A fleeting stopover at Spurn this weekend was most enjoyable- since our last visit it seemed like Spurn had stepped out of winter into early Spring.

We were greeted by overhead swallows as we pulled up to our caravan, what a lovely welcome.

It immediately became obvious that there had been an influx of common migrants as a tuneful but distant sedge warbler was accompanied by both chiff-chaff and willow warbler.

A quick look over Sykes Field produced nothing out of the ordinary but a very close encounter with a very surprised roe deer was nice.

I had an evening look at Beacon Ponds on Saturday and the recently arrived pair of red-breasted mergansers were still on view, albeit distantly then a quick look on Kilnsea Wetlands delivered my first yellow wagtail of the year-a spangly yellow jewell lit up by evening light. A feeding first year little gull was another highlight as well as a small group of sand martins feeding over the water briefly before drifting off north.

Sunday morning dawned beautifully. A low mist created some nice atmosphere and the sunrise was a hazy mix of purples and reds.

Given that we had a stiff south-easterly wind for most of Saturday, the day dawned with high expectations.

There were common waders and wildfowl on the Wetlands but nothing new since the night before. Onward to Sammy’s Point and the mist prevailed.

A pair of marsh harriers were hunting distantly towards Welwick and one started to journey south, halted and startled by my presence it made a dramatic u-turn.

My first whitethroat of the year was busily gathering nesting material-then out of nowhere a fine male sparrowhawk popped up right on the branch the whitethroat had been on only seconds earlier.

The morning ended with a fine sight of 5 jays heading south in formation calling intermittently as they approached the point where estuary meets the sea- undeterred, they carried on south.

The last couple of highlights was a flock of barnacle geese heading north and a dapper looking fox crossing the field in front of the caravan.

Not the hoped for Spring migrant fest, however the Springtime feel to the trip more than made up for