SPURN - 24th - 28th November

 A few days at Spurn, during which I enjoyed every single, possible kind of weather ranging from flat calm and sunny to the blazing force 8-9 northerly wind of Storm Arwen on the 27th.   

Birding highlights included a fine adult male Hen Harrier at Skeffling on the 24th (I also saw it at Welwick on the 25th) along with a Merlin, 7 Buzzards, 6 Kestrels, 440+ Golden Plover and 345 Brent Geese including the distinctive, pale brown leucistic bird which has been returning the last couple of winters, 11 Whooper Swans south and 2 Snow Buntings on a walk down to the point on the 25th, a smart juvenile Glaucous Gull on Kilnsea Wetlands at lunchtime on the 26th along with a Mediterranean Gull and a few birds on Beacon Ponds / Kilnsea Wetlands on the 28th comprising 2 Short-eared Owls, 2 Goldeneye, 26 Little Grebes, a Merlin, 270+ Wigeon, 110+ Teal and 10+ Pintail.

Hen Harrier at Welwick

Grey Plover

Dunlin

Grey Plover and Knot

Sparrowhawk

Common Gull

Wigeon

LANDGUARD - 25th October

 Bright, clear, sunny and calm again so while very pleasant, not really conducive to great numbers of migrants; overhead, birds comprised 45 Chaffinches, 125 Goldfinches, 18 Meadow Pipits, 29 Linnets, 9 Redpolls, 4 Reed Buntings, 2 Rock Pipits, 21 Siskins, 19 Skylarks, 298 Starlings, 2 Swallows and 60 Woodpigeons.   

Also on the move were 74 Black-headed Gulls, 18 Brent Geese, 3 Common Scoter, 14 Dunlin, 2 Goldeneye, a Great-crested Grebe, a Guillemot, 3 Knot, 9 Pintail, 2 Red-throated Divers, 9 Shelduck, 2 Shoveler, 16 Teal and 209 Wigeon.   

Also of note were a handful of Song Thrushes, Redwings and Blackbirds at dawn, single Blackcap and Brambling, a Ring Ouzel still, the first Yellowhammer of the autumn and 2 Clouded Yellows amongst the handful of late flying butterflies in the fine conditions.   

A walk along Kingsfleet in the afternoon produced the highlights of a Kingfisher and a Merlin (or maybe two).

Sparrowhawk

Merlin

LANDGUARD - 21st September

 Nice and bright, warm and sunny with a light WNW breeze; a few migrants in the area included 174 Swallows south, 4 Chaffinches, 6 Chiffchaffs, a Whitethroat, 3 Blackcaps, a Garden Warbler, 80 Meadow Pipits, a Wheatear, 6 Grey Wagtails, a Lesser Whitethroat and 2 Song Thrushes (the first two, greyish, continental type birds of the autumn).

Sparrowhawk

Garden Warbler

LANDGUARD - 30th August

 Low cloud and bits of drizzle in the morning with a light northerly breeze produced at least a bit of expectation that there would be some grounded migrants through the day and this did indeed prove to be the case as the light smattering of birds seen included 4 Wheatears, 3 Tree Pipits, a Whinchat, 3 Pied Flycatchers, a Redstart, a Yellow Wagtail, a Willow Warbler, 3 Lesser Whitethroats, a Whitethroat and a Meadow Pipit – amazingly the first one in the Obs area since late April!

Tree Pipit

Sparrowhawk

Juvenile Sanderling from Walberswick yesterday

LANDGUARD - 15th March

 A lovely day with light winds and plenty of sunshine (still a chill in the air though); there were a few birds through the morning including 1,250 Cormorants offshore, a Fieldfare, a Fulmar, 5 Goldfinches, 3 Greenfinches, 2 Long-tailed Tits, 4 Meadow Pipits, 2 Redwings, 3 Robin, a Rook, a Siskin and 2 Sparrowhawks – including one which came in off the sea.   

Walked down to Trimley Marshes in the afternoon where things hadn’t really changed too much since my last visit with the flock of geese containing 33 White-fronted Geese, the Tundra Bean Goose, 2 Pink-footed Geese and 7 Barnacle Geese still present, a Great White Egret, 2 Little Egrets, 4 Marsh Harriers, 27 Avocets, loads of ducks still, a few waders roosting at high tide, a Cetti’s Warbler and the only hint of spring – a Chiffchaff.   

The only slightly interesting thing was a Kestrel flushed off a half-eaten Black-headed Gull; I can’t see a Kestrel catching it but I haven’t seen one eating carrion before…

Long-tailed Tit

Something's coming..

Sparrowhawk

Woodpigeon

SWEDEN - 13th November

 Same yet again although the sun broke through for about an hour late morning, the nets were quiet with just a handful of Common Redpolls but there was plenty of other stuff to see.   

The highlight was finding a drake Green-winged Teal feeding just below the house, it hadn’t finished its moult yet (especially the flanks) so the pattern was indistinct so it was a case of grilling it to make sure the less-than-complete vertical white stripes were even on both sides and they were!   

Other birds included a redhead Smew flying high over the house, a Woodcock flushed from just outside the house, 14 Whooper Swans (including a new family party which flew in from the north), 14 Pintail and a Grey Wagtail.   

The point was quiet at lunchtime before a look at the mouth of the bay from Sillhallsvik produced the usual wildfowl including a female Scaup, 16 Shoveler and 15 Whooper Swans while a Bullfinch was new for me there, 3 White-tailed Eagles were feeding on something and a big female Sparrowhawk flew across the water from the north.

Green-winged Teal

Sparrowhawk

SWEDEN - 28th October

 After a wild, wet and windy night worthy of the Northern Isles the rain lingered through the first couple of hours of the morning but as soon as it stopped I went out, starting with a good walk around the point (and a little half-hearted seawatch) where birds included a single Velvet Scoter, 4 Razorbills, 2 Kittiwakes, a Red-throated Diver, a Sparrowhawk, a lost looking Great-spotted Woodpecker out on the point, 2 Bullfinches which flew north over the carpark, a few Greenfinches whizzing around and a flyover Yellowhammer.   

I then walked right round the coast, heading round the north side first and cutting across to the Marina and back along the south coast, birds of note comprised 15 Waxwings (a four and an eleven – a Swedish tick!), a redhead Smew hanging out with Mergansers off Sillhallsvik, a couple of Crossbills heard overhead, 8 Little Grebes by the Marina and 13 Reed Buntings.   

On the reserve later on there was a Brambling at the feeders and a Greenshank in front of the hide on the SW side.

Sparrowhawk

Waxwing

Goosander