Well the good start to the Spring continues. I took my mum out yesterday and we popped to the Crown and Anchor for a spot of lunch and had a little wander about. The conditions were not great to be honest but a quick 10 minutes in the hide at canal scrape produced nice (but distant) views of the subalpine warbler and a quick look at Sammy's Point produced a short eared owl but that was about it really.

So I headed out before dawn this morning with the hope of a better sighting of the subalp.

First port of call was Kilnsea wetlands but it was quite bleak with a stiff northerly wind blowing straight across. Two foxes before sunrise was a nice bonus with little else apart from the resident avocets and displaying shell duck.

So on to canal scrape and whilst scanning through the bushes from the hide, news came out that the subalpine warbler was still in canal bushes and quite vocal.

I made my way around and it became apparrent that the bird was quite mobile but staying loyal to the bushes around canal scrape.

It showed on and off for the next couple of hours but never really close and never out in the sunshine. Anyway it is a very nice looking bird and whilst not much better than record shots these photographs constitute the best I've had of a subalpine warbler- the previous and only pther was a rather dull female at the warren a few years ago.

It appears that this bird has been hanging around for a while (it was last seen on the 7th April) so there is a good chance it might stick for another couple of days.

Spring has got off to a good start at Spurn for me and the best weeks are yet to come-bring on those easterlies!