On its third day at Sammy's Point just up river from Spurn NNR, it took me three hours to relocate this superb vagrant and only my fourth record since seeing my first in 2007. Normally found from Finland through Siberia and wintering in SE Asia, this 1st winter/female bird has migrated in a westerly direction and found itself gracing our east coast. Last week I was pleased to see a Red-breasted Flycatcher around here and this was quite an exceptional show from what was a very elusive bird, most of the time. There was more excellent migration going on in terms of Meadow Pipits, where 11,000 birds passed through Spurn before midday. Every fence line had considerable numbers of these small pipits making their way South for the winter. Small numbers of Northern Wheatears were found, these were on the Humber bank at Sammy's Point. Pied Flycatchers were in very small numbers but showing well wherever they were found. A single Common Redstart was feeding in the horse paddocks. The morning's high tide saw a pale Arctic Skua hunting along the estuary. There are always raptors to be seen at Spurn, here a Common Buzzard and a juvenile Sparrowhawk. A timely warning of an approaching winter when Pink-footed Geese drop in after their journey from the far North. Note: Following the recent hurricane in America there is an unprecedented number of American passerines in the U.K. particularly in Wales. Birds such as Magnolia Warbler, Bay-breasted Warbler, Black and White Warbler, Baltimore Oriole to name but a few are now on our shores. I won't be travelling to the west coast but there's always a chance something may drift over here.
Today was going to be the best day for weather this week and I decided perhaps we should make the trip to Teesside, to see the Brown Booby which has settled in the Tees estuary. First seen ten days ago in this location, the Brown Booby is found in the Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico as a rule. This bird has found a new home on the no.5 buoy (green) at the entrance to the river Tees and far out in mid river. You may see the green buoy on the image below. For the duration of our visit, the Brown Booby remained on the buoy, only moving around to preen occasionally. The images below reflect the best I could do, given the distance from the shore, however I'm delighted to see the bird on our east coast. The Tees estuary is a great venue for birding as I found out on a previous visit, to watch Arctic Skuas here. There was no shortage of seabirds on the river today. Within the estuary there were many terns, mostly Sandwich and Common, with one Black Tern going out to sea. A few Gannets passed by and this Kittiwake was unusually close to the shore and alone. Both Razorbills and Common Guillemots were in large numbers, feeding and resting on the river. A walk along the beach south of the river produced several wader species, including Dunlin, Oystercatcher, Turnstone, Ringed Plover and eight very smart Bar-tailed Godwits. An excellent day with a great rarity and a wonderful area for birding.
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