A trip to the Spurn area began at Sammy's Point. The early morning was bright and calm, plenty of birds were singing and I had a good feeling about today. The paddocks weren't as productive as I've seen in early May but, in time I found 3 Wheatears and a colourful pair of Yellow Wagtails. The bushes held a good number of birds. It was nice to hear Whitethroats back and what was more apparent, there seemed to be more Lesser Whitethroats than Common ones. A large thrush 'chacked' as it flew out of a nearby bush and I wasn't sure if it was a Ring Ouzel, or one of the last few Fieldfares - I didn't see it again. A couple of Chiffchaffs were singing, 3 Blackcaps were seen and a Garden Warbler. As I walked the path along the estuary, one of the local Short-eared Owls passed by and small numbers of Sand Martins and Swallows moved through. I met Justin Carr who told me there was a Grasshopper Warbler, 'reeling' away at the end of the bushes, and in the next field. After my unsuccessful attempts at seeing the 'Gropper' last week, I was keen to make contact with this bird and thanked Justin for the information. I could hear the Grasshopper Warbler now, and after standing in two different locations, I was happy I had 'triangulated' the correct hawthorn bush - it was just a matter of waiting! The bird was singing almost constantly and it was a full quarter of an hour before it emerged. Full blast!! Really enjoyed this Grasshopper Warbler performing in the open. On the walk back to the car park, a Red Kite flew in an Easterly direction towards the Wetlands and a Cuckoo began to call. I found the Cuckoo, perching on power lines near Easington. Arctic and Black Terns were still flying out of the estuary and I was contemplating going to watch them when, a report came out that Justin had found a Broad-billed Sandpiper on the incoming tide line. It didn't take long to get there but on arriving, the bird was out of view in the mud channels. The variety of waders being pushed towards us included colourful summer-plumaged Grey Plover and Red Knots. There were Dunlins, Whimbrel and a Bar-tailed Godwit too. Eventually, the BbS showed well for a while on the mud, before the entire wader flock kept being flushed by passing crows. I heard the Broad-billed Sandpiper is the 3rd Spurn record and my 2nd (previous one at Flamborough), so a great bird to see today.
Back in Kilnsea, the Hawfinch which had been ringed the other day, was still in the village and I saw it briefly fly across the road. I caught up with it later, enticed to a feeding station! Comments are closed.
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