Great Grey Shrike

Had yet another trip out to Spurn this morning in the hoe of connecting with a great grey shrike.

Just managed about 30 seconds view of this one.

Well chuffed.

Super Autumn Continues!

Pectoral sandpiper (Swinemoor)
Red Footed Falcon (Top Hill Low)
Brown Shrike (Flamborough)
Brown Shrike (Flamborough)

Redstart (Spurn)

Pied Flycatcher (Spurn)
Redstart (Spurn)

Goldcrest (Spurn)
Garden Warbler (Kilnsea)

Goldcrest (Spurn)
Goldcrest (Spurn)

Blackcap (Crown & Anchor)
Blackcap (Crown & Anchor)

Been lucky enough to have a couple of days off during the best time of year for birds.

Went to Spurn yesterday and saw plenty of common migrants including redstarts,spotted flycatchers,pied flycatchers,whinchats and wheatears.

Also there was a superb red breasted flycatcher at Crown and anchor plus red backed and great grey shrikes in the triangle.

Topped the day off with a trip to Flamborough to see the brown shrike.

This morning I went to see the pectoral sandpiper at Swine Moor, got there just before the fog came in and connected with one.

Then back to Spurn, a lot of birds have moved out but I still saw redstart,stonechat,spotted flycatcher,garden warbler and some delightful goldcrests.

Then back to Swine Moor for a record shot of the pec sandpiper and finished the day with the red footed falcon at Top Hill Low.

The day ended with a superb sunset which capped off a truly memorable couple of days.

Autumn at Spurn

Whinchat
Wryneck
Goldcrest
Goldcrest

Spotted Flycatcher
Wheatear

I had a couple of trips out to Spurn at the weekend, one with my scope and camera in the hope of some Autumn birds and the other in beautiful sunshine with my daughter.

There were still the remnants of the birds that arrived during the week on saturday and the red backed shrike,wryneck and commoner species such as whinchat,pied flycatcher, wheatear and lots of goldcrests made for a very enjoyable couple of hours.

The Sunday trip was in almost Mediterranean conditions, easily the nicest day we have had in weeks.

Unfortunately the skies were clear overnight and a lot of the common migrants had moved out.We dipped the red backed shrike at Kilnsea but we did see a beautifully marked redstart.canal scrape was quiet but we got good views of overhead passage migrants, mainly meadow pipit.

We called in at Chalk bank hide on the way down, dipped the shore lark but we saw plenty of common waders on the mudflats.

next it was the point in search of the wryneck.plenty of wheatears but far less migrants with only the odd goldcrest.

After about half an hour of searching and waiting the wryneck eventually showed and thrilled the masses of people eagerly waiting.

A beautifully marked bird that gave us a very noice end to a most enjoyable day.

We had a species total of 43 not bad for a couple of hours.

Wryneck

had a quick scoot down to Spurn tonight on the off chance of connecting with one of the recently reported wrynecks.

I passed a few birders on the way down to the point and all confirmed that a wryneck had shown earlier in the day but there had been no sign since.

I had a look in the area called the parade ground and in the 15 minutes I was there I was suprised by the amount of birds there.

wheatear,spotted flycatcher,willow warbler, whinchat and some beautifully marked redstarts.

But no wryneck.

Then a guy on a bike came along and said there was a wryneck in the next car park down past the lighthouse (heading north).

As I got there there was a small crowd and the usual 'its just been showing for 10 inutes but gone to ground'.

After a while it appeared on a bush and I managed a couple of record shots, then to everybody's amazement it took flight and landed about 10m away!

Wow what a beautifully marked bird, it was happy to feed out in the open for at least 20 minutes I was pleased with these shots as the light was rapidly depleating, there was a sense of expectation at Spurn tonight as reports of a hawfinch and waxwing crackeled over someones radio.

Prospects are looking good.

Autumn Migrants

The Autumn migration came in with a bang on the east Yorkshire Coast this weekend.After some promising easterly winds there was reports of common and scarce migrants from all along the coast.

I went out to Spurn on saturday and saw plenty of wheatears,whinchats and hundreds of meadow pipits heading south.

Unfortunately the barred warbler and shore lark didn't show but we did see arctic skua,little egret,green sandpiper and plenty of common stuff.

A trip out with the dog to Patrington Haven in the afternoon yielded yellow legged gull,curlew sandpiper,3 kingfishers and a short eared owl amongst others.

The reports kept coming from birdguides on Saturday night, with one of the most significant movements of honey buzzards in recent times and also plenty of scarce stuff mainly from Flamborough.

I decided to head there on Sunday morning but clear skies were not a good omen.A little stint on the puddles was a pleasant suprise, but this turned out to be the highlight of the day.A few redstarts and pied flycatchers around Old Fall and a few common migrants along the walk back to the lighthouse but quite disappointing.

Called in at Hornsea mere on the way back, a few distant little gulls was about the best of it.

It appears that today it was the turn of Spurn to produce the goods with a pallas's grasshopper warbler the highlight.

Wish I had have swapped my venues.