More waders at Spurn

September 20, 2020

Another early start at Spurn yesterday and another photographic session with one of the Spurn lockdown auction winners. It was a nice clear morning and the sun was right for photography early in the morning. The birds didn’t really perform though as a fresh easterly promised much and delivered very little.

The waders at high tide were quite good especially when they were being scared witless by a peregrine falcon causing huge swirls of birds heading in all directions.

I stayed at the north end of the breach, got low down so my outline wasnt on the skyline and waited. It didn’t take long before a curlew landed straight in front of me and the waders were whizzing about over the river and sea.

The peregrine flew by quite distantly after it had its breakfast and gannets were on the move out of the Humber. A nice fly by from two pink footed geese and a brent goose added some variation as did a delicate black-headed gull posing in soft morning light.

I had deliberately set the ISO at a high number in the hope of catching some flight shots in the early morning light and it worked to a degree. The higher the iso number the lower the quality of the shots-some of the early ones were taken at ISO 5000 but the Nikon D810 is capable of performing at low light levels and it produced some decent results.

Hopefully there will be an opportunity to photograph some migrants in the enxt few weeks as we head into October-the best month for Autumn rarities at Spurn.

"Wader-tastic' at Spurn

September 06, 2020

I had another trip to Spurn this weekend.

The main point of the trip was to take one of the Spurn Lockdown Auction winners around for some insights into photography at Spurn.

It was a nice day and hopefully the 3 enthusiastic participants took something from the day-I certainly enjoyed it.

The wind put a bit of a dampener on it, though and kept many of the birds hunkered down in the bushes.

One group of birds that are usually quite obliging at this time of year are the waders. Mostly common ones yesterday but a juvenile little stint was also nice to see.

I started off just south of the Warren-I got next to a small bit of cliff which served both as a windbrake and also hid my profile from the horizon.

I didn’t have to wait long before a small party of ringed plovers landed nearby followed quickly by some nice grey plover and then dunlin and sanderling.

I noticed some huge flocks whizzing about just near the breach and then it became apparent why. Two chaps with cameras had walked down just as it was reaching high tide then appeared to be walking through the flocks causing obvious and unnecessary disturbance.

In my view, the world is made up of two different types of people-those who ‘get’ wildlife disturbance and those who don’t. Clearly these two fell into the latter category. What I find disappointing is that people who purport to show an interest in wildlife (and therefore should know better) still carry on with disturbing whatever they are looking at. It could easily have been two birders-it happens, but for people who go to an internationally protected area in pursuit of wildlife photography and then disturb the birds which will be getting much needed rest from their journey from the arctic, its a poor show.

Early 'Autumn' at Spurn

August 23, 2020

Ive been a bit pressed for time just lately so havent been down to Spurn as much as I would have liked.

However last weekend I managed to get down there with the hope of seeing and photographing a long-tailed skua. I started at Kilnsea on the sea side and although it was quite cloudy the light wasn’t too bad. Some sanderlings on the shoreline and oner or two ducks off shore made for some nice photo opportunities. No sign of any skuas so I made my way back to the car. I was met by a waver of birders heading hurriedly back to the cliff top. ‘Long-tailed skua heading north over the warren close in!’ was the message crackling over the radio. As quick as a flash I set up my gear and the shape of the skua quickly came into view. Unfortunately it was heading out to sea rather than along the coast but very nice to see and a welcome addition to my bird photos collection.

I then had a quick look around the bushes near canal scrape but there wasn’t much doing so I headed for Sykes’ field. There were a few migrants kicking around including a pied flycatcher. I was hoping to see one of the recently reported red-backed shrikes. I wasn’t to be disappointed as two were performing out in the open at quite close range feeding on bumble bees. Also nearby was an elusive barred warbler, it didn’t show that well but still very nice to see.

Quite a few more common migrants around including good numbers of pied flycatchers. A quick look at Sammy’s Point produced anotherpied fly. Two short-eared owls and a marsh harrier ahead of a rain band were nice-then the rain came and drew the visit to a close.

This morning I was up early and at Kilnsea Wetlands for 6am. Some nice waders in the rising sun were photogenic. A look in the hide produced some nice waders. High tide was around 9a.m and there was a constant stream of birds coming in off the Humber. Curlew Sandpiper, Little Stint, Green Sandpiper, Wood Sandpiper and Ruff all performed well in front of the hide.

I moved off to Canal Scrape after a while and I was treated to some nice views of a Water Rail in the newly cut back clearings in the reeds. It then became evident that there has been a reasonable fall of migrants. Willow warblers were the most prominent along with the odd redstart and pied flycatcher. I thought I would have a look in the bushes and so it proved-lots of willow warblers and also a cracking juvenile cuckoo.

More wader action at the gate and as I walked back up one of the new-in short-eared owls took flight briefly.

Two marsh harriers were heading south and a quick look on Well field produced some good numbers of Whinchat.

All in all a top visit. Nothing particularly scarce but great birding for late summer.

Spurn being Spurn is the greatest place to watch and photograph wildlife in the UK. It never lets me down.