Well what a weekend that was!
Just getting through the photos from a long weekend at Spurn was a job in itelf but that only tells half the story.
From watching foxes and hares as we ate our tea to a (record?) emergence of green hairstreaks to a dusk walk that revealed some of the sounds at Spurn that would otherwise go unnoticed, this weekend had it all. To quote my wife Joanne, ‘its like watching a life episode of Springwatch’.
It started with a quick trip up to Sammy’s point on Friday night and in clear blue skies 3 ring ouzels, 3 fieldfares and a yellow wagtail fed out in the open in glorious sunshine, punctuated by brief views of a stunning male redstart. As dusk approached and watching from the caravan we were treat to close views of a fox, a couple of hares and after sunset the bats appeared- what a great start!
I set the alarm for 4.30 on Saturday morning and was on Kilnsea wetlands for 5.00. No real movement of waders (I expected a few coming in off the Humber coinciding with high tide) but still there were a few egrets and herons as well as the predictable common wildfowl. A flyover spoonbill at 5.36 was the highlight.
I made my way to Sammy’s Point as the sun gained height, my target was grasshopper warbler and cuckoo-no sign of either but the rapturous chorus of warblers indicated a marked increase from last week.
At the first paddock there was still a ring ouzel and a couple of fieldfares and more common warblers including a showy whitethroat with oilseed rape in the background making for a lovely photo opportunity.
Next stop was Canal Scrape-it was only a brief visit as it was very quiet, I thought I would check out Southfield Farm as my next port of call. No sooner as I parked up a bird flew over my shoulder and landed on the tree in front. It immediately caught my eye as being something unusual and so it proved to be=a wryneck. It was probably the one that has been hanging around for a couple of days, however it didnt stay still for long and it flew off in the direction of Blue Bell car park.
Given there was little ‘new’ stuff around we elected to go for a walk down to Spurn Point in the afternoon. It was pretty quiet bird-wise with just a trickle of swallows heading south and the odd meadow pipit and linnet. Also with the tide being out all of the waders were just distant dots on the low-water mark. The lack of birds was more than made up by the amount of butterflies on the wing. Plenty of small whites, a few peacocks and singles of green-veined white, orange tip and small tortoiseshell-the undoubted stars of the show were green hairstreak. From the narrows down to the point we counted at lest 25 and that was without looking too hard. This was even more remarkable given that there were no green hairstreaks the day before. There must have been a mass emergence and all were in pristine condition-fantastic.
The walk back from the point seemed longer than the walk there but we were back at the caravan or late afternoon. I had another quick visit to Southfield Farm and a distant whinchat was my first of the year. I went to photograph a yellow wagtail on a roadside muck heap, although cloud rolling in off the sea killed off any decent photographic opportunity.
Sunday was forecast to be cloudy and so it was. I thought I’d try a spot of watching visible migration. There was a steady stream of hirundines heading south, the highlight being a Jay and a pod of porpoises feeding off shore.
In the afternoon a cuckoo first heard calling from the caravan then seeing flying accross the triangle was a highlight.
On Sunday evening I had a walk along canal bank in the hope of better views of the wryneck-there was no sign but a flyby from the resident barn owl was nice.
On Sunday evening we went for a walk at dusk. It was almost silent nut interesting to hear birds calling. Wrens, carrion crow, blackbirds, moorhen were all evident but a flyover snipe was the highlight. That was a memorable experience and no doubt we will be doing that more often.
On Monday morning I headed to Beacon Ponds in the hope of seeing one of the newly arrived little terns. I could hear them distantly but couldn’t see them. I headed again to Sammy’s Point but there was nothing of note. I went to the Humber bank with the hope of a flight shot of a whimbrel. No luck with that but a flyby short-eared owl was nice. I called in at the churchyard for a newly arrived spotted flycatcher which remained flighty in the tree-tops.
Our last walk of the weekend involved a walk up to chalky point-the most obvious sight was up to a dozen wheatear flicking up off the path and on to the rocks as we walked along. We made our way towards Long Bank and were rewarded with fantastic views of a marsh harrier, then a newly emerged orange tip posed nicely for a photograph.
The day ended with a very brief visit to Sammy’s Point car park where a pristine male redstart posed nicely in the bushes.
Whilst nothing particularly rare this trip epitomised spring at Spurn. Plenty of new arrivals, birdsong wherever you went and a sprinkling of nice butterflies for good measure.There is no doubt that Spurn in my mind is the number 1 place for wildlife watching in the UK.
Until next time…
