June at Spurn

June carried on much as May had finished, working nearly full time in the pub and working on the trip report for Canada. On the occasions I got out birding there were a number of good birds still to be had. The Golden Oriole persisted into the start of June, but as before it had was mobile and difficult to get close to.

-Purple Cloud

-Eyed Hawkmoth

We went and ringed the Peregrine chicks at the Hull gas terminal on the 01^st. They were a bit bigger than we had thought they would be, and the whole process was long and slow as a result of the size of the chicks and a BBC film crew trying to have everything their way. They were good fun to ring though. I was fortunate in that they did not scratch and bite me whilst I was ringing them. Paul on the other had was bitten by almost every single one of the chicks. The adults were bombing us the whole time that we were removing the chicks, it was a really fun morning.

-Peregrine

On the subject of raptor chicks, we also did a nest of Marsh Harriers on the 11^th. We had been monitoring a site just outside Patrington to try and locate the nest to ring them. Once we made our move into the reedbed we immediately became lost and had to fight our way through looking for the nest. Eventually we made it, and found two very healthy chicks in place. We ringed both birds and then withdrew to reduce disturbance.

-Marsh Harrier

We continued to target pulli around the Spurn area, on the 12^th we chased after the Avocet chicks on Kilnsea Wetlands. After a short run-around we caught two of the three chicks. We also did another chick on Holderness Field on the 21^st. On the 25^th we also did the Barn Owl chicks at the Easington primary school. They were not the healthiest looking chicks, and we ringed 2 of the 3 given their condition. It was fun showing them to the children, who were very excitable about the whole thing.

Ringing was generally pretty slow, a Grasshopper Warbler that we targeted on the 5^th the highlight until the 24^th when a female Firecrest turned up in the high net. It was the latest spring record at Spurn by 20 days. Something of a real surprise when I checked the nets, and the ringing highlight for the month. On a couple of occasions we tried to catch the Marsh Warblers on Beacon Lane. Frustratingly one bird bounced out of the net, and neither bird ever came close again.

-Firecrest

The tern colony suffered a lot of damage as a result of a fox breaking through the fence. We went up on the 25^th to assess the damage and ring any wader chicks present. We managed 3 Ringed Plover chicks and a single Oystercatcher. On the way back we were able to get distant views of a Bee-eater that was flying over Holderness Field, a late migrant. 

-Oystercatcher

During the later days of the month a Turtle Dove was present occasionally in Churchfield. We set up traps to try and catch it but sadly it was extremely wary and not keen to go in. What did go in the trap was a Hairy Dragonfly, the third record for Spurn. I was pretty buzzing when I saw it settled on the woodwork of the catching area. I held it for half an hour for people to come and see, before letting it go. The first time I have found a rare dragonfly at Spurn, so I was pretty excited about that.

June finished with a real bang. On the morning of the 29^th Jonnie found a cracking Squacco Heron on Kilnsea Wetlands on the way back from his night-shift on Beacon Ponds. Paul and I had got up early to try and catch the Marsh Warblers, but had once again failed, so I had gone back to bed. Next thing I knew my phone was buzzing like crazy. When I checked I saw the messages about the heron. We raced up in the truck and got excellent views of the bird perched at the back of Kilnsea Wetlands. An awesome British and Spurn tick. It became more mobile during the day, and it flew past me at several points during the day.

Species List:

Spurn Bird Observatory: Greylag Goose, Mute Swan, Shelduck, Gadwall, Wigeon, Mallard, Teal, Tufted Duck, Grey Partridge, Pheasant, Little Grebe, Grey Heron, Squacco Heron, Little Egret, Gannet, Cormorant, Peregrine, Kestrel, Sparrowhawk, Marsh Harrier, Buzzard, Moorhen, Coot, Oystercatcher, Avocet, Lapwing, Grey Plover, Ringed Plover, Whimbrel, Curlew, Curlew Sandpiper, Dunlin, Redshank, Greenshank, Wood Sandpiper, Black-headed Gull, Common Gull, Great Black-backed Gull, Herring Gull, Sandwich Tern, Little Tern, Common Tern, Feral Pigeon, Woodpigeon, Collard Dove, Turtle Dove, Cuckoo, Swift, Barn Owl, Little Owl, European Bee-eater, Golden Oriole, Magpie, Carrion Crow, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Skylark, Sand Martin, Swallow, House Martin, Chiffchaff, Sedge Warbler, Reed Warbler, Marsh Warbler, Blackcap, Lesser Whitethroat, Whitethroat, Wren, Starling, Blackbird, Song Thrush, Spotted Flycatcher, Robin, Wheatear, House Sparrow, Tree Sparrow, Dunnock, Yellow Wagtail, Pied Wagtail, Meadow Pipit, Chaffinch, Greenfinch, Linnet, Goldfinch, Yellowhammer, Reed Bunting,

May at Spurn

After what feels like a global tour I finally returned to Spurn. Because of writing numerous trip reports and working basically full time in the Crown I have had very little time to get out birding, and even less time to write it up for my blog. Here follows a quick summary of all the things that happened at Spurn between my return for May.

May started extremely well. On my first day back I twitched a pair of Temminck’s Stints on Kilnsea Wetlands. This was the first time I have seen this species in Britain, and was one of my biggest tarts on my British list. Sadly they remained on the far side of the wetland, and I took no photos of them, but still excellent to finally see here.

On that same afternoon a slow wander around Holderness Field produced an odd yellow wagtail with a noticeable dark cap. My initial suspicions were that it was a female blue-headed, but after referring to literature and asking the question on Twitter, it was clear that the bird was actually a female Grey-headed Wagtail, which is much rarer and far more exciting. It’s just as well, as I then dipped a male Grey-headed Wagtail on Kilnsea Wetlands that afternoon.

-Grey-headed Wagtail

On the 26^th May a walk round the Triangle coincided with the finding of a Marsh Warbler at the Warren, so we called in for a look at that as part of my pre work walk. It was distant and not vocal, so aside from the fact it had been heard singing earlier in the day, there was not a great deal to go off. An Egyptian Goose also flew over the triangle, which is only the second one I have ever seen.

The 29^th came and with it came thick fog and a young male Golden Oriole, still quite green but with hints of yellow peeking through. It moved up and down the canal in the fog but sadly never went anywhere near the Kew nets that I had open with a tape on. As with the last bird I saw here two years ago it was extremely mobile and never sat for a decent photo.

On the 30^th May I got my second Spurn and British tick in my return when a Savi’s Warbler was found at the south end of the Canal Zone. I was surprised when I was able to get field views, albeit pretty poor views, but in the evening of the 31^st Paul and I went out with a net to try and catch it. We caught it almost immediately, and it was found to be extremely healthy with a fat score of 4. It was no surprise that it was not seen the following day.

-Savi's Warbler

During my time not at work we have had the nets open and have caught a number of cool species besides the Savi’s Warbler, including Wheatear, Spotted and Pied Flycatcher. We targeted other species as well, including the Golden Oriole and Marsh Warbler but sadly we were less successful on that front. 

-Wheatear

Species List:

Spurn Bird Observatory: Brent Goose, Greylag Goose, Mute Swan, Egyptian Goose, Shelduck, Gadwall, Wigeon, Mallard, Teal, Tufted Duck, Grey Partridge, Pheasant, Fulmar, Little Grebe, Grey Heron, Little Egret, Gannet, Cormorant, Sparrowhawk, Marsh Harrier, Buzzard, Moorhen, Coot, Oystercatcher, Avocet, Lapwing, Grey Plover, Ringed Plover, Whimbrel, Curlew, Curlew Sandpiper, Dunlin, Temminck’s Stint, Redshank, Wood Sandpiper, Black-headed Gull, Common Gull, Great Black-backed Gull, Herring Gull, Sandwich Tern, Little Tern, Common Tern, Feral Pigeon, Woodpigeon, Collard Dove, Cuckoo, Swift, Kestrel, Peregrine, Golden Oriole, Magpie, Carrion Crow, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Skylark, Sand Martin, Swallow, House Martin, Chiffchaff, Sedge Warbler, Reed Warbler, Marsh Warbler, Savi’s Warbler, Blackcap, Lesser Whitethroat, Whitethroat, Wren, Starling, Blackbird, Song Thrush, Spotted Flycatcher, Robin, Pied Flycatcher, Wheatear, House Sparrow, Tree Sparrow, Dunnock, Yellow Wagtail, Pied Wagtail, Meadow Pipit, Chaffinch, Greenfinch, Linnet, Goldfinch, Yellowhammer, Reed Bunting,

Spurn Weekend Day 2

The NGBs arrived last night so there was a good squad of us in the warren in the morning. As a consequence of the weather we had taken the day slowly and by 7 there were only 3 of us up. It was at that point that news broke of a laughing gull at Beacon Ponds. I have never seen birders move so fast.

We arrived at the wetlands to be pointed a distant bird heading south over Beacon Lane to be told that was the bird, before it was lost to sight and was never seen again. Guys at numpties did not see it go south so it was assumed to be still in the area, though it was not seen again.

Since we did not know this we went to numpties to see if it would come south but it never did, and we soon gave up as the rain continued to fall.

By mid morning we decided to actually do some birding. Zac had already decided to quit being lazy and had gone to the point. As a result, the rest of us decided to go to Sammies. This was an excellent choice as it resulted in us finding a Marsh Warbler, which was the first of the year for spurn and a lifer for me.

We heard it calling first and all picked it up at roughly the same time before discussing it among us before releasing it as a Marsh Warbler. It was typically elusive and difficult to pin down, but I got a couple of nice enough record shots. Some of the other guys took sonograms of the bird too. Jonnie kept a list of all the birds being imitated, which included Bee-Eater, Yellow and Pied Wagtail, Chaffinch, Great Tit and a host of other species. Super.

-Marsh Warbler

Other birds were thin on the ground, the only other notable being a Barn Owl. We the returned to the Warren. When Zac arrived back from the point Jonnie, Matt and I took him up to the site to see the Warbler again, but it remained flighty and elusive. After a while we left Zac to try and get a photo, whilst we headed to Patrington to grab a few things.

We returned to the warren for more laziness. Then, once again, the radio buzzed that a Bee-Eater was flying about sammies, then Churchfield, then the canal before settling down in Sammies. We raced up to numpties to pick it up over the canal before racing round the roads trying to find it, before we pulled up in Churchfield.

In churchfield the bird was calling frequently, sat closely and whizzing round our heads. It was a better experience than last time as it was closer, flying around us and calling. It was unbelievably awesome. It just does not get any better than this really. It nearly did as Tim set up the nets to try and catch it, and it so nearly went in, landing on the net poles twice and dodging the net only narrowly. What a superb bird and experience. Sadly the battery on my compact died so I only managed a few shots with that.

-European Bee-Eater

-European Bee-Eater

Paul said he was off to catch the Marsh Warbler, but with the bee eater still around I did not want to leave should it be caught. As soon as Paul had left with the other NGBs though the bee-eater flew off, so I grabbed a lift with Mick to long bank and ran through the sodden grass to catch them with the Marsh Warbler.

I was in luck, they had only just set up when I arrived and within 2 mins the bird had gone straight into the net. My lack of compact camera meant I had to stand well back but I'm still pleased with the shots I got, only that I did not get the feet, which were incredibly distinctive when you saw the bird up close, bright yellow. What a superb little bird and lifer.

-Marsh Warbler

We let the warbler go without putting it out. We then wandered along Sammies where Zac spotted a Kestrel ripping apart a wheatear. Jonnie wanted the feathers so we waited until the kestrel had done before he went to go and get them. By now, with the thick cloud cover, it was quite dusky so we decided to call it quits on the day. Despite the weather we had got some fantastic birds seen and had a great days birding.

Species List:

Sammies Point: Marsh Warbler, Kestrel, Barn Owl, Wheatear, Woodpigeon, Black-Headed Gull, Shelduck, Mute Swan, Swallow, House Martin, House Sparrow, Linnet, Carrion Crow, Magpie, Sand Martin, Ringed Plover, Cuckoo, Meadow Pipit,

Churchfield: Collard Dove, European Bee-Eater, Woodpigeon, Greenfinch, Barn Owl, Swallow, Swift, House Martin,