Winter Arrives!

December 12, 2022

We had some reservations about staying in the caravan when the forecast was to barely rise above freezing all weekend, but travel we did. We were greeted by the remainders of the day before’s snow and the whole place glistening with a covering of frost-the temperature inside the van was 3 degrees!

It didnt take long to get the van warmed up and my alarm was set for 6.15 the following morning. The sun was due to rise at 8.10 and I was already on the bank of the Humber for 6.45. A steady walk to my chosen spot produced a barn owl and short-eared owl hunting in the gloom and a flock of pink-footed geese could be heard in the distance.

Eventually I arrived at my remote spot on the Humber and took up my position. It didn’t take long for flocks of waders and wildfowl to start whizzing around as the darkness gave way to a grey gloom-not the spectacular sunrise I hoped for. However the birds put on a great show. A flock of pink-footed geese that must have roosted on the Humber took flight in front of me accompanied by brent geese and a sprinkling of wildfowl. Flocks of knot and dunlin were flying up and down river as well as a close flock of lapwing numerous curlew and the odd grey plover, golden plover and redshan. The morning brightened slightly prompting flocks of pintail and teal to fly by some at close quarters. Eventually the tide began to drop and waders were alighting on the mud in front of me in desperate search for their first meal of the day. Eventually the sun broke through but too late as the tide had ebbed and all of the action moved off with the tide.

A. quick scan for a raptor produced an immediate reward in the form of a hen harrier, initially hunting over the salt marsh it the headed east along the top of the bank and frustratingly dropped out of view as it passed by.

The temperature remained below freezing and around half nine it was time to head back and thaw out. A woodcock flew up from cover as I walked back but nothing else of note eas on view.

I spent a nice morning relaxing in the caravan-we had curlew feeding in front of the caravan and a fox was on the scene briefly in the distance.

News of a waxwing at Southfield Farm had me grabbing my kit in the early afternoon and before I got out of the door, it had re-located to corner firld-literally just around the corner. Within a minute of being there it popped up on some hawthorns and fed on some berries sitting out in almost perfect light. It came briefly closer and dropped out of view in search of more berries before eventually flying off in the direction of Beacon Lane.

Next morning was even darker, duller and foggier than the day before. I waited until it got properly light before venturing out. The light was abysmal but my target was to capture the mood of the day-fog and all.

A wander to Kilnsea Wetlands produced a single whooper swan as well as some common waders sat out on the ice. A few deer from the screen on the way to Beacon Ponds stood watching me through the fog. A sparrowhawk flushed before I had chance for a photograph. I walked up to the north end of Beacon Pods in search of the shore larks that had been reported the previous day but the fog was too much. I retraced my steps and the buntings around the sacrificial crop near the listening dish were posing nicely.

On the way back news of a waxwing (most likely the previous days bird) was at Kew Villa. It was eating apples strategically placed in the garden and every now and then flew up giving some nice views.

Back for some breakfast for around 11 and our trip came to an end.

65 species of birds, some great close encounters and challenging conditions for photography but what a great weekend. Winter nature watching at its best, I cannot wait to get back.

Thanks for reading.

Late Autumn in the Humber

November 13, 2022

I had a brief but satisfying visit to Spurn this weekend.
Arriving in the dark the thing that struck me was how mild it was.
The morning dawned clear and I was up and out well before dawn. I wanted to try a spot on the Humber which I knew would be a fair walk. At 630 there was enough light to see where I was going and by 650 I was at my preferred location.
The first birds I saw was a good flock of lapwing darting out over the Humber and flying low over the water. It was a bit dark to get a shot but some of the photos captured the scene nicely.
Waders started moving as it got light mainly curlew and the odd redshank.
A merlin perched briefly on a dead branch washed up by recent big tides, but flew off over the bank before I could get a shot.
A sparrowhawk shot through and a pair of marsh harriers began harassing the waders and wildfowl in the distance.
After a while the sun had fully risen and the colour had gone out of the sky. Just as I was packing away a woodcock flew round in a circular loop and I just managed to get a few shots off.
A kestrel was perched briefly near the pumping station and a mixed flock of finches and buntings were flitting around the bank-top hawthorns.
I went back to the van for some late breakfast and then was back out this time at Kilnsea Wetlands.
The first birds I saw as I got out of the car was a couple of stonechat, after a while they were joined by a third bird.
I spent the afternoon on the top of the bank between Kilnsea Wetlands and Beacon Ponds.
There was a nice drake pintail, albeit quite distant as well as other common wildfowl mainly wigeon, shoveler and teal.
A flock of twite bounced past and then a short eared owl appeared. It flew past me and then doubled back about half an hour later.
The sunset was nice and provided some nice photo opportunities of roe deer, waders and one of the stonechats on the look out for flies in the very last moments of sunlight.

As we move towards winter, the likelihood of migrant birds especially rare or scarce ones diminish, however the opportunities to carry on photographing wildlife at Spurn and on the Humber still abound.

What A Weekend!

October 25, 2022

I was watching Twitter nervously on Thursday with rare bird after race bird along with hundreds of common migrants being reported at Spurn.

I was able to cash in one of my floating holidays for the Friday and just hoped that some of the birds would stay.

I arrived just after 7 to the sound of robins and gold rests and a sense of magic was in the air.

No sooner had I set up the caravan, the radio crackled with the news that the previous days red-flanked bluetail was still present in Easington.

Within a minute of arriving there it was hopping around on the driveway of the old school.

Soon after news of a singing Pallas’s warbler on the track on the south side of the gas terminal came over the airwaves. After a couple of attempts it showed very nicely and at times was in full song- something that I’ve never heard before.

A wander down Beacon Lane produced lots of crests and the air was thick with the seeeep of redwings flying overhead and diving in and out of the bushes. Along the cliff top we’re at least 3 black redstarts and a lovely male stonechat.

A look in Crown and Anchor car park produced an all-too-brief eastern type lesser white throat. Church Field produced very brief views of a Mealey redpoll.

A ride back up to Easington in the afternoon produced nice views of a second Pallas’s warbler on Vicars Lane.

News of the little bunting at the Southend of the breach had me heading south.

It was a long trek over the sand but didn’t take long to locate the bunting and at times was as close as about 8ft.it was fascinating to watch it scurrying beneath the grasses in search of seeds coming out into full view only occasionally.

I managed to beat the rain back to the car and so day 1 came to an end.

Saturday dawned bright and breezy and I suspected that a lot of the birds may have moved on- wrong! All of the scarce birds were still present.

We had lovely views of a redwing from the caravan as well as plenty of crests and robins in the garden

We decided to have a wander down to the point. The most obvious feature of the morning was the visible migration. Wave after wave of finches, skylarks and meadow pipits were all streaming south.

We saw lots of goldcrests and chaff inches on the way down and there were even more birds at the point.

The best bird was a distant great grey shrike and the parade ground held a black redstart, fieldfares, redwings and song thrush.

A few late swallows were heading south accompanied by a house Martin. The highlight of the walk back was a great white egret flying south over the narrows.

I had a trip up to Easington in the afternoon and managed more views of the red-flanked bluetail and brief views of the Pallas’s warbler. I spent the last hour looking for the red-flanked bluetail at the football pitch but to no avail.

We watched the sun go down back at the caravan listening to a classic Autumn chorus of robins, blackbirds and redwings. A fox crept close to the caravan in the last rays of light.

Sunday morning was overcast and it was apparent that a lot of birds had moved out.

I looked again for the RFB at the football pitch and again it was a no-show.

I headed back to Kilnsea for a wander down Beacon Lane. Just a few thrushes but the walk back along the cliff top produced a couple of black redstarts and a stonechat.

There were still lots of birds around including good numbers of bramblings.

I got back for breakfast just in time to beat the rain, it didn’t put off a very mobile stoat giving great views as it made its way through the garden.

I went to canal scrape hide to sit out a torrential downpour that lasted nearly 3 hours. Despite the rain it was quite busy with brief and distant views of a jack snipe as well as a ring ouzel, black and bar-tailed godwits and a nice grey wagtail sometimes giving great views.