Solstice at Spurn

June 27, 2022

We had the most magical week at Spurn which coincided with the Summer Solstice-the longest day of the year and by heck it felt like it!

We arrived on the Monday and a quick trip to Easington we saw a few bee orchids whic were just starting tp look past their best. A quick look at the Red Valarian around the churchyard produced the intended target-hummingbird hawk moth. There were at least 3 but the position of the plants relative to ground level were far from ideal and as such the photos weren’t the best quality.

I spent some time trying to pjhotogtaph bats on the night without too much success. I didnt stay up late as we were planning on being on the beach for the sunrise. The alarm went off at 3.30am and we managed to rise at about 3.45.

Its just a different world at that time-plenty of light and the air was still. We were treat to a lovely view of a barn owl as we drove down towards the gate. Two deer cut a lovely silhouette against a richly colourful sky.

A combination of light cloud, low tide and wet sand made for a nice photo opportunity. We watched the sun rise at 4.30 and set off towards the point. We saw a single ringed plover and flyover little tern on the way down.

We got to the Point for around 5.45-highlights along the way were plenty of garden tiger moth caterpillars as well as a few nice wildflowers including sea-holly and pyramidal orchid.

The point was uneventful wildlife wise but millions of sand hoppers in the point dunes made for a curious spectacle.

We made our way back after a while and as we were walking past potato fields I spotted what I initially thought was a hare. After raising my binoculars, it became apparent that what we were looking at was in fact a fox cub.

It trotted towards us without a care in the world and made its way to the drinking tub placed for the cattle and sheep and took a drink without a care in the world, giving us some memorable views and was easily the highlight of the day.

We arrived back at the van by 9am and I spent the rest of yje morning catching up om lost sleep.

Later in the day I went looking for butterflies and dragonflies and had some limited success with four spotted chasers and an obliging small heath.

The evening cane round and we were treat to a lovely sunset. A barn owl hunted over the triangle as the sun dropped. Swallows and housemartins buzzed around overhead catching the last flies of the day and a hobby dashed through the triangle heading south at 10 to 10.

I made my way to ‘Wozza’s’ bench and watched the last of the suns rays disappear and the first bats of the night began their insect hunting forays taking over from where the swallows and housemartins left off.

There wasn’t a breath of wind, I reflected on what a day we had and agreed with myself that I wouldn’t rather be anywhere else in the world.

The rest of the week was spent enjoying the sunshine, the butterflies and dragonflies and watching bats carrying out their fascinating ritual of dispersing from their roost. patrolling at high level and slowly descending until they were in touching distance in the near darkness.

As might be expected the birding is a little quiet at this time of year but I’ve added a few photos from the last couple of weeks.

Until next time, thanks for reading.

Common buzzard being mobbed by carrion crow

Late Spring at Spurn

June 07, 2022

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.

Garganey with greylag geese and goslings

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.

Little egret (grey heron in the background)

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.

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!

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!

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!

What a weekend!

May 17, 2022

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.