This was one of those weekends that you hope for at Spurn. Promising winds during the week and one or two good birds around. Then on Saturday, most birds had stuck around but with the bonus of lovely warm sunshine and light winds-perfect for photography.
I had a look near the bearch to start with, it was a massive tide with hardly any land left!
Not much happening overvthe sea or on the Humber so I made my way back towards the bushes.
The first decent bird was a firecrest, it must have just arrived because it seemed to be flying around looking for some decent cover and lept returning to its favoured hawthorn bush. Only fleeting views but ended up with better views later in the afternoon.
Next up was a yellow-browed warbler which showed reasonably well near Pallas’s pond along with a few common migrants.
The red-breasted flycatcher that was around the discovery centre bushes the day before continued its stay often calling and perching out in the open briefly before carrying on its mad search for food.
A barred warbler was called out near Chapel Cottage but there was no sign in the short time I was there.
As you might expect on a Saturday in late September, it was packed with people and there seemeed to be a constant procession of people enjoying the birds in the warm sunshine.
I had a spot of lunch then went up to Easington for a bit of peace and quiet. I certainly found it as I only saw 2 people in the 2 hours I was there! It was quite quiet for migrants but after a tip off from one of the birders I saw he gave me good directions to a very showy yellow-browed warbler. At times it came ridiculously close oblivious to my presence as it followed its incessant instinct to feed after its journey across the north sea.
I headed back towards Spurn late afternoon and thankfully the crowds had died down, so I went back for the red-breasted flycatcher which continued to put on a great show.
the day ended with some nice views of the firecrest which was (at times) feeding more openly in the afternoon sunshine.
Only a day visit for me but a full day out with the camera, in lovely warm sunshine and a few nice birds at the UK’s premier nature watching venue-what’s not to like?
