Had the total pleasure of being at Spurn Migfest from Thursday until Sunday. A great event that I can thoroughly recommend. Some of the highlights seen by myself and Vicky around the the area were:

2+ Wryneck, 1 + Red Backed Shrike, Greenish Warbler, Pallid Harrier, Icterine Warbler, Red Breasted Flycatcher, Nightjar, 10+Common Redstart, Black Redstart, 10+ Whinchat, 15 Spotted Flycatcher (1 in ringers hand), 5 Garden Warbler (one in ringers hand), 5 Pied Flycatcher, 3 Yellow Wagtail, Little Owl, Barn Owl, Spotted Redshank, 2 Merlin, Peregrine Falcon, Hobby, 2 Arctic Skua, 2 Great Skua, Great Northern Diver, Sedge Warbler, Marsh Harrier, 7 Avocet, Grey Plover, 6 Tree Sparrow.

Really well run and many volunteers made this a special few days and for me it will surely now be an annual event.

Image of the Red Backed Shrike attached. It was next to the tent as we pitched it.

Saturday 18th-20th September.

Due to a cancelled trip to Mallorca we quickly decided Spurn was as good as anywhere so off we set at daft o'clock again. First stop Ferrybridge services not for a bird but a butty from Greggs then off we went again not taking the turn off for Blacktoft as this was left for Tuesday !

We landed at the car park got our gear together and off we set to the Canal Scrape and Hide, this was Caths day so I had to go along with her wishes. We sat down in the the hide and got straight onto three Water Rail, a great start then Teal, Snipe and Little Egret made up our numbers.

A short stop off at the Seawatching Hide did not produce anything of note, certainly no Skuas. We turned our attention to the Humber Estuary where there were lots of waders some of the Grey Plover and Knot still carrying summer plumage. We could not pick out the single Dotterel though.

Cath announced that we were to walk down to  Spurn Point which is a six mile walk there and back in memory of her dad who had never walked it there !!! Down at the Point we soon learned that there had been a Red-breasted Flycatcher seen just twenty minutes ago, so off went went to search around the picnic tables (not on the map) after a good hour with no joy apart from Chaffinch, Reed Bunting and a welcome Pied Flycatcher we set off back, the Red-breasted was seen again later in the day.

Kilnsea Wetlands and Hide was our next stop, well mine anyway, where after avoiding a packed hide I managed a single Spoonbill and plenty of Mediterranean Gulls plus the usuals. By this time we were shattered and headed for our digs and food (digs fine but food bloody awful) 

Sunday saw us tuck into a good breakfast (chef on holiday) cooked by the owner. My plan ( I was in charge today) was to walk the famous Triangle as many times as was required to find something good, off we set up the road towards the old Bluebell Cafe there was nothing of note but as we approached the Crown and Anchor pub a small car pulled up and told us a Red-backed Shrike was seen in Little Hedge (not on the map) so off we went walking by the Estuary. Arriving at Little Hedge which is now bigger than Big Hedge we are told it has not been seen since the first sighting. We along with lots of others wandered around the area as best we could but again no joy. By around noonish we set back off to walk the Triangle in the other direction, along the way we bumped into others and asked about the Shrike but again it was a blank. I then recognised  a young lass and asked her about the Shrike " oh yes it was right over my head near the ramp at the Information centre" we legged it over or actually just walked faster ! We managed to take up a good position looking across the hawthorn and willow scrub facing the Information centre after several minutes the Shrike was called as it flew across the scrub into another hawthorn, I managed a good look at its back as it flew across Cath just a glimpse, at least we saw it !

It was 13.45 and then the heavens opened we retreated back to the car for a brew and a kip (getting on a bit now) by 15.00ish the rain stopped and I set off for a better look at the Shrike if it was still there! After an hour, a nice Whinchat and getting peeved at people shouting there it is at everything that flew I had a wander about, Cath then text to say its just been seen again in the same place so off I go again and we stand around for another twenty minutes before my stomach tells me we are booked in for Sunday Lunch at the Crown and Anchor ( highly recommended it was brilliant and great service)

Monday morning we set off in search of breakfast in Withernsea as the chef is off at the digs, we find a cafe right on the front by a car park it will do for me and it was pretty good, a late return to Spurn saw us Seawatching we saw Common Scoter, Red-throated, Black-throated Diver and Razorbill but we again missed any Skuas. Heading back off to the Canal Scrape and Hide we picked up Spotted Flycatcher and Redstart. We managed to chat with the finder of the Shrike and decided to try and find it again as it had been seen again however we again dipped on a good sighting of the bird despite it showing a couple times.

17.00 hours arrived and saw us at Sammy's Point for hopefully a grand finale and by 17.20 we had three birds flying and then another and another, one bird flew low mocking a Common Buzzard that was on the ground eventually we had eight birds flying over and in front of us we stood and watched in awe what a perfect end to Spurn  eight Short-eared Owls.

We did off course miss some good stuff.. Ortolan Bunting, Isabelline Wheatear and Common Rosefinch to name a few

First stop, kilnsea wetlands, high tide and very windy,lots of sandwich tern squeaking as they passed, little tern,green sandpiper, wood sandpiper, dunlin,knot,little ringed plover, little egret (20),spoonbill (3),Caspian gull,oystercatcher, kestrel, mallard,cormorant, black headed gull,starling, lesser black backed gull , great black backed gull,common tern, roseate tern,mute swan, herring gull, pied wagtail,grey plover , yellow wagtail,carrion crow ,redshank,beacon pond gave a turnstone to add but even windier here,whitethroat seen on the hedge by the footpath,plenty too of swift  ,swallow, house martin, sand martin over.   Spurn itself ,little tern,curlew,redshank, coot,carrion crow,kestrel,little ringed  plover,sandwich tern,golden plover, dunlin,black headed  gull, lesser black backed gull, herring gull,swift ,swallow on eggs in canal hide,little egret, swift,oystercatcher, swallow ,linnet,high wind here today, and low tide on my second visit made me realize the enormity of the mudflats available for feeding birds,as we left spurn a final visit to kilnsea showed a much quieter scene as i presume most of the birds were  now feeding on the mudflats, spoonbill feeding well here now, a great trip again over on the dark side ,will be back.......

Spurn Weekend. 18/19/20th September 2020

Friday

  Our annual trip to the Easington, Kilnsea and Spurn area took place a little earlier due to, what seemed like migration taking place sooner? Our first call was to be at Sunk Island/ Stone Creek to visit John Ward who has been recording the birds at this location for many years (he also co-found Britain`s first Mugimaki Flycatcher) The tide was going out as we arrived and as the boys walked around myself and John had a good catch up. A Kingfisher flew past us and appeared to land close by. Masses of gulls, waders and a few egrets were observed in the hour we were there. Our friend from the Wirral Mark G had arrived at Spurn and we arranged to meet him near the sea watching hide, not much movement on the sea apart from: - 12 Red throated Divers (11 in one party) Teal, Wigeon, Common Scoter, 4 Sandwich Tern and the regular gulls. News of a Little Bunting having been trapped in Sykess Field came as a surprise and as Kevin C needed it for his British list, we all gathered pace to see the bird. It was released and sat out for all to admire this fairly rare bird on an adjacent barbed wire fence. At Kilnsea Wetlands we saw: - 2 Little Stint, lots of Dunlins but mainly about 20 Mediterranean Gulls coming into bathe, quite a sight! More news in the form of a Lapland Bunting on the concrete slipway at Beacon Ponds reached us, off we went and after a short wait the bird was seen. The Lapland Bunting performed really well at 10 feet distance allowing us all to get some nice pictures of it (yes even me). We headed for the Marquis of Granby in Easington for our two night stay and had our evening meal at the Crown & Anchor in Kilnsea that is now under new ownership.

Saturday

  Now I normally like to get up and get into the field nice and early but, with a sore hip I decided to rest a little longer in bed. A magnificent full English breakfast was enjoyed and then back to Sammy`s Point to catch up on the birds that I had missed. A few Pintail were seen on Kilnsea Wetlands but news of a Firecrest in Kew Villa had us heading for there. The Firecrest sat out for a few seconds bathed in sunshine (hopefully captured by ace photographer Craig B) and the bird had us all gasping at its real beauty. A Wood Warbler in St Helen`s churchyard was seen very actively chasing small prey items, a very well-marked bird. A walk around Church Field had us looking at a couple of Mealy/Common Redpoll in amongst a small flock of Lesser Redpoll. We had a look in the Canal Scrape and after locating a Common Snipe we were told that a Jack Snipe was sat very close to it. Mark G let us all see the Jack Snipe through his scope, thanks Mark. Towards the end of the day we enjoyed another look at some of today`s good birds e.g. Firecrest, Wood Warbler then we had a look down Vicar`s lane in Easington, but failed to locate the Hawfinch`s. We watched some football in the Marquis of Granby, a nice meal there and a couple of pints in The White Horse ended proceedings for the day.

Sunday

  A rather misty morning had us visiting Kew Villa, St Helens churchyard and we quickly managed to see 2 Brambling and a few Siskins, its taken myself until now to catch up with both these species this year! More great views of the Firecrest followed with Pied Flycatcher, Lesser and Common Whitethroat, Wood Warbler, Chiffchaff and Willow Warbler. News of a Ring Ouzel along Peter Lane had us taking a look for it, without any success. Another look for the Yellow browed Warbler at Sammy`s Point was our next quest. Now as we waited patiently for the bird to appear in its chosen tree or clump, which it did not do in 2 hours, something unusual happened. This is not criticism of our fellow birders, as we all have to start somewhere but, when a couple of fully loaded gentlemen with the top optical and photographic gear miss identify 2 Chiffchaffs as 2 Yellow browed Warblers, surely there is a problem? I would have loved to have pointed this out but they were bigger than me, enough said about that then. We said goodbye to Mark G and left the Spurn area around 2-30pm with the intention to visit Southfield Reservoir to possibly see a Glossy Ibis that was there. As sleep had overcome our party we decided not to bother and reached home by 5pm having enjoyed a great trip.

P.S. If anyone reading this is a regular visitor to Spurn please join The Friends of Spurn its only £24  per year and you receive a brilliant yearly bird report and can visit all the great areas to see the birds

Dave O.

Spurn at its very best. Tuesday 11^th August 2020

   After Monday`s news that a first year female Collared Flycatcher had been caught and rung at the warren at Spurn had got a few of us thinking and with easterly winds still blowing. Now as it would be a new bird for two of our group and that a good supporting cast of birds that were also present, a trip was organised. As I always seem to say about Spurn is that the day after the event, most birds seem to carry on with their migration overnight (I was too be proved wrong on this occasion). Its always important to get past the Leeds area as soon as possible during the week or you will suffer the worst traffic congestion, we managed this and passed through Hull without any problems. News that the Collared Flycatcher & Icterine Warbler were both still present was very welcome news!

   We headed straight for the warren where around 20 or so birders were gathered and when asked about both birds, the news was good. After around 10 minutes the well-marked female Collared Flycatcher was on show chasing and catching it favourite food items, quickly followed by a delightfully marked Icterine Warbler, what a great start to the day. A nice walk along the canal area soon had us all looking, albeit distantly, at 2 Red backed Shrikes both juvenile types. Whinchat, Meadow Pipit and Swallows all received a little attention from the shrikes, good to watch really. Again we moved on, this time to Kilnsea Wetlands, a little less busy after last weeks car accident. As the tide was in lots of birds were seen and we soon managed to locate: - 2 Little Stints, Pectoral Sandpiper, Green Sandpiper, 2 Spoonbills, Mediterranean Gulls, Greenshank, Dunlin and a pleasing mixture of gulls and terns. In St Helen`s, Kilnsea churchyard another Icterine Warbler was seen along with a few Pied Flycatchers that seemed to be in every area that we visited, quite a major fall. A Common Redstart at Cliff Farm was also busy feeding and fluttering its rusty tail. We had managed to see all the main birds that we had come to see at Spurn, which is not a common thing to do, so it was time to have seconds at the Collared Flycatcher and the bird did not disappoint. After such a great days birding we decided that, as it was 2-30pm that we would head for home and avoid the rush hour traffic. Well we almost did, until we reached the Huddersfield area when the M62 ground to a halt, we managed to reach Rochdale by 5pm all of us having had a memorable day out.

Dave O.

Easington, Kilnsea & Spurn, Yorkshire. 20/10/2019

   After a rather hectic week, it was nice to visit one of our favourite birding places. We met at Newhey, in the dark, as the days/nights begin to draw in and with Bob K driving were soon on our way to the Spurn area. Last weeks Red eyed Vireo had been reported yesterday as still being down by the point, but no news about it meant having a good search around would be the order of the day. We started at Sammy`s Point on a dull and fresh morning with a few Redwing, Fieldfare being seen. I noticed a familiar bird perched up as I had walked on in the form of a female Ring Ouzel, but after a good search for the bird I was unable to get the rest of our team on to it. Mistle & Song Thrushes were also seen along with Chiffchaff Great Tit then I saw a warbler with a good eye stripe and what appeared to be orangey legs, despite a good search around it wasn`t seen again? A solitary Wheatear was found in the horse paddock but very little else.

    A couple of House Martins and a few Brambling were seen in the Beacon Lane area, we then checked out the sighting of a Hawfinch around the obs garden without any joy. A decision to have a seawatch proved to be a good one with Great, Arctic & Pomarine Skua being seen along with a few distant terns. Masses of Gannets were also passing mainly south with lots of juvenile types, it looks like they have had a good breeding season then. Various auks and an unknown shearwater also passed by during our time sea watching. A trip to the café on the caravan site again proved to be very popular with a warming drink and some sustenance. A call from Darren W telling us about a well-marked Long tailed Duck that was on Borrow Pit near the Blue Bell carpark soon had us enjoying this beautiful sea duck, thanks Darren. After the last two visits we have made to Spurn, we have decided to leave mid-afternoon and good birds have been found after our departure e.g. Great Snipe. So after a good days birding in the area another early departure was made, but this time nothing too exciting was found after we left!

Dave O.

Red Eyed Vireo in Easington, Yorkshire. 13/10/2019

   After a good influx of American bird species, no doubt caused by a recent hurricane, it came as no real surprise when a Red Eyed Vireo was found on Vicar`s Lane, Easington. The weather forecast for the east Yorkshire area was for constant rain for most of the early part of the day, so a few extra layers were added. With Kevin C at the wheel four of us set off at 6am. We were treated to a nice diversion through the city centre of Hull before reaching a wet Easington. Not as many vehicles as we had thought there would have been were on site. News that the bird was still present near the gas terminal car park on Vicar`s Lane also helped. After mingling with the 30 or so birder`s for about 20 minutes the bird showed itself really well right in front of us at 5 yards distance. It was a new species in Britain for Kev C but getting a picture might be a little bit trickier. After having seen a Red Eyed Vireo only on Scilly in 1985, 87 & 89 it was quite a thrill to see another on the mainland 30 years later. The bird`s feeding pattern allowed all birder`s to watch this American stunner around every 15 minutes. The rain finally soaked us and our equipment and a hasty retreat to the car was in order. Shall we stay or shall we go was on again and after a discussion a move was agreed (little did we know that a Great Snipe would be found much later in the day)

Dave O.

With several days off and a planned trip away falling through I decided on a day out being a second best option, and it turned out pretty well really! I headed over to Spurn but a power cut at home and the alarm going off late didn't help! Then the M6 was a car park so I did 15mls in the first hour, not great. But I did eventually arrive.

First stop was Vicars Lane where I joined a throng of birders (I resisted the tabloid cliche of 'Flock of Twitchers' ) but no vireo. I only had to wait about 10mins though and the bird was picked up moving along in the willows further down the lane. It then moved along and finally flew down into its favoured berry tree and started feeding in full view, a superb Red-eyed Vireo, my 2nd in the UK. The papparazi blasted away as it carried on feeding oblivious to all the attention. Then it flew up into the adjacent oak where I got some shots that I liked better than my ones in the berries, they are different from everyone elses on facebook, that's why I prefer them (one attached). A Pied Flycatcher was in the same trees too to add to the bird list. After watching the vireo for a while it was down to the main Spurn area to carry on the day's birding.

Next stop was Kilnsea, and the Crown & Anchor car park. I walked in and immediately directions were shouted and I was on an Arctic Warbler that showed superbly well midway up in the trees by the car park. Again it showed out in the open for long periods but always on the move so digiscoping was impossible. Next I moved down to 'Corner Field' where I joined 3 other birders and we were soon watching a Yellow-browed Warbler, again showing very well in willows by the field along with a few Goldcrests. I moved around the field and saw at least 2 more Yellow-browed Warblers, one shoing low down in a dead umbellifer out in the open, superb, as well as more Goldcrests and 2+Chiffchaffs. Just as I was about to leave I had a phonecall from birding pal, Malc Curtin, to say that another bird we had been looking for had been found. Rushing back round the corner of the field I eventually got good views of the eastern race prob Turkestan Lesser Whitethroat, a race at the moment but maybe a future split (although I'm not holding my breath!). Overhead a Swallow and massive numbers of Redwings passed over whilst Linnets and Goldfinches were also in big numbers around the hedgerows.

Given the traffic over I decided that a great day had been had, no lifers but good birds, and I headed home relatively early. This proved to be a good decision with a much more relaxed and trouble-free drive!

A Weekend in the Spurn Area. 4^th to 6^th October 2019

  After a years break from our annual trip to Spurn it was nice to have another get together and enjoy the birds. Bob K, Kev C and myself left a wet and windy Rochdale at 6am and Bob soon had us through all the regular bottlenecks on the M62. We arrived at our first call at Stone Creek, Sunk Island and met up with our old friend, John Ward who has been counting the birds that pass through this area for many years. Nice to have a good catch up with him about birding in general. We headed on towards Easington & Kilnsea calling at Sammy`s Point were a Merlin sat out for us, then a Great White Egret and Short Eared Owl where seen. We had a good look around for various Yellow Browed Warblers that had been reported without any luck. At Kilnsea wetlands a report of a Caspian Gull was next on our list, but upon arrival we were told that the bird had flown. At the Big Hedge Kev C finally caught up with his first Lapland Bunting, after finding it himself, well done! We headed for our accommodation in Easington at The Duke of Granby and met up with Billy J, followed by a good meal and a couple of beers.

   Saturday morning dawned and after a hearty breakfast we headed out to see what we could find. On Vicar`s Lane, Easington a Yellow Browed Warbler performed very well for us all and then news that a Barred Warbler had been located near the Spurn Observatory had us heading over to hopefully, see it. Quite a few birders were assembled looking over a gate into a fellow birders garden as we arrived. The owner allowed us into his garden and the usual views of a Barred Warbler were had (very brief as bird headed for cover) we headed away. Down Beacon lane an Eastern type Lesser Whitethroat was seen, then a great show was enjoyed when a Short Eared Owl was seen hunting. The owl seemed oblivious to our presence and passed low over our heads a couple of times, what a cracking bird! A Snow Bunting was being admired at the end of the lane on the sea cliffs and it showed really well as they usually do. A Jack Snipe was seen bobbing on the Canal Scrape and a few Redwings were seen passing through the area along with Song Thrush, Fieldfare and a few Swallows. At Kilnsea wetlands better news that the Caspian Gull was still present reached us, we met up with Martin Q and had a good look at the bird from firstly the hide and then from the upper gate. Lots of issues were raised but in the end everyone seemed happy with the gulls identification. We called in at the Sunny Beaches café for one of their famous sandwiches and a cup of tea and whilst we were there we saw: - Long Finned Pilot Whale, Great Skua, and Great Northern Diver (close inshore) Brent Geese. Afterwards another Yellow Browed Warbler was admired, then during a walk back towards the sea watching hide a beautiful Redstart was seen and a freshly arrived Redwing on the path in front of us. The bird did not have the energy to fly away from us after such a long journey, but after we gave it sometime it hopped into the grassy area to rest. Another nice meal and a few beers back at our accommodation followed, the news that Sunday`s weather would not be good dampened our hopes though.

     Sunday morning arrived and with it lots of rain, another nice breakfast then out birding. The Jack Snipe at Canal Scrape was really the only bird of note that we saw in the conditions. We headed for home at 11-30am having all enjoyed our time at Spurn!

Dave O.

Sykes Field, Kilnsea & Beacon Lane, Spurn area. 25/8/2019

    After the birding slumbers of June and July it was good to get all the members of our little team together again for a trip to the east coast. All five of us met in Newhey at 6am and loaded ourselves into Bob K`s latest car, the day promised to be warm and sunny and away we went. Our target bird was the Marsh Warbler`s that have spent a while in the latest acquisition by the Friends of Spurn in Sykes Field (formerly Blue Bell Ponds Caravan site) Upon arrival two Yellow Wagtails showed very nicely on the car park and lots of Swallows, House and Sand Martin with a single Swift reminded us that migration time was here. We were directed to the right area to hopefully see the Marsh Warblers by a helpful birder and waited for them to show. After about an hour and a half, we managed to see Lesser Whitethroat, Willow and Sedge Warbler but there was a strange call coming from the reed fringed pool, what was it? Then an all too brief flight view of a warbler that flew from the area of the strange noises. Another visiting birder then said, The Marsh Warbler is showing on the fence We all enjoyed about 30 seconds as the bird sat out and showed really rather well, a new bird for one of our team!

    We all hurried along to the Kilnsea Wetlands and managed to get seats in the hide over the high tide period, plenty of Mediterranean Gulls, 6 Little Gulls, Sandwich and Common Terns, a good selection of waders with Spotted Redshank, Knot, Little Ringed Plover, Redshank, Greenshank, Avocet, Black tailed Godwit, Green Sandpiper and along with a heavily moulting Garganey it made it a very pleasant birdwatch. We all had a stroll down Beacon Lane and managed to locate about four Pied Flycatchers along with a decent number of Tree Sparrows. We also searched in vain for yesterday`s Clouded Yellow butterfly in Church Field but the amount of Painted Lady, Red Admiral we all saw was quite impressive as they fed up for their migration.

   All in all a very good days birding which was capped off with a pint at The Rams Head pub in Denshaw!

Dave O.

Saturday 26th and Sunday 27th January.

Arrived at 09.30 after an early start and popped into the new Spurn Discovery Centre. Spoke to the wardens about the Shore Larks and any other interesting sightings - the information was gratefully received. Off we set towards the Easington Lagoon and decided to tackle it from the Kilnsea Hide. We arrived at the hide just as a warden was leaving.  He duly informed us that there was nothing showing from the hide and that the walk to the Lagoon was a good walk away and that the Larks had been seen ten minutes ago and it would be easier to drive further round. 

Ten minutes later we are looking across the small Lagoon with several other birders scanning waters edge and other likely spots. Twenty minutes went by to no avail apart from being told " you should have been here earlier, they were showing well" - not heard that before!

We had lots of time as we were here for a night and we had only been at the Lagoon for an hour, then out of the blue I picked up two small birds flying in and land somewhere on the right hand side then after more scanning finally the two birds came into scope. What an absolute delight to see this little pair of jewels. We spent twenty minutes just delighting our success sharing the scope with another birder.

After this we went off to Sammys Point in search of Snow Bunting however this was to draw a blank.

Finally off back to the Centre where the warden said that around three in the afternoon the Short Eared Owls could normally be seen hunting. We searched,scanned and panned the area for nearly two hours to no avail. We set off to our "digs" to freshen up and feed.

Sunday mornings hearty breakfast set us up nicely for the day when we expected the 40+mph winds to gather up along with some showers.

Several hours later after biting winds we called it a day, very few birds were showing around the area, lots of dunlin, redshank, curlew and brent geese along the shoreline, in total thirty five species recorded with the Shore Lark pair being the stars of the show.

As a point of information for anyone planning a visit, the Centre is great, car park costs £5 but you get a "free" drink in the cafe on production of a tear off voucher on the parking ticket.  We stayed at the Marquis of Granby in Easington which served a good evening meal and breakfast at a reasonable cost.

Happy Birding 

From 11-16.30 today Kilnsea pools and up to Seawatching hide

Highlights: Barn Owl, 1+ Short Eared Owl, White Fronted Goose, 500+ Dark Bellied Brent Geese, 10 Red Throated Diver, Gullemot, Gannet, Greenshank, Sanderling, 20 Dunlin, 3 Goldeneye, Whooper Swan, 30 Lapwing, Sparrowhawk, 2 Kestrel, 2 Common Scoter, Red Breated Merganser. Missed the 2 reported Shorelark.

Mammals included 3+ Harbour Porpoise, 2 Grey Seals, 3 Roe Deer, 2 Hare