May Day at Spurn

I had a nice day out at Spurn on Bank Holiday Monday. I set off before first light and when I got there light was breaking but in was absolutely freezing and a cold wind blowing off the north sea!

Not a lot doing on the migrant front as you can imagine and a solitary chiff-chaff at Canal Scrape didn't bode well.

Quite a few flyover whimbrel were the first of the year for me.

I wandered up to have a natter with some of the lads at Numpties Castle and managed to see my first swift of the year as well as a peregrine falcon and a couple of wheatears appeared out of nowhere so there was some hope.

I went up to Sammy's Point and there were a few more birds around plus the wind had definitely dropped.

Most of the activity was in the third paddock and here there were warblers aplenty. Chiff-chaff, willow warbler, blackcap whitethroat and lesser whitethroat.

As I wandered up to the far end the familiar sound of a grasshopper reeling could be heard.

It took me a while to see it but once located it was more than happy to show itself and continue performing.

I'd heard there was a garganey at Kilnsea Wetland so that was my next port of call. No sign but a flock of bar=tailed godwits in front of the hide was ample consolation.

next news of a Hawfinch in the Crown and Anchor Car Park crackled over the radio.

Its usually a very difficult bird to photograph at Spurn but this one put on a fine show feeding on the ground out in the open and then on a feeder allowing prolonged views and a great photographic opportunity.

After a while it flew into a mist net so that was my cue to leave.

Another great trip with the promise of more to come during this week.

Spurn Subalpine Warbler

Well the good start to the Spring continues. I took my mum out yesterday and we popped to the Crown and Anchor for a spot of lunch and had a little wander about. The conditions were not great to be honest but a quick 10 minutes in the hide at canal scrape produced nice (but distant) views of the subalpine warbler and a quick look at Sammy's Point produced a short eared owl but that was about it really.

So I headed out before dawn this morning with the hope of a better sighting of the subalp.

First port of call was Kilnsea wetlands but it was quite bleak with a stiff northerly wind blowing straight across. Two foxes before sunrise was a nice bonus with little else apart from the resident avocets and displaying shell duck.

So on to canal scrape and whilst scanning through the bushes from the hide, news came out that the subalpine warbler was still in canal bushes and quite vocal.

I made my way around and it became apparrent that the bird was quite mobile but staying loyal to the bushes around canal scrape.

It showed on and off for the next couple of hours but never really close and never out in the sunshine. Anyway it is a very nice looking bird and whilst not much better than record shots these photographs constitute the best I've had of a subalpine warbler- the previous and only pther was a rather dull female at the warren a few years ago.

It appears that this bird has been hanging around for a while (it was last seen on the 7th April) so there is a good chance it might stick for another couple of days.

Spring has got off to a good start at Spurn for me and the best weeks are yet to come-bring on those easterlies!

Springtime at Spurn

I had a great trip down to Spurn this morning. I was out of the door just after 5.30 and arrived at Kilnsea just as the Sun was rising.

My first port of call was Kilnsea Wetlands. There wasn't much close to the hide-a redshank soon took flight leaving a pair of mallard splashing about nearby. There were lots of curlew flying around and it wasn't long before a group settled on the grass in front of me, beautifully backlit by the morning sun. Almost immediately a pair of skylarks landed in front of me and provided me with a great opportunity to get a close shot of a difficult bird to photograph.

It was then I heard the news break that a probable Iberian Chiff-Chaff has been located in the Crown and Anchor car park.

It didn't take me long to get up there from the hide and after an initial no-show the Ibe was singing and calling and showed very well in the Spring time sunshine down to about 10m. A nice distraction was a brief firecrest that flitted through the trees and didn't hang around.

The Ibe flew overhead after a while and ended up in the nets in Kew so that was my cue to leave.

I headed up to Sammy's Point and despite a few birds being around there was nothing of note apart from a calling brambling.

I was surprised that nothing else turned up today despite favourable conditions for southern overshooters.

None the less a cracking morning and a good start to my birding year at Spurn.