A relatively low turnout this year of only 37 members and friends as many of our regulars were unable to attend due to other commitments. Last years trip had been disappointing due to the ferociously windy conditions which made birding very difficult indeed. The weather promised to be much kinder today and some decent birds had been reported this week such as, Little Bunting, Yellow-Browed Warblers, Crane, Great White Egret and Ring Ouzel. Would these birds still be present today and would they be joined by other scarcities?
We left the Gateway on time as usual and made our way to our comfort stop at Ferrybridge Service Station, the area around here is dominated by the cooling towers of the local de-commisioned power plant, little did we know that the very next day these would be raised to the ground! How on earth will we know where we are next time we pass this way?
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| Song Thrush (Alan & Glo) |
Upon arriving in Easington, the usual optional drop off was made for those that wished to walk the couple of miles or so to Kilnsea, I noticed a few members of our party heading off in a slightly different direction to the majority of the group. I briefly considered joining them but thought better of it and continued down the lane and headed towards the Humber estuary. This was a bad choice to make! Dave, Tony and Vanessa had headed down Vicars Lane and were having a general scan of the area along with a local birder when an unusual bird was spotted. After a little deliberation it was decided that the bird in question was a Red-Eyed Vireo ! This bird is a native of North America, occasionally they turn up on the Scillies but the east coast of Yorkshire? In fact it turned out that this was the second record for the Spurn area.
Meanwhile approximately two miles away I saw the alert come through on Birdguides, Red-Eyed Vireo, Vicars Lane, Easington. Years ago I would have been off like a shot back the way I came, but today much older and wiser I continued onwards to leave this species for another day. I then received a phone call from Holly Page who was working in the Cairngorms, she had seen the information come through, I told her I was not going back for the bird, she said in reply something along the lines of “are you an idiot” but with more flowery language I seem to remember.
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| Stonechat (Alan & Glo) |
The tide was well out on the estuary, we picked up a solitary Wheatear in a horse paddock, the two Ring Ouzles that had been reported had vanished, and a Turtle Dove had flown by without anybody noticing it. We did however see a nice party of Whooper Swan and a number of Stonechat.
Luck had deserted me so far so I decided to sit in the pub beer garden with a nice pint of Timothy Taylor Landlord and look for the Yellow-Browed Warblers, I didnt see any of course but had a very pleasant half an hour enjoying watching a Blackcap.
Walking along towards Canal Scrape we saw a Great Spotted Woodpecker bouncing along which we thought was unusual for this area. We dipped on the Bearded Reedlings of which there were up to ten present, luckily others in our party saw these over the course of the day. Canal Scrape hide was very quiet so I decided to have an hour seawatching. Almost instantly I was on to a distant Skua, probably of the Arctic variety but I couldn't be sure so I didn't declare it. A few juvenile Gannets were still present and then a Black Guillemot was called, after a few seconds I realised that this wasn't correct and closer study confirmed the bird was in fact a single Velvet Scoter. The next bird was unexpected as well, a Marsh Harrier well out to sea heading south followed by a second bird, a nice surprise, and my most enjoyable hour of the day.
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| Bearded Tit (Alan & Glo) |
Heading back towards the visitor centre we checked the hedgerow for the Little Bunting that had been seen earlier, we didn't pick up on this but had a consolation of a Redstart. It was time for Coffee and cake, whilst enjoying this we heard that a Lapland Bunting had been seen in the car park opposite, of course by the time we got there it had vanished. Not a great day for me, but some really decent birds seen throughout by group as a whole and a first for the society! Can't be bad.
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Mute Swan |
Merlin |
Stock Dove |
Chiffchaff |
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Whooper Swan |
Peregrine |
Woodpigeon |
Goldcrest |
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Pink-Footed Goose |
Moorhen |
Collared Dove |
Wren |
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Greylag Goose |
Coot |
Grt Spotted Woodpecker |
Pied Flycatcher |
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Canada Goose |
Oystercatcher |
Skylark |
Great Tit |
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Brent Goose |
Ringed Plover |
Swallow |
Blue Tit |
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Shelduck |
Golden Plover |
Rock Pipit |
Bearded Reedling |
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Mallard |
Grey Plover |
Meadow Pipit |
Magpie |
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Wigeon |
Lapwing |
Pied Wagtail |
Jackdaw |
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Teal |
Knot |
Grey Wagtail |
Rook |
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Pochard |
Dunlin |
Dunnock |
Carrion Crow |
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Velvet Scoter |
Common Sandpiper |
Robin |
Starling |
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Red-Legged Partridge |
Redshank |
Redstart |
House Sparrow |
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Pheasant |
Bar-Tailed Godwit |
Wheatear |
Tree Sparrow |
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Little Grebe |
Curlew |
Whinchat |
Chaffinch |
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Gannet |
Snipe |
Stonechat |
Brambling |
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Cormorant |
Black-Headed Gull |
Song Thrush |
Linnet |
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Little Egret |
Common Gull |
Redwing |
Goldfinch |
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Great White Egret |
Mediterranean Gull |
Fieldfare |
Greenfinch |
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Grey Heron |
Herring Gull |
Blackbird |
Reed Bunting |
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Marsh Harrier |
Grt Black-Backed Gull |
Blackcap |
Lapland Bunting |
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Sparrowhawk |
Lsr Black-Blacked Gull |
Whitethroat |
Yellowhammer |
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Buzzard |
Guillemot |
Lesser Whitethroat |
Red-Eyed Vireo |
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Kestrel |
Razorbill |
Reed Warbler |
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