Just got back from another fantastic few days at the UK’s premier wildlife watching venue, otherwise known as Spurn.
Thursday afternoon got off to a great start with ultra close views on Kilnsea Wetlands of a very smart male garganey initially was out of sight then flew towards the hide and at one point came out of the water on to the bank- fantastic!
There were a few hirundines (swallows, housemartins and sand martins around as well as a pair of avocets. A smart yellow wagtail wandered the edge of the bank before disappearing.
Yellow wagtail
Garganey
Garganey
Garganey with greylag geese and goslings
Garganey with mallard and ducklings
A cuckoo was calling from Sykes field but remained elusive all afternoon, but soaking up some sun in the late afternoon with a pot of tea and Kilnsea as a backdrop, listening to the call of a cuckoo made for a quintessentially English experience on the most quintessential of weekends.
On the night-time we went out for a walk at dusk. This is something I have never had the opportunity to do before and I have to say it’s rapidly becoming a highlight of our trips. Firstly we saw a female deer close up and it just watched us as we walked by ( normally it would have been off, but I suspect she might have had a fawn nearby) on the was back we were treat to a brief view of a badger as it hurried across the road. On the way back to the caravan in Sykes field there was a profusion of bats some coming within inches of our face- a great if somewhat daunting experience. More great views of the badger when we got back to the van.
Friday morning was forecast to be cloudy- if there’s one thing I have learned about staying at Spurn is don’t listen to the bbc. I was up at 4.45 (a lie in for me) and by the time I got to Kilnsea wetlands the sun was already up but still gave some nice photo opportunities as it hid between the clouds. Not much happening at first but then a spoonbill flew towards the hide and I got some nice flight shots as it glided in to land. It immediately started feeding on the abundance of sticklebacks. Grey herons and little egrets became active but there was no sign of yesterday’s garganey or the reported wood sandpiper. In terms of migrants it was rather quiet and other than the resident breeding birds, there was no real sign of any migration.
Sunrise over Kilnsea Wetlands
Great black-backed gull
Little egret (grey heron in the background)
Avocet
Great black-backed gull
Avocet
Spoonbill
Spoonbill
Spoonbill
Spoonbill
Little egret
Spoonbill
Spoonbill
Little egret
Spoonbill
Spoonbill
Spoonbill
Spoonbill
Little egret
Carrion crows mobbing a hare
Blue-tailed damselfly
Common blue damselfly
Flowering rush
Small heath
On Friday night we went out for another walk at dusk. As we approached canal scrape there were two people coming towards us from the opposite direction. They flushed a bird from the roadside and as it banked over the hedge it’s rakish appearance could only mean one thing- nightjar! Despite looking around in the rapidly disappearing light it couldn’t be re-found but did apparently show outside the Crown and Anchor later in the evening. We got back to more great views of the badger as the last of the suns afterglow left the sky.
Saturday was as forecast dull and a cool northeast wind took hold and gave a decidedly early Spring feel to the day.
Sand martin
Sand martin
I had a wander on to Kilnsea wetlands late in the afternoon and whilst there wasn’t anything major, the hirundines feeding low over the water was nice entertainment.
We elected to stay in on ‘badger watch’ in the evening. Nothing happening in the field until it was almost dark then a roe deer, closely followed by an inquisitive fox and slightly earlier than previous, another appearance from the badger.
Another dull and this time rainy start to Sunday had me having a lie in and we didn’t get out while mid-morning. The rain had eased so we went for a wander along the coastal path then round the triangle. The avian highlight being a red kite u-turning at the Warren and mostly common breeding birds popping up whilst the rain eased.
The rain continued at varying degrees throughout the day and eventually eased towards evening. Another wander round Kilnsea was uneventful save for the fledgeling bluetits that were calling away having left the comfort of their nest for truly awful conditions.
We settled down to watch from the van and right on cue a sodden fox appeared out of nowhere and came within feet of the van. It was interesting to watch him as it was clear that he was extremely wary jumping at the slightest noise, and looking at his battle scars no doubt came from bitter experience.
No sooner did the fox disappear, the badger came out of nowhere and feasted on the peanuts we had put out. Again coming within feet of us and far more oblivious to our presence that the fox. We were being treat to our own live version of Springwatch!
Fox
Badger
We had planned to go home on the Monday on the back of the weather forecast and true to form it was nothing like!
News of a nightjar at canal scrape had me racing down there in no time. I was privileged to see superb flight views as it cruised by at 25m-imagine my despair to discover my battery had gone flat in my camera-doh!
Fortunately I managed to get some passable record shots as it flew round the canal banking.
This was almost certainly the bird we saw on Friday night and nice for those present on site to get some decent views.
Also that morning news of a storm petrel on the sea, hoopoe at the point, icterine warbler at chalk bank and red-backed shrike at potato fields!
Nightjar
Nightjar
Nightjar
Nightjar
And so ended another truly memorable few days at Spurn. All of the excitement of seeing nature at close quarters just adds to the eager anticipation of the next visit.
What a place!