Well what a fabulous weekend at Spurn that was. Nothing rare but just nice to get out and experience the diversity of the wildlife on offer at Spurn.
I started at Kilnsea Wetlands on Friday evening and almost straight away was treat to sme fantastic views of the spoonbill that arrived earlier in the day. 3 Pink-footed geese flew over then landed for a short while and then a flock of waders flew close to the hide, mainly redshank but included a single greenshank and 5 black-tailed godwits in various stages of summer finery.
The resident barn owl gave an obligatory fly-by before it was time for tea.
I have bought a new moth trap and despite the windy conditions I thought I’d give it a try-while setting it up a fox meandered its way between the highland cattle as dusk approached.
I was up early on Saturday and checked the moth trap-the grand total of two hebrew characters was somewhat underwhelming so I made my way back to Long Bank Marsh. First bird was a wheatear on top of the hide-first one of the year-it was fairly quiet but I did manage distant views of the green-winged teal and a ring ouzel that had dropped into a hedgerow before making its way towards Sammy’s Point. The barn owl was out patrolling the boundaries of Long Bank Marsh and a few common waders were feeding over the exposed mud.
I headed out to Sammy’s Point which was also quiet but then went to the north end of the gas terminal at Easington. There was a rather spectacular sight of 29 wheatear feeding on the rocks and a small group of sand martins flying south over the sea.
A small copse held a surprising number of birds including some vocal willow warblers and another first for the year in the form of a whitethroat.
I made my way back for a spot of breakfast. I had a wander around Kilnsea in the afternoon and whilst conditions were not great for butterflies I still managed two peacocks, a small tortoiseshell, a green-veined white and a speckled wood.
Overnight I set up the trail camera which produced two badgers and a woodmouse in our caravan garden.
I was up early again on Sunday morning and again headed to a very windy Kilnsea Wetlands. The spoonbill was there briefly before flying high south. A marsh harrier was hunting over Long Bank Marsh and a peregrine flew over Kilnsea Wetlands whilst a distant short eared owl was at the east end of Kilnsea Wetlands. News of a bearded tit had me heading towards the canal and whilst the windy conditions didnt help I had quite a few flight views.
I finished the morning with some waders over the humber from the gate.
I finished the trip with yet another first for the year-an orange tip on the outskirts of Easington as I drove out.
So ended another fantastic trip to the wildlife watching Mecca that is Spurn.
Until next time, thanks for reading.
