Spurn / Kilnsea 12th October
The Spurn trip is usually very popular and this was no different with twenty three members starting our birding near the gate at the Warren to look through the waders as the tide came in. Though the visibility was poor with foggy conditions restricting views, were were able to make out Curlews, Bar-tailed Godwits, Redshank and a Spotted Redshank on the water’s edge. Several Shelduck were on the water with some Teal near the marshy edges and then several Dark-bellied Brent Geese flew in giving decent views. The bushes were fairly quiet though we had Tree Sparrow, Chiffchaff and Reed Bunting, with a Swallow flying south. After visiting the Warren and finding that mist nets were being rolled up for lack of catches, we decided to head to Beacon Ponds to try for the Pectoral Sandpiper that had been in the area for a few days.
The ponds were clear of the fog and the light was excellent for viewing. Several Little Egrets fed and bickered close to us and there was a good selection of duck and double-figure counts of Little Grebes. The Pec was found on one of the mud banks, hanging our with a couple of Dunlin and some Ringed Plover. We had seven species of gull here, including Mediterranean and a large first-winter Caspian. After heading back to the Warren, we spent three quarters of an hour staking out the reported Little Bunting site without any luck, we had missed it showing by minutes, if not seconds. There were several Meadow Pipits, a flock of Goldfinch and a couple of Stonechats to distract us but late lunch called. The afternoon walk around the Triangle was quieter, though some had good views of Grey and Golden Plover. A Marsh Harrier and a Gannet flew past and one or two of us got onto a Brambling. Without the morning’s fog, we could see that we had only had a small sample of the hundreds of Shelduck present.
We moved on to finish the day at Welwick Saltmarsh, part of the new Outstrays Nature Reserve, and this proved to be a good decision. One car load saw a Hen Harrier during the 15 minute drive and a single Pink-footed Goose was found feeding on farmland. The real highlights of the day were found here. A single Glossy Ibis was found quickly before another four appeared very close to us (a sixth was noted later). Then we had a spectacle of three Short-eared Owls up together and mobbing Buzzards and Marsh Harriers. The owls were seen on the ground and quartering the area at the east end. After relocating to a viewing screen, we had further brilliant views of the owls – there were at least three but might have been a fourth – at least two Marsh Harriers, including a male, a couple of Kestrels, one of which tried to harass the shorties, and good numbers of Black-tailed Godwits.
There was a total across the whole trip of 81 species.
Rob & Jane