Falling out of the Mist

The mist and a weather front bringing drizzle forced a large number of Scandinavian migrants to land on Spurn this morning.  Before I arrived there had already been reports of over 1,400 Bramblings, and thousands of Redwings, Fieldfare, Blackbirds, plus hundreds of Song Thrushes, dozens of Ring Ouzels, and at least 1 Hawfinch.  

I stayed behind a mound of marram grass for over an hour to try & get pictures of the 200+ Bramblings near Post 20.  The mist made it very difficult, but it was possible to get something in the end.  At one stage dozens of Bramblings were feeding alongside a single Turnstone, whilst other Turnstones were sharing their beach with Redwings!

Early indications from @Spurnbirdobs on twitter are:

Conservative totals are:

Fieldfare 10,000+

Redwing 21,000+

Song Thrush 900+

Robin 700+

Ring Ouzel 57

Hawfinch 1

Although these figures haven't been stated yet I suspect there were will have been well in excess of 10,000 Blackbirds & 2000 Bramblings.

Bramblings

 Ditto

 Ditto in flight

 Ditto

 Ditto

 Redwing & Turnstone

Conclusion of Robert Fuller's Summer Exhibition

Sunday saw the final 2 events running in conjunction with Roberts Fuller’s Summer Exhibition.  The morning walk took place near an Ancient Monument.  All but one person turned up at the Gallery in good time, we waited for the 1 late comer, but she failed to show.  We therefore wasted 15 minutes before setting off.  On the way to the final venue we saw a Kestrel perched over the road, a really bright Yellowhammer, and a few scattered Swallows, but we didn’t come close to killing nearly as many Red-legged Partridges as last week.  There was a lot more room in the car park this time, and again Yellowhammers could be heard in the distance, but today other birds to be heard here including a Song Thrush, a Blackcap and a Blackbird.  On the walk down the valley a Yellowhammer was perched on the left hand side of a telegraph post, whilst a pair of Linnets disappeared into the bare field on its right, and then landed briefly on the hedgerow underneath the Yellowhammer.  A Common Whitethroat perched very briefly on a tiny hawthorn bush, whilst a Blackcap sang nearby.  There were more Willow Warblers singing than last week, but our previous visit had been in an afternoon.

Redstart (at the same location 3 years ago)

We went through a couple of gates and were almost immediately rewarded with views of a male Redstart constantly feeding its young brood in a very distinctive nest-hole.  He was definitely more obvious than the female this time.  A Great Tit was also busy just outside the nest hole, so it may also have been nesting nearby.  As we watched the Redstart there was a sneeze near at hand, and a Marsh Tit flew into the trees behind us.  Unfortunately, it didn’t hang around for a decent view.   The only other bird in this area was a Goldfinch which landed on the wires above our head.  We were just about to walk back through the gate when the Wakefield lady spotted the male Redstart sitting the nearest it had been to us all morning.  When we had returned to the site of the old railway line one chap had to retire to his car with an aching hip.

 Record shot of a Yellowhammer

 Comma

Here, a Chiffchaff sang briefly & distantly, but not long enough for me to point it out to the group.  Those near the front saw a female Blackcap collecting insects, but the male was harder to see, though he was singing strongly.  An Orange-tip passed us a few times round here, and one participant spotted a Comma.  It was near here that we encountered a family of Long-tailed Tits, but we could only snatch decent views of the adults.  A Bullfinch flew into the hedge, allowing us only to catch a view of a white rump, but its plaintive ‘pue’ call was heard by all.  Another Marsh Tit sneezed as it flew along the thick hedgerow, but it remained a blur, and failed to perch in the open.  The lady from Wakefield spotted a Hare on the hillside, which ran past a Magpie before disappearing over the brow of the hill.  In a bush on the hilltop a lovely red-breasted Linnet was drying itself after having a bath.   

Comma

 Record shot of an Orange-Tip in Flight

We came to some redundant buildings and this is where at least 4 of the party disappeared for several minutes as they reminisced about their previous uses.  Meanwhile we heard our first & only Garden Warbler, of which we managed to obtain glimpses as he sang among some fresh Ash leaves.  A Curlew sang out, so presumably they breed on the hillsides in this area.  We also heard our first proper Chiffchaff of the day, and nearly everyone saw it flitting high among the Ash leaves.  We returned the way we had come, and didn’t add any new species, but we climbed the hill with alacrity, as the dark clouds seemed to be massing for an attack, but we managed to reach the car park with only a few drops trying to soak us.  There was chaos in the car park as several people were trying to park with no available spaces.  One of our party almost had his car pranged, but eventually he was allowed to reverse from his space, so one of the newcomers could take his place. 

Ear Fungus

The afternoon session saw a similar situation arise, but this time we were the newcomers.  The car park at the new location was already brimming over, and our arrival came at a difficult time.  In the end a few of us managed to squeeze into the car park, whilst at least 3 had to abandon their cars outside the usual parking area.  We walked down the hill, and I could hear a distant Whitethroat, but we never actually caught up with this particular bird.  A pair of Red-legged Partridge heads could just be spotted in some long grass – the male poking his head up that bit higher than the browsing female.  We were much luckier with a Willow Warbler which came to suss us out, and everyone managed to get decent views, and one lady even managed to take a photo.  A large bird flying distantly looked reminiscent of a raptor, but on closer investigation proved to be only a Lesser Black-backed Gull.  We were luckier when someone spotted a Buzzard soaring over an area of conifers.  It then began to hover clumsily before it disappeared over a large deciduous woodland.   

Red-legged Partridge

 Willow Warbler

 Singing Willow Warbler

    Despite the best efforts of the Sunday afternoon traffic we eventually made it to the pond, and this was the most prolific area for the numbers of species seen well.  A pair of Whitethroats were active around the metal gate and could be seen collecting insects around the umbels of the Cow Parsley.  A Yellowhammer was heard singing, and this was eventually seen clearly.  A Treecreeper was singing nearby, and then one lady spotted it clinging to the side of a mature Ash tree.  There was another Marsh Tit in this area, but again it didn’t stay long enough for everyone to get decent views.  We went a bit further, where the lady with the camera toppled over, but luckily the camera (& the lady) were apparently undamaged.  We walked to where there had been a Tree Pipit a few years ago, but the bushes had been burnt in this area, and there was no sign of this locally scarce species.  However, we went a little further and were lucky enough to encounter a Meadow Pipit indulging in its ever-popular parachuting song-flight.  The Meadow Pipit plunged down to our side of the hill & into a gorse bush, but it was soon seen off by another male.   It was at this point that we heard the best song of a Skylark of the day.   

We returned to the pond area, but this had been taken over by paddlers, so apart from a Moorhen there were no new sightings there.  We walked a little further along the road, but the only decent sighting was of a Willow Warbler plucking flies from a barbed wire fence.  On the return journey to the car park I pointed out some ear fungus & was able to regale the group with some of the folklore and culinary qualities of this unique fungi.  We were able to return to the cars without further incident.

Crouching Hares, Hidden Turtles

The omens for today’s session were excellent with both the North Dalton & the Sigglesethorne/Withernwick contingents seeing Red Kites on their journey to the reserve.   Those who arrived earlier had also identified a Yellowhammer near the car park.  However, it was very windy and the small passerines weren’t sitting on the top of bushes as is their want at this time of year.  Near the car park we did hear or see Greenfinch, Goldfinch, Chaffinch, Wren, Willow Warbler and Collared Dove.  Soon we could hear a distant Skylark and then the chuffing train sound of a red-legged Partridge.  Also early on we heard a Blackcap, but this was incredibly elusive in the strong winds.  Stock Doves were heard ‘singing’ and there were plenty of Woodpigeons & Collared Doves, but there was not a whisper of the purring of Turtle Doves, which were almost guaranteed at this site.

Long-tailed Tit [fledgling]

 Yellowhammer

As we approached the farm that keeps horses we heard and saw a concealed Willow Tit.  I've seen Marsh Tits in this area a few times, but this was the first time I've encountered Willow Tits at this location.  This was later confirmed at lunch time when surveyor for the BTO mentioned that he’d clearly seen a Willow Tit, fairly close to where we picked it up. We also had our best views of a Blackcap near here, and we could see plenty of House Martins hunting insects in the lee of the tall Sycamores in the distance.  We had a great view of a Willow Warbler in the said Sycamores, but it was much easier to observe when it landed on some wires, and continued to sing.  We eventually encountered a Swallow past the Sycamores, where Goldfinches & Yellowhammers came down on to the path to feed.

The area which may have had railways sidings in the past had been cleared over the winter, so the Common & Lesser Whitethroats were absent for the first time.  We didn’t actually see and hear a  Whitethroat until we arrived at the YWT reserve – normally we would have expected to have encountered at least 5, but probably nearer 10 by this point.  Linnets began to fly over at regular intervals, and we flushed a pair of Red-legged Partridge and could hear a bullfinch as we approached the YWT reserve.  We entered the old quarry, but one of the only new birds to be seen was a male Pied Wagtail.  Here, we enjoyed our best view of a Yellowhammer and another good sighting of a Willow Warbler. There were a few House Martins, Swallows and a single Swift hunting for insects against the steep escarpment.

Thistle

 Wild Strawberry

There is no doubt that the spirits of everyone were lifted on the return journey by the recently fledged Long-tailed Tit family – there seemed to be at least 10 individuals.  The rain set in at this point I we didn’t see a lot of note until we had a brief view of a Buzzard, and then we observed a male Kestrel hunting near the old railway bridge, and then Margaret spotted a last-minute Song Thrush.  Despite the sightings the morning session was the worst spring outing for this particular stretch of hedgerow.  This was undoubtedly partially due to the force of the northerly winds, and probably also to tardiness of many migrants which even now have failed to arrive on their breeding grounds.

 Long-tailed Tit [fledgling]

At 1pm a Red Kite passed right over the car park being mobbed by a crow, perhaps the afternoon was going to be better?  In the afternoon I did a complete about-turn by setting off at 180 degrees to the morning journey.  This paid off immediately with a singing Blackcap, although it was pretty elusive, and not everyone managed good views of this bird.  A Wren in the same area was a little more forthcoming.  The Marsh Tit, Treecreeper, Peregrine and Yellowhammer we’ve seen in this area before were absent this time.  A little further on we heard the distant laugh of a Green Woodpecker, but it was on private land, so we couldn’t find it.  The Red-legged Partridges weren’t in their normal area, but had been replaced by many Woodpigeons and a single Song Thrush.  In the same field we witnessed some strange behaviour by a couple of crouching Hares, and then we searched the field there were many other Hares scattered around, as well as the obligatory Woodpigeons.  It was just after this that we saw a Whitethroat without a tail.  He continued to sing and display like any male Whitethroat, but I don’t know what his chances will be without a tail! 

Red Kite [right] Being Mobbed by a Crow

 2 Brown Hares [1 crouched]

One section was very windswept and the Yellowhammers normally seen in this area had all gone to ground, but when we reached shelter again the sightings increased in number.  We came across another new family of Long-tailed Tits, again of at least 10 in number.  We came across 3 Blackbird eggs and 2 Song Thrush eggs which had been predated, probably by Crows or Magpies.  We went under 2 bridges & just after passing under the second one we heard our first Lesser Whitethroat.  It soon stopped singing and started scolding us.  Unfortunately, it was typically skulking in behaviour, but while we were waiting for it to reappear, a male Bullfinch arrived, and stayed long enough for everyone to get a decent view of it. 

Blackbird Eggs [Predated]

 Song Thrush Eggs [Predated]

Whitethroat (tail-less)

Cowslip

Linnet

Linnet

On the way back we saw a pair of Red-legged Partridges just above one of the bridges, but they scuttled away into a field.  Then we got great views of an extremely bright male Yellowhammer, 2 further Lesser Whitethroats were heard singing, but these were even harder to see.  We passed a birder who had come to see the Turtle Doves which used to be in this area, and we can only hope he was more successful than we were.  On the evidence of today it would seem that Turtle Doves have completely died out in this area, but I fervently hope that it was just the terrible winds that caused them to keep their heads down.   One of the final birds seen was a very confiding Willow Warbler which was singing and feeding on insects only a matter of feet away from this afternoon’s participants.

Willow Warbler

 ditto

After the class finished I went to the supposed best Bluebell spectacle in the area.  Although the Bluebells were great I discovered that these were just beyond their peak.  I need to go earlier next year!

Bluebells

 ditto