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

Hull Birds Available Online

In 2002 Richard K Broughton published Birds of the Hull Area.  To mark the 10th anniversary of this milestone volume, the information included has just been made available online for the first time:  Birds of the Hull Area

A male Bullfinch taken within the Hull boundary at the Humber Bridge Country Park.  Numbers of Bullfinches continue to do well at the Park.  There are a great number of Ash trees at the park - one of the Bullfinches favourite foods  - but their food is definitely supplemented by food left at the feeding station.  These are the most confiding Bullfinches I have ever seen, sometimes flying down before the person putting down seed has retreated from the bird table!

 Unfortunately, the one off records mentioned in the book such as the Wood Warbler singing in May 1986, and the skull of a  Hawfinch hitting the kitchen window in 1998 have not been repeated.  However, there have been some more one off records to compensate.  In the very dry April of 2011 we had a succession of surprising visitors to the water in our garden: Whitethroat, Lesser Whitethroat even a Reed Warbler, but the biggest surprise was a male Ring Ouzel - a first since we have been watching in 1969.  Further investigation revealed it was trying to find earthworms among the male Blackbirds during the day in the cemetery, but for at least 2 evenings it sneaked into the garden for a drink.

A Ring Ouzel in the cemetery

 The previous evening here he is looking to slake his thirst

 We didn't see our first Great Spotted Woodpecker in our Hull garden until 18th September 1977, but now they are an almost daily visitor - especially the young birds in June and July.

Juvenile Great Spotted Woodpecker Bathing 

 In the 2000 book my photo of a male Brambling which stunned itself for a few seconds in our window was published.  Since then they are not quite an annual visitor, but we do get a few in the garden on average one or 2 every other spring or two.  We've yet to have an autumn record, all our birds seem to be on the way back to Scandinavia in April or May.

A female Brambling in our garden April 2008

 Another of my photos of a Tawny Owl perched on a drainpipe on the maternity home was included in the 2002 volume.  Unfortunately, the maternity home has gone, as has such an obvious place for the owls to perch.  We still have Tawny Owl in the trees, but the only time when they are easier to find is when the mother is sat guarding her nearby chicks.

Adult Tawny Owl

 Tawny Owl Chick

One of the most recent unusual one-off birds was a Lesser Whitethroat which was first seen on Boxing Day 2009.  It excited some local interest, as it its late arrival meant it could have been of an eastern race.  However, it's true identity was never definitively  established.  It was then seen subsequently on an almost daily basis until mid-April 2010.

Lesser Whitethroat at our feeding station in early January 2010

Let's have a Chat or 2, or even 150+

After yesterday's torrential rain from an easterly direction I thought Spurn might be worth a visit this morning.  Sure enough after passing the Bluebell there were Wheatears everywhere, including 7 on a single woodpile & another 2 on the one next to it.  There was a Whinchat opposite the turning to the car park from the Canal Scrape.  I took quite a few pictures from the road here, but thought it may be worth going as far as the point.  

There were 3 Wheatears in the point car park, others on the journey down & more at the point itself.   2 Fieldfare flew out of the vegetation near the car park & landed on the wires.  2 male Yellow Wagtails were in the play area opposite the Lifeboat houses, and a female Brambling calling from a danger sign.  There were 3 male Whinchats in the Parade Ground area & plenty of singing Linnets in the area too.  A singing male Lesser Whitethroat was here too - a very late 1st of the year for me.

After Spurn I went over to Sammy's Point.  Along the road down there 50+ Fieldfare flew up accompanied by at least 1 Redwing.  At Sammy's Point itself there was a single male Ring Ouzel & it was surrounded by Wheatears.  Later, a Hull RSPB chap counted 32 Wheatears in a single field.  There were 2 fighting male Yellow Wagtails in the area, singing Blackcaps & Sedge Warblers, but the bare fields seemed more productive then the areas containing bushes.

I drove back via Stone Creek, but apart from a pair of Grey Partridges near Sunk Island, and a few Yellow wagtails & scattered Wheatears there wasn't too much of interest.  The Spurn radio didn't broadcast any sightings at all when I was there, but they have just announced via twitter @Spurnbirdobs the following totals: 150 Wheatear, 5 Ring Ouzel, 5 Whinchat, a Redstart & a Hobby. The coast was the place to be today!  

Whinchat [male]

 ditto

 7 Wheatear on one Woodpile

 9 Wheatear on 2 woodpiles

 Wheatear [male]

 ditto

 Yellow Wagtail [male]

 ditto

 Fieldfare

 Fieldfare [& 1 Redwing]

 Brambling [female]

Record shot of Ring Ouzel [male]