A Warm Finale

Yesterday the final Thursday session until September went ahead even though Yorkshire was ringed around with heavy showers.  Some on the pm session were wondering if it was worth leaving Church Fenton, Wressle or Goole where it was hammering down with rain, but it was actually nice weather at Spurn.   We set off along Beacon Lane, where we immediately encountered House Martins and a few finch species: Goldfinches, Greenfinches & then flyover Linnets. The best early bird during the pm session was a singing Wren perched above the hedge belting out its 10-second- 100+ note trills.   Normally there are plenty of Linnets along here, but there are definitely fewer of these this year.

Immature Kestrel

 Goldfinch

 Large Skipper

 Ringlet

 Meadow Brown

 Common Blue [male] above
Burnet-Moth

 ditto

It was the sunniest day we have visited this location this year, and there was a corresponding increase in insect activity.  There were a couple of Red Admirals & Large Skippers, some Small Heaths, a single Small Tortoiseshell, and a few Ringlets and Meadow Browns.  There was also a single large dragonfly hawking along the lane.  Over the fields the activity of the Meadow Pipits and Skylarks was more subdued than last week, and the Sedge Warblers seemed less willing to sing in the open.  Many more Burnet-Moths had emerged since last week, and were making the most of the sunshine.  There seemed to have been a noticeable influx of Silver-Y Moths in the afternoon, which wasn’t apparent in the morning.  A young Kestrel spent the whole day among the sand dunes & caught something small on the sand, which it proceeded to eat & then it walked up the dune looking for more of the same.

 Kestrel

 Kestrel

 Sandwich Terns

 Little Gull (flying past a Common Tern)

 Reed Bunting

From the hide it was evident that the loss of many of the Little Tern chicks since our last visit had caused the netting to be rearranged in front of the hide to protect 2 or 3 nests there.  Sandwich Terns were more in evidence, perched on a couple of concrete slabs with a few of their youngsters.  A couple of Common Terns were perched nearby, and an immaculate Little Gull flew through.   The pm crowd watched a Cormorant catch an enormous fish, whilst I was trying to determine if a tern in awkward light could possibly be a Roseate – unfortunately, it turned out to be a Common.  There were also Ringed Plovers, Oystercatchers, and after we left the hide in the morning 3 Knots with remnants of breeding plumage headed south.  Liz did very well to spot a distant soaring Sparrowhawk, which everyone managed to pick up before it was lost to sight.  

 Cormorant

 Wood Sandpipers

 Wood Sandpipers

 Wood Sandpipers

At lunch-time I went to Canal Scrape, but was disappointed that there were no Lizards on the posts outside – perhaps the sun was too strong?  The prospects from the hide didn’t look too good either.  The water was dominated by squealing baby Coots, whilst the grass was overwhelmed by moulting Mallards.  I had a quick span, but couldn’t see anything of interest, so I cracked open my sandwiches.  I was tucking in when there was an unusual wader call.  I looked out of the window and spotted a pair of tiny waders on the shore.  At first glance without bins they looked like Dunlin, but the sound was different.  The bins revealed them to be Wood Sandpipers with their pale vague eyebrow, speckled back, delicate bill & yellowish legs.  They remained there 15 minutes until they were attacked by a stinking Coot & they flew West over the Humber.  Meanwhile a Little Egret flew in & was preening among the Mallard.  It only stayed a couple of minutes before flying off North-West.  Four Cygnets emerged from the reeds and swam right across the pond, but there was no sign of either of their parents.  There was no one to say 'awwww' at their appearance this time.  A Small Tortoiseshell was outside the hide on a thistle, whilst when I joined the main road a Sedge Warbler was perched with its bill stuffed with insects.

Little Egret

 Little Egret

Small Tortoiseshell

 Mute Swan Cygnets

 Sedge Warbler

 Sedge Warbler

 4-Spotted Chaser

 Caterpillar

It was great to bring this term to an end in decent weather conditions when we have had to endure all sorts of unseasonal showers, winds, mists and generally appalling weather over the last few weeks.  We deserve a peaceful, Indian summer after this unsettled so-called Spring & Summer, but will we get it?

2 Lifers for the Majority

Temminck's Stint (c) 2012 Martin Standley

Taken at the same location a few years ago

 Wood Sandpiper - taken at Spurn a couple of years ago

Today was a rerun of the same location as 5th of May: http://www.eybirdwatching.blogspot.co.uk/2012/05/yesterday-was-another-day-struggling.html  

 Pied Wagtail

Standing on the bridge yielded House Martin, House Sparrow, Starlings and Goldfinches feeding young.  There were also Swifts, Carrion Crows and a Magpie.  Immediately we went through the gate was a Reed Warbler on Cow Parsley, which then began to sing in a beech tree in someone’s garden.   A Sparrowhawk went over the gate being chased by 2 Magpies.  A Pied Wagtail was singing on a post near a paddock, but the usual Mistle Thrush was absent.

Record shot of Reed Warbler

Swallow

Along the river bank there had been a big influx of Reed Warblers since the last visit, but there were few Sedge Warblers in full song – but we did obtain good views of both (not Sedge in the pm).  A Lesser-Black backed Gull flew overhead.  There were Swallows perched on some of the ‘jetties’, and the Reed Bunting chicks, proved something of a novelty.  Meadow Pipits and Skylarks seemed down in number but they may have been on chick-feeding duties.  We met a couple who’d been out birding much earlier & they had seen an Osprey directly overhead at 9am, flying north along the River Hull heading towards Pulfin Bog.  I’m sure the class gave a collective gasp or it could have been a groan at this point.  In the afternoon we saw a pair of Buzzards over a small copse being mobbed by crows.  

 Record shot of Meadow Pipit

 Growth on a Feral Goose

Reed Bunting Fledgling (above)

Waders seen included plenty of Lapwings, a few Oystercatchers, Redshank with at least 2 chicks, and then a strange bird was seen through Liz’s scope – a Wood Sandpiper.   There was a group of 8 Ringed Plovers at one point flying around, which came down to land, which the students thought just disappeared into the mud.  Another bird flying around was a single Snipe which performed its magnificent display, although we couldn't hear it from the distance we were from it. After a lot of searching in vain and head scratching Steve picked out a tiny bird by the side of a pool.  All the other sightings seemed to be of Pied Wagtails, but this one proved to be a nicely-marked Temminck’s Stint.  In the afternoon we just about managed to see (badly) the Wood Sandpiper through the bins, but the Temminck’s Stint was virtually impossible.  Luckily, a very patient West Yorkshire couple took their time with the whole group to ensure that everyone saw it.  The Wood Sandpiper was a lifer for all but one more experienced birder, while the Temminck's Stint was a lifer for all but the tutor.

 Greenfinch

Foal 

 Cygnets

 Submarine

 At the bridge in the afternoon we had a singing Blackcap, and a Wren almost went between someone’s legs, whilst a Greenfinch wheezed at the top of a recently-opened Ash tree, whilst in the morning we were merely scolded by a pair of Blue Tits and a singing Chiffchaff.  On the am return journey we took the path along Barmston Drain and added Yellowhammer, Linnet, Whitethroat, & Shoveler.  As we were leaving the site before lunch a Grey Partridge called behind us just after a hedge screened our view.  The pm session was much quieter in this area.  Both groups gawped at the 'submarine', whilst the cygnets were spotted in the afternoon.