Spurn Point Weekend

 As in recent years I visited Spurn Point with my daughter Katherine.  We stayed at the Observatory for three nights and enjoyed the excellent facilities that it has to offer.

Unfortunately the winds were from the SW all weekend which is not great for rare migrants.  However some compensation was the large numbers of the more common migrants that were passing overhead.  Theses included Swallows, House Martins, Meadow Pipits, Chiffchaffs, etc.  Of course as soon as we left to head back home the winds turned northerly and then to the North East!

Hopefully the following photos show that the birding can be good despite the "wrong" winds.  Click on the photos to see an enlargement.

Pink-footed Geese - One of the fantastic sights that Spurn produces each Autumn as the "Pinkies" arrive from the north, often heard before they are seen.  They did not land and headed further south.

Brent Geese - The only two reported during our stay. 
Many more will no doubt arrive soon.

Cattle Egret - Perhaps the scarcest bird over the first three days. 
As expected it managed to find some farm animals to feed among,

Kestrel - A juvenile perched along the Canal Bank path.

Shelducks - A daily sight on the Humber at low tide.
Many hundreds were present.

Spotted Flycatcher - This individual was found after we walked to the end of
Spurn Point.  It was happily feeding with a darker individual pictured below.

Spotted Flycatcher - This made the walk to the point and the trudge back just about worthwhile.

Song Thrush - At least four Song Thrushes were feeding in this Yew tree over 
two days, this one reaching for a berry!  They were apparently new arrivals but as to where they came from is anyones guess!

Swallows - Just two of about 30 gathering on the wires in the Triangle.

Little Egrets (and others) - seen on Kilnsea Wetlands. 
The left hand bird was colour ringed and apparently ringed in Norfolk.

Roe Deer - One of two walking past the hide at Kilnsea Wetlands

Avocets - Three of 10+ on Kilnsea Wetlands taken in poor light conditions.

Common Terns - Several small groups of Terns flew over Kilnsea Wetlands all heading south.  Some dropped in for a short time and included a good number of juvenile birds.  A few Sandwich Terns and Little Gulls also dropped in.

Little Grebe - Seen on the Canal Scape pool.

Whimbrel - Seen on the Humber from the Canal Scape path. 
One of two seen over the three days.

Below the Whimbrel flying away.

Curlew - A rather tatty looking individual feeding on the Humber. 
Good numbers were seen over the weekend.

Common Snipe - Resting by the Canal Scrape hide.

Common Gull - A 2nd calendar bird

Common Gull - An adult along the Humber.

Common Gull - A final two photos of a bird in flight showing the species ID features
well and demonstrating how good the Sony RX10 camera is for flight shots!