end, so tonight is not the night I set my rosette bogey right. I made my way up to my shift but I had barely started when a familiar foe set the Oystercatchers off. It was the owl again, or a different one, as this one I am pretty sure was a Long-Eared, as it seemed too small for a short eared and seemed to have a streakier belly. I guess I will never know, but it seems likely to be the same bird whatever its true identity.

The Daily Oystercatcher

No sighting of the Oyks again simply because I’m not there in the day. As I alluded to though, there were oystercatchers greatly upset but the presence of the owl in the evening, and I think they are out family. I was surprised by just how bonkers they went, the most crazed I have ever seen them, and I doubt very much that the owl would have posed them any threat, even if I had not seen it off.

Species List:

Beacon Ponds: Short Eared Owl? Long-Eared Owl? Oystercatcher, Ringed Plover, Brown Hare

Canal Scrape: Mallard, Coot, Reed Warbler, Swallow, Sand Martin, Linnet, Willow Warbler, Woodpigeon,

Seawatching: Oystercatcher, Sandwich Tern, Swallow, Gannet, Turnstone, Sanderling, Knot, Common Tern, Ringed Plover, Woodpigeon, Little Tern, Linnet, Whimbrel, Mediterranean Gull, Dunlin, Black-Headed Gull, Arctic Tern, Common Scoter, Redshank, Black-Tailed Godwit, Black Tern, Sparrowhawk, Barn Owl, Meadow Pipit, Herring Gull, Lesser lack-Backed Gull,