Spurn Bird Observatory

  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…

-Black Stork

-Sandwich Tern

-Osprey

-Southern Migrant Hawker

-Brown Hawker

-Banded Demoiselle

Species List:
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,

Norfolk Day 1

So my parents decided to go to Norfolk for a week and I of course was not going to decline tagging along. Having travelled down overnight I set off for the first day by heading to the usual Cley Marshes followed by Blakeney for the long staying Lapland Buntings. 

First port of call were the hides at Cley where I picked up some wader species for my yearlist, namely Avocet, Ruff and Green Sandpiper. I also had nice views of Marsh Harrier which was also a yeartick. Species all familiar to the site but ones which I had not seen overwinter, so was pleased to see again.

-Avocet

-Ruff

-Marsh Harrier

The reason I did not start my day at Blakeney was simply because of the weather being awful, but as it began to clear late morning I decided to just take the hit and go. After all, the birds had reduced from around 8 being present a week ago to only 2 the last I heard. Along the walk through Cley-next-the-sea and Blakeney Freshmarsh I picked up my first Swallow of the year. They were quite abundant already this far south but none had really appeared up north so this was quite exciting.

-Swallow

Blakeney freshmarsh was a fairly standard affair, fields with pools, but I did pick up my first Brent Geese of the year, which initially only looked to be a few individuals until something spooked them, or the tide moved them and the sky was suddenly full of Brent Geese. Quite a site really, a really smart bird to look at.

The highlight of the walk along the marshes though has to be the really nice White Wagtail that was knocking about. A real stunner, and although they turned out to be fairly abundant during the day, there is something special about this European visitors.

-Brent Geese

-White Wagtail

And so I arrived at the location where the Lapland Buntings were meant to be. I picked one up, a female, distantly almost immediately but it soon vanished into the undergrowth and I could not find it again for around half an hour. 

I made a move past the gate where most people have been watching them from, and began to walk down the track to relocate it. I was able to, but it now seemed that only this female remained. I tried to get some photos but the bird was quite skittish. After a while I returned to my scope and tripod set up at the gate and scoped out the marsh whilst decided when to give the bunting another try. But I need not have worried, for whilst I was scoping the bird flew onto the fence next to me, before coming down and feeding around my feet. I only wish the light had been a bit better because the view I got was otherwise unparalleled. It was really something. It was so close I could have reached out and touched it. What a real treat. 

-Lapland Bunting

After that I was obviously buzzing. The bird flew off into the marsh and I decided to take my leave. I headed back to Cley and walked along the beach side where I was treated to nice views of a few smashing Wheatear. Willow Warbler was another spring migrant of which was my first of the year. I also yearticked Sandwich Tern flying up the coast, something of an expected yeartick but still a much welcome one. A really nice bird to see. I also year-ticked Sand Martin and a few other waders; Grey Plover and Knot.

-Sandwich Tern

So an excellent start to the week, with a host of yearticks and other awesome species, and of course the Lapland Bunting being the real highlight, even if there was only the one bird left.

Species List:

Cley Marshes NWT: Avocet, Wren, Pied Wagtail, Wigeon, Teal, Gadwall, Egyptian Goose, Greylag Goose, Meadow Pipit, Marsh Harrier, Coot, Moorhen, Mallard, Mute Swan, Shoveler, Dunlin, Ruff, Redshank, Reed Bunting, Shelduck, Black-tailed Godwit, Common Snipe, Black-headed Gull, Little Egret, Green Sandpiper, Lapwing, Woodpigeon, Herring Gull, Ringed Plover, Pochard, Carrion Crow, Rook, Starling, Collard Dove, Pheasant, Jackdaw, Swallow, Willow Warbler, Greenfinch, Sandwich Tern, Brent Goose, Sand Martin, Wheatear, Kestrel, Grey Plover, Bar-tailed Godwit, Knot,

Blakeney Freshmarsh: Wheatear, Mute Swan, Greylag Goose, Mallard, Black-headed Gull, Skylark, Jackdaw, Meadow Pipit, Oystercatcher, Linnet, Redshank, Canada Goose, Avocet, Gadwall, Teal, Cormorant, Curlew, Shelduck, Shoveler, Moorhen, Black-tailed Godwit, Little Egret, Swallow, White Wagtail, Brent Goose, Marsh Harrier, Lapland Bunting, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Red Kite, Rook, Pheasant,

Spurn Day 25

The night passed without incident. I did see another Shooting Star though, while I was out to see if the fox was around. I left early this morning in order to gather my sleep for the buffer shift, since I have now finished nights and have moved back onto days.

The buffer shift was quiet, as the ponds usually are in the afternoon. The majority of waders were on the Humber, but there were still a few around. Notably the Curlew Sandpiper has stuck around and spent the afternoon on the ponds, giving me the chance to see it again. It spent its time out over the far side, so I could not take any worthwhile photos, not that they are needed.

Also on was a Black-Tailed Godwit, which is a bit different, and a few Red Knot, some of which flew straight over me, giving me a chance to get a different perspective on them. Other birds were a bit thin on the ground. I got to watch some Gannets diving out to sea though, which is not something I thought I would see once I knew I was not going to Scotland, so that was nice. There were also the usual Sandwich Terns moving around in good numbers, which often get photographed when there is nothing else…

-Gannet

-Sandwich Tern

Walking back down Beacon Lane there was an incredible number of Wall Brown butterflies, they were resting on the path, but as I had to walk down the path I sent them all up. There were at least 6 or 7 in the air around my feet at some points, which was pretty nice to see, given that I no longer seem to catch up with this species at home.

On the way back I called in at Canal Scrape, but it was pretty much dead. The swallows were still in though, and today I saw two tiny gaping mouths out over the edge of the nest. It would seem then that the birds were not sitting yesterday possibly because the eggs were hatching, as the chicks there today were clearly very young, eyes not even open yet. It will be fun to watch their development though.

And that pretty much draws us to a close for today. But since it’s been quiet, I will put up a few pics of what I do in order to keep myself busy on the nightshift, in case anyone was wondering. It also means should my efforts ever get lost I can have them on here as a permanent record.

-Evening Entertainment

The Daily Oystercatcher

The oystercatchers have become very hard to follow now, as they have increased their movement so much since they learned to fly. I spotted an adult bird kipping at one point, possibly one of our adults. The chicks have started to keep to themselves and can often be found wandering alone around the edges of the pond. I did not see them early morning as I left before it was fully light, but during my fox checks I did see them a couple of times, standing in the water near their Crab Pot island. Its served them well has that island, though its getting to a stage where 3 Oystercatchers will no longer fit on it.

Species List:

Beacon Ponds: Sandwich Tern, Little Tern, Common Tern, Arctic Tern, Black-Tailed Godwit, Dunlin, Knot, Ringed Plover, Oystercatcher, Little Egret, Swallow, Sand Martin, Cormorant, Black-Headed Gull, Curlew Sandpiper, Whimbrel, Meadow Pipit, Lesser Black-Backed Gull, Feral Pigeon, Greater Black-Backed Gull, Gannet,

Norfolk Holiday Day 1

And so, my first trip outside of Yorkshire this year commences. And where better for the year-list than the home of bird-watching itself, Norfolk. So it began. The weather was absolutely smashing, almost clear blue sky for the whole way day, not necessarily great for the drive but it did mean I could see some great stuff on the way down. We set off with me on 109 species for the year, but I would have loved to make it to 110 species before we made it to sea.

I managed better than that. On the way down we saw plenty of game birds in southern Lincolnshire, Pheasants and Red-Legged Partridges, but on only one occasion I identified a pair of Grey Partridges feeding by the side of the road. The view was brief, but it was enough to tell that were definitely Greys, and that was my 110^th bird. It was also only the second time I have properly seen this species, the other times usually been flushed, or in hindsight overruled my identification. I was well pleased with them, and even let out a little cheer from the back of the car.

 And then, a little further on in Norfolk itself, though still not at the sea, my dad said that there was a Buzzard ahead. But as soon as I set eyes on it I could tell that its wings were too long for buzzard, the bird banked and revealed a forked tail, Red Kite, my 7^th raptor from the Easter break. I was very excited having been checking for them all the way down. Earlier I had even wondered if I had found one circling among some gulls, but it was also a gull. It prompted the question of if they even had red kites in this part of the country. Answer: they do indeed.

So we arrived at the sea on a stunning 111 species for the year, with 2 very impressive ticks simply from driving down. We were staying in West Runton, as before though never at this time of year. From our brief tour of the site looking for a pitch we picked up Linnet, Woodpigeon and rabbits, of which there were plenty.

By the time we were set up it was already half 3, but my dad decided that they would go for a walk at Saltholme, so I decided to go since the bus service, I had discovered, was not quite what it was. At Saltholme no sooner did we arrive than did the year-ticks start to flood in. Even as we pulled in to the remains of the car park I watched a Little Egret rise from the neighboring marsh and fly over the road. It was not a great view, but it was clear as day for what it was, 112.

We pulled up on the roadside, and I immediately got out to have a look. I set my eyes on a pool next to us and spotted a number of small waders foraging along its shoreline. I was able to get great views through the scope, and then as they got closer, even without the scope. They were Turnstones, a surprise to say the least, and a very pleasant one. They were very bold, wandering right up to me and allowing me to get some decent photos. I was well happy by this point.

-Turnstones

I had lost my family by this point; they had gone on ahead, due to my wanderings. I managed Redshank, Curlew, Oystercatcher and many other goodies through my exploration of the pools. I had almost caught up when a stunning male Wheatear landed right in front of me. I was so close, such a good view.

I then caught up with my parents, and the first question I was asked ‘have you seen the avocets’. No, I had not, but I began the exploration of the pools where my dad said they were and soon found them. There was a pair of them, but the view was poor as they were some way away. Either way, it was another year-tick, and all within about a half and hours walk. Also on the pool was a pair of Shelduck, Wigeon and a small group of Teal

We had not even traveled that far from the car, but we decided to head back. However, we decided to head back via the sea, and on the way I was able to watch my 4^th year-tick of the day; Sandwich Terns, which kept drifting past in 2’s and 3’s. They were excellent to watch, as they often drifted quite close to the coast. Besides them there was also decent numbers of gulls, adults and juveniles resting on the water’s surface.  

-Sandwich Terns

After quite a while watching the sea and the various birds drift past we decided to head to Cley visitor center for a coffee. Since it was quite late I had assumed it would not be open, and that was indeed the case. However, it did give me a chance to look at the sightings board, though there was nothing much outstanding on it. On the way between the visitor center we drove past some areas where birds were grazing, including black swan (not tick-able) and Egyptian goose, another year-tick. Since we were driving I was unable to get a great view. Add that to the fact that the birds were asleep and I may as well have not seen them for what it’s worth.

We decided to go and see if there was some form of café van up on Blakeney point car park, but were swiftly disappointed. However, on the way up we past a nice group of Brent Geese feeding on the marshes. I was pretty pleased to find these, though my view was sadly too short as my family wanted to get off. I was able to take some photos though and enjoy watching them for 2 or 3 mins. Hopefully they will stick around later in the week, because they really are smashing birds.

-Brent Geese

So that was our brief visit to Blakeney over and done with, though even that had produced something special. Moving on we decided to head back to the caravan site for a cuppa, since nowhere else seemed keen to provide.

After that my flying start to the holiday started to slow down, with no new year-ticks for the day. In the evening we went into Cromer for a walk along the front. Birdwise it provided very little, only a handful of gulls out to sea from the pier. But it has been quite a start and hopefully we will be able to keep up this good form…

Daily Sightings:

Journey: Grey Partridge, Red-Legged Partridge, Red Kite, Common Buzzard, Pheasant, Woodpigeon, Pied Wagtail, Robin, Chaffinch, Common Gull, Black-Headed Gull, Magpie, Jackdaw, Mallard, Grey Heron, Feral Pigeon,

Saltholme: Little Egret, Redshank, Turnstone, Rook, Jackdaw, Black-Headed Gull, Skylark, Mallard, Greater Black-Backed Gull, Swallow, Mute Swan, Oystercatcher, Curlew, Lapwing, Shelduck, Woodpigeon, Wheatear, Avocet, Wigeon, Teal, Herring Gull, Sandwich Tern, Cormorant, Coot, Graylag Goose, Egyptian Goose, Starling, Lesser Black-Backed Gull,

Blakeney: Starlings, Shelduck, Graylag Goose, Redshank, Canada Goose, Lapwing, Brent Geese, Common Buzzard

Dumfries and Galloway Day 2

 Day 2 and it rained. It rained all day, except for the late afternoon, where it was overcast and cloudy. During that time I decided to go for a walk because I had been sat inside most of the day and decided that I needed to do something. I walked up the beach and therefore round the heath to see what was about. The first thing I saw was a juvenile guillemot, which had probably just fledged and was currently lost.













-Juvenile Guillemot 
Walking further up the beach and there must have been quite a few fish out to sea because there were a few fishing birds about, namely sandwich tern and gannet, which were quite close to land.

-Sandwich Tern

-Gannet 
at a point further up the beach and the rocks disappeared to be replaced by sand and gravel, which were more appealing to waders, and there were a lot more of them here. Mainly ringed plovers, which had gathered in a rather large flock.

-Ringed Plovers
It was in that region that I flushed a large flock of curlews, mixed with some oystercatchers. sadly I was not able to see them when they were roosted. It was still nice to see them though, although it was from a distance












-Curlews
small groups of ringed plovers were always moving up and down the beach, as well as a handful of turnstones and redshanks, though these were much less frequent.

-Ringed Plovers 
Looking up, the flock of curlews had turned back on itself and was flying over me again. They moved further up the beach than where I had intended to walk, but since I hadn't yet found a way back that diddnt involve walking back the way I came, it seemed unlikely that I would see them again.

-Curlews
there seemed to be a curve in the beach where the sand had congregated, and so the birds had followed suit., and it was here that there were the most birds and most bird species. There were a few gulls besides the waders, but most of the birds were waders. There seemed to be some kind of order, which the oystercatchers on the sea front, with ringed plovers and turnstones further back.

-Oystercatchers 

-Turnstone

-Ringed Plovers
I could see, across the sand that there was a cottage, and assumed that this cottage must have a link to the road, which I could use to get back home. Walking round to the cottage I spotted a hare on the beach, which was lovely to see.

-Hare on the beach
I managed to find the path back to the road, and on the way there I spotted another hare in a sheep field, bringing my hare total up to 2 for the day.

-Hare in field

Angelsey Day 4

Day 4 of the Angelsey holiday begun with rain. It was a pity really because rain meant not much wildlife. As a result we decided to go and have a look at the Angelsey Sea Zoo, an aquarium that we often go to whenever we are in the area. As you would expect, there was very little in the way of wildlife, but as we pulled in to the site next to the sea, there was a whimbrel and oystercatcher on the beach.
  By lunchtime we had finished at the aquarium, so we moved onto Beaumaris for our lunch. We parked up on the seafront where we would be able to see anything that flew past. Before we had lunch we went for a walk along the seafront towards the pier. At the pier, due to the blustery conditions, there were many gulls flying about but struggling, allowing me to get some photos of them in flight. They were also nicking the bait from tourists crabbing equipment, which was pretty funny.

-Herring gull

When we arrived back at the car I heard the call of a tern, and looked up to see a couple of sandwhich terns flying right by us, as they headed back up the beach. I was therefore able to get some decent flight shots of them, though they are not as good as they could be due to the rotten weather.

-Sandwhich Tern

We had lunch in the car because it was way too windy to eat on the seafront. Even in the car we got the attention of a herring gull, who sat on the roof of the car next to us and just watched. We threw out some scraps for it. Because it was so close I was able to take some photos of its head and wonderful yellow eye.

-Herring Gull

After a look round Beaumaris we drove round all over looking for somewhere to go. Strangely we ended up back at the caravan site with quite a bit of the afternoon still to go. My dad decided that we would go for a walk round Cefni reservoir since it was local to the caravan site.
  As far as reservoirs go it had quite a few birds. At one point my heart was racing when a female tufted duck with excessive white round its beak appeared near to shore, but that is exactly what it proved to be. Either way it was an exciting moment in a pretty drab day.

-Tufted Duck

At the extent of our walk we reached a clearing in the shrubbery that allowed me to get down to the waters edge. There were a few coots and mallards around, and I got a great view of a reed bunting flying past me, but there were no insects.
  On the way back, because it was evening and the waterfowl were congregating at the shallower end of the reser so that they could roost. It allowed me to get a full list of all the different species that were on the reservoir that evening.
  At the back there was a lone great crested grebe, but besides that and a lone swan there were mainly tufted ducks and coots.

-Great crested grebe

-Mute swan

-Coots flying

On the way back to the car I spotted my first damselfly of the day, a common blue, but because of the bad light I was unable to get any decent photos.

-Common Blue Damselfly

So we left Cefni reservoir, and ended day four of the angelsey holiday, which was a very poor day in terms of wildlife, unfortunately.