Spurn twitching Red-eyed Vireo

When a Red-eyed Vireo turned up at Spurn I was pretty thrilled, a proper rarity on the east coast. My chances of seeing it were small, given I already had plans for the Saturday, but when the bird was still present on the Sunday I decided, why not, and drove over for a few hours to see the bird before driving north to Cumbria for work.

The bird was present on Vicars Lane in Easington, and when I arrived there was still a small crowd despite the rain and the fact that it was early afternoon. My initial experience was everything I hate about twitching, with a crowd following a bird that isn’t showing particularly well. But then, when a few more locals arrived it became apparent that the bird was favouring a Dogwood tree with berries, appearing every half hour or so and showing nicely. With this routine established, I got fantastic views of the bird, my first American passerine in Britain.

-Red-eyed Vireo

Whilst this was going on, news broke of a Great Snipe on Beacon Lane. Once I was happy with the Vireo I headed down to see that. Remarkably the bird was sat on the path, although obscured by grass. Given most Great Snipes are flushed and never seen again, this was a real treat and it was nice to be able to actually look at the bird. This was obviously the icing on the cake for the afternoon. Two British ticks in a single afternoon.

-Great Snipe

All while enjoying the rarities there were thrushes dropping out of the sky, Redwings and Fieldfares appearing in every bush. And then there were hundreds of Siskins piling through, and Bramblings feeding on the path as we walked along. It really was a fantastic day out at Spurn.

Species List:

Spurn Bird Observatory: Mute Swan, Common Pheasant, Feral Pigeon, Woodpigeon, Collared Dove, Great Snipe, Black-headed Gull, Common Gull, Herring Gull, Grey Heron, Common Kestrel, Merlin, Red-eyed Vireo, Eurasian Magpie, Carrion Crow, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Barn Swallow, Yellow-browed Warbler, Chiffchaff, Blackcap, Wren, Redwing, Fieldfare, Blackbird, Robin, Pied Flycatcher, Dunnock, House Sparrow, Grey Wagtail, Pied Wagtail, Meadow Pipit, Chaffinch, Brambling, Greenfinch, Goldfinch, Siskin,

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,

Whitehaven & St Bees

Whilst working in Cumbria I have had a little more time to head out birding. I visited RSPB st Bees a couple of times and also been around Whitehaven Harbour. Bird wise there was nothing particularly out of the ordinary, although a Spotted Flycatcher in the sycamores around the farmhouse was very nice. There are also a few Stonechats as well as a single Wheatear. As for the harbour, there was a limited array of species but some Rock Pipit were nice, as was a small group of Redshanks. At both locations we found hybrid Hooded x Carrion Crows. 

-Carrion Crow x Hooded Crow

-Redshank

-Meadow Pipit

-Stonechat

Species List:

RSPB St Bees: Common Scoter, Common Pheasant, Grey Partridge, Rock Dove, Common Woodpigeon, Black-headed Gull, European Herring Gull, Great Black-backed Gull, Red-throated Diver, Northern Fulmar, Great Cormorant, Eurasian Sparrowhawk, Peregrine Falcon, Magpie, Jackdaw, Carrion Crow, Raven, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Barn Swallow, Chiffchaff, Whitethroat, Wren, Common Starling, Blackbird, Robin, Stonechat, Wheatear, Dunnock, House Sparrow, Grey Wagtail, White Wagtail, Meadow Pipit, Rock Pipit, Common Linnet, Goldfinch, Yellowhammer,

Whitehaven Harbour: Mute Swan, Rock Dove, Common Woodpigeon, Collared Dove, Oystercatcher, Redshank, Common Guillemot, Black-headed Gull, European Herring Gull, Great Black-backed Gull, Great Cormorant, Magpie, Jackdaw, Starling, Robin, Rock Pipit,

Piling Lane Ends twitching Eastern Black-eared Wheatear

During my time at work in Cumbria, a mysterious wheatear that had been lingering in Lancashire was finally confirmed as an Eastern Black-eared Wheatear, based off white bases to the mantle feathers that had been observed in some photographs. As a result I decided to make a move and head down to see the bird on my way home from work.

It was an really nice and confiding bird, although with many other people present I was reluctant to try and get too close. Still, on a couple of occasions the bird came to us giving fantastic views in very nice evening light. A Northern Wheatear offered a nice comparison for the rarity. 

Other birds were a bit thin on the ground, but there were large flocks of Pink-footed Geese already back on their wintering grounds.

-Eastern Black-eared Wheatear

-Pink-footed Goose

Species List:

Piling Lane Ends: Greylag Goose, Pink-footed Goose, Common Shelduck, Common Pheasant, Stock Dove, Common Woodpigeon, Eurasian Curlew, Black-headed Gull, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Grey Heron, Little Egret, Carrion Crow, Barn Swallow, European Robin, Northern Wheatear, Eastern Black-eared Wheatear, Meadow Pipit, 

Migfest 2019

It has been some time since my last visit to Spurn but what better event to return to than the Migfest. It was, as usual, a fantastic social event with great avian offerings. I was involved in a handful of guided walks, as well as the usual car parking duties.

Over the weekend, through luck or judgement, I managed to connect to a number of the weekends star species. The long staying White-rumped Sandpiper was nice, although it remained distant for most of the time. Mandarin was a Spurn tick for me when a moulting male flew over us off the sea and landed for a short while on the Humber before flying off again. Throw in a nice mix of regular migrants; Pied Flycatcher, Spotted Flycatcher and Whinchat and it made for an excellent weekend.

-Barn Swallow

Species List:

Spurn Bird Observatory: Greylag Goose, Shelduck, Mallard, Eurasian Teal, Mandarin, Common Swift, Stock Dove, Woodpigeon, Collared Dove, Ruddy Turnstone, Little Ringed Plover, Ringed Plover, Curlew, Whimbrel, White-rumped Sandpiper, Dunlin, Sanderling, Knot, Common Redshank, Common Snipe, Green Sandpiper, Little Egret, Eurasian Sparrowhawk, Eurasian Reed Warbler, Sand Martin, Barn Swallow, Common House Martin, Willow Warbler, Blackcap, Lesser Whitethroat, Common Starling, Common Blackbird, Spotted Flycatcher, European Pied Flycatcher, Whinchat, Northern Wheatear, House Sparrow, Tree Sparrow, Yellow Wagtail, Common Linnet, Reed Bunting,