Well its difficult to know where to begin to describe how awesome the last weekend was!

I’ll start with Friday night. We arrived to hear that the red-rumped swallows discovered earlier in the day were still hanging around. The last report I heard was they were at Grange Farm so I set off in that direction. Ian Smiths car on his drive wasnt a good sign but I pressed on, pulling up at Grange Farm a minute later. I hadn’t thought that Ian might be on his bike (which he was!) firstly I looked up and saw 2 red-rumped swallows right in front of me, I then realised that there were 3 birders watching from the private viewing platform at Yew Cottage. Pete Wragg called me up and I spent the best part of an hour admiring and photographing the two red-rumped swallows in gorgeous evening light in the most idyllic setting. What a start to the weekend-a experience that will stay in the memory for a long while. As the light faded, the swallows drifted off and so did I. I had already clocked up 980 photos and it was only Friday night!

I was up before dawn on Saturday and made my way to Kilnsea Wetlands. The star bird there was a spoonbill posing in front of the hide. I made my way to Beacon Ponds for sunrise and was treat to a distant but entertaining display from the newly arrived little terns-always nice to see.

News of a summer plumaged great-northern diver at the Warren had me hurrying back to the car. By the time I got on the road, it had drifted north to near the Blue bell. Quickly I got out of the car and managed a view as it drifted by.

Next was canal scrape and at last the cygnets had hatched and proud parents were busy feeding their 7 youngsters. A couple of jays flew south along the canal.

I then headed off towards Sammy’s Point. I headed up to the third paddock accompanied by a few wheatear on the rocks and 3 whimbrel stayed close for a photo before heading upriver to a quieter spot.

The third paddock held lots of common warblers and the highlight was a spotted flycatcher and a very obliging short-eared owl. More wheatears on the way back and then a bird I didn’t recognise flew swiftly past along the drain opposite. It landed briefly in the first paddock and I got the briefest view as it walked out of sight-a turtle dove! Unfortunately somewhat of a rarity these days. I hoped it would stay for a photo but as I walked round into the car park area I could see that it had taken flight and continued its journey westwards.

I headed to cliff farm area and had a look in the Crown and Anchor car park. Nothing doing so went to the churchyard and had some lovely views of two spotted flycatchers in dappled light. A holly blue posed nicely among the bluebells.

I went back to the caravan for a brew and some breakfast and chatted with my wife Jo about where we would go for a walk. We sat on Wozza’s bench in Sykes field for a while and set off for a walk round the triangle. I scanned a few fenceposts and commented-’today looks like a day for a red-backed shrike’.

We set off and were delighted by the number of orange tips on the wing. A hairy dragonfly near the canal was a nice find. As we walked along the bank news of a probable brown shrike in the triangle crackled over the radio airwaves. We walked the 20m to the birders who had found it and sure enough a very smart brown shrike was sat on the hedgerow. What a cracker and only the second for Spurn. We carried on our journey as excitement grew and people were hurrying to get a view. Twitch on!

I got to the caravan and the shrike had taken flight and settled on Rose cottage hedge-literally straight in front of the van! It stayed loyal to the same spot all afternoon and we enjoyed pleasant sunshine and great company along with periodic views of the shrike as it occasionally sat out on full view.

Later that evening we had a barbecue. Steak and chicken must have given off an irresistible smell to the local fox. He literally came into the garden and wasn’t put off as I went out to get my camera. He’s clearly been in the wars as he’s only got one eye! He let me get a few photos and went off in search of his supper.

The forecast for Sunday was cloudy but you never know at Spurn. I decided to be up before dawn anyhow and fortunately I wasn’t disappointed. The sunrise was stunning and the fact that there were broken clouds prolonged the effect for about an hour. Waders and little terns were the target and whilst everything was distant the light and the whole experience of watching a magical sunrise was another highlight of many.

The rest of Sunday was spent relaxing and reflecting on a special weekend at a very special place.