September Morn

September 06, 2022

The birding at Spurn over the last 2 weekends has certainly hotted up not only in terms of scarce birds but also good numbers as well as great weather, especially in the mornings for photography.

The weekend before last produced a wryneck and red-necked phalaropes as well as some nice waders and this weekend has been the best yet in terms of scarce birds with a citrine wagtail being the star bird,,the long staying pair of phalaropes as well as a sprinkling of common migrants including whinchats, pied flycatchers, willow warblers, redstarts and a cracking wood warbler.

Beacon Ponds was brilliant this Sunday with red-necked phalaropes, great egret, juvenile little gulls, wood sandpiper, 80 plus little egrets and a distant view of a honey buzzard coming in off the sea.

There were some good numbers of curlew sandpipers around (6 on Kilnsea Wetlands) as well as ruff, bar tailed godwit and black-tailed godwit.

Its all shaping up very nicely for the forthcoming Migfest Weekend.

I will be running 2 workshops on Saturday and Sunday and will have a stand and will be generally talking photography at Spurn all weekend.

If you’ve got your ticket and want to know more about the best times and places to photograph wildlife at Spurn pop along-it will be great to see you!

Great egret (centre) with little egrets, grey heron & black-headed gulls

Early Migrants at Spurn

August 15, 2022

Another memorable weekend at Spurn come to a close this afternoon.

We arrived on Friday night and there had been some reports of some common migrants arriving. Its always an exciting time when we get the first movement of the ‘Autumn’. Its made up of what you might call the usual suspects-pied flycatcher, redstart, whinchat and spotted flycatcher. With a hint of east in the wind there is always the prospect of something a bit more unusual.

It started with a trip out on Friday night-there were lots of birds on Kilnsea Wetlands but they were all quite distant due to the rapidly diminishing water levels {hopefully this weeks rain might provide a much needed top up) Lots of common waders plus spoonbill.

Saturday morning dawned bright and breezy but very warm. I chose to stay local and first port of call was Sykes Field. A nice redstart posed nicely in the early morning sun as well as a few willow warblers. Next stop was the Churchyard then Crown & Anchor car park then Cliff Farm-not a single bird of note!

I wandered along the floodbank heading ina southerly direction. There was a few birds on the humber-waders, gulls and terns but nothin g unusual.

I walked back to canal scrape once I had completed the floodbank. I saw a small bird perched low on the roadside and it revealed itself to be a spotted flycatcher, quickly followed by a lesser whitethroat.

A quick look in canal scrape hide yielded nothing of note but a walk back alomg the road provided 2 whinchat in Walker Butts.

Back up to the Blue Bell and then into corner field and as the sun had risen, things had become more active. More willow warblers as well a a second redstart and a pied flycatcher.

Back for breakfast and some relaxing. I had another walk out late morning. I headed up yo the Cliff Farm/Crown 7 Anchor area and here there was at least 10 pied flycatchers and a redstart. Not great for photography in harsh mid-day light but very nice to see some good numbers.

BAck for a siesta at the van then later afternoon a black tern was on Kilnsea Wetlands I. eventually managed some fairly decent shots given how far away it was.

A nice evening was spent at The Spurn Bird Observatory annual barbecue and we watched the sun go down over the Humber.

Another early start and some wonderful light. My plan was to photograph waders in flight as they were moving up and down as the tide rose. The light was absolutely fantastic and it gave some great photographic opportunites as waders flew by and gulls, swallows and sand martins fed on the feast of flies.

The humber ws flat calm and with reflected pink and blue skies the backdrop was superb.

Once it reached high tide the aactivity slowed and I made my way back for breakfast.

Early morning and evening definitely give off the best light as can be seen in the shots below.

Dawn to Dusk at Spurn

August 09, 2022

We had another fantastic trip to Kilnsea this weekend and it was truly a case of wildlife from dawn to dusk.

Starting on Friday night , there had been a report of a white rumped sandpiper near Chalky Point. I went up there an hour before sunset and it was just the most gorgeous evening. The sun was setting, yje silence was only punctuated by calls of various wading birds. I had an interesting chat with The Biking Birder and it didn’t matter that the white-rumped sandpiper didn’t show.

Next morning I was up early and on the beach before 5-just as I like it. There was no=one around yet the wildlife is at its most active. My plan was to shoot waders and terns over the sea into the rising sun. It seemed unusually quiet as I walked up but there was still half an hour to go before sunrise.

As dawn got nearer, birds became more active and pretty soon there was plenty to look at and photograph. Little terns were busily hurrying out to sea and returning with fish in what seemed like a conveyor belt of activity. Waders were zooming up and down the beach but given that it was low tide I guess most would have been feeding on the humber. A grey seal made its way down the beach towards the sea after being hauled out overnight, swallows flew north in their droves no doubt after roosying on Sykes Field.

As the sun rose, the light went back to ‘normal’ and the activity slowed up. Imade my way back and after an uneventful look on canal scrape and Kilnsea Wetlands I made my way back for breakfast.

I spent a while looking for butterflies and whilst not as busy as previous weeks I was pleased with a count of 12 species in the Kilnsea area-the highlight being a nice female common blue.

The day finished with a nice session on ‘Wozzas Bench’ watching the swallows flocking in their masses against a magnificent sunset with the added attraction of a flyby barn owl

Next morning I was up early again. I missed the very early start but was till on the beach before half 5. I had the sam plan as the day before but I was lucky because there was slightly more broken cloud and this prolomged the sunrise effect keeping yellows and pinks in the sky for longer.

There must have been a hatch of flies overnight as there were loads of birds feasting on the masses that were mainly around the high tide line. Mainly dunlin and ringed plover but the glorious morning was puntuated with even more colour as a small flock of yellow wgtails fed with the odd pied wagtail amongst them.

Again the sun rose past the ‘golden hour’ effect and it was time to go. News came over the radion of a convolvulus hawk moth that had been trapped overnight in Church Field. A beast of a migrant moth along with a couple of other nice ones-orange swift, salt-marsh plume and gold spot.

Back for a couple of hours relaxing and a bit of breakfast. A roe deer and its fawn were feeding in well Field and a peregrine falcon shot through just as we were packing up.

There is no place like Spurn-it is a natural marvel and theres no place on trhe planet I would rather be.

Until next time-thanks for reading.