I had my first ‘proper’ trip to Spurn this weekend-in fact we stayed over for 2 nights so managed to fit quite a bit in.

As often happens at this time of year migration gets halted by a cold blast of Northerly air and this weekend was no exception. A frost on Saturday morning and hail showers overnight into Sunday morning made it feel more like winter than Spring. Not to be deterred I was up early on Saturday and whilst it was chilly, it was nice and bright. A couple of snipe flushed off Sykes Field and a singing chiff-chaff was a nice start.

I made my way down to the breach and there was not much happening other than a few brent geese and waders moving around on the dropping tide.

canal scrape yielded a few teal, little grebe and a mute swan carefully constructing its robust nest of reeds.

The firs decent birds of the day were at Southfield Farm. First a stonechat then a black redstart. Eventually there were 4 ‘black reds’ which showed amazingly well alighting on posts near the road side giving some nice views.

I like black redstarts when they are in flight and especially if they are backlit, they can look quite cool. Unfortunately capturing a sharp shot is easier said than done and my meagre offerings below can only be described as a work in progress.

Not much else appeared until after tea when news of a ‘continental’ stonechat was viewable from Sykes field. It was distant in fading light but looked a very smart bird.

Unfortunately it didnt hang around and there was no sign on Sunday morning.

A ride up to Long Bank Marsh yielded a spoonbill and a couple of pintail and a quick look again at Southfield Farm held only 2 black redstarts but no sign of the continental stonechat.

Hopefull some southerly winds will encourage more migration in the next couple of weeks.

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