Tuesday, 24 May 2016

Sard's the Star

  I am recently back from a few days relaxing and birding in the wilds of Spurn Point, East Yorkshire.An amazing spit of land between the River Humber and the North Sea that is windswept and wild(and hopefully will be kept that way). It is also one of the best places in the UK to see Visible Migration and a chance of a "lifer" which is exactly what happened to us in the first few hours :)
  Looking out to the North Sea (photo by Majella Fox)

  We had already had a couple of hours wondering around Kilnsea Wetlands, watching Ringed Plovers, Little Egrets, Common Sandpiper, Avocets and a Male Garganey before returning back to the farm with aching feet.
  Little Egrets at Kilnsea Wetlands




  Ringed Plover

Avocet defending their nest from a Little Egret getting a bit too close.


  Back at Westmere Farm I removed my boots from my burning feet with a big sigh of relief, uploaded my sightings to BirdTrack and went to check for any Twitter posts.
  Nooooooo......we couldn't miss this opportunity, so painfully I slowly put my boots back on ans struggled down to the canal path where we found Ian and a few others patiently waiting for the female Sardinian warbler to show itself from its bushy hideaway.I got myself comfy laid down on the grassy slope as I could no longer stand on my feet, with camera ready in anticipation that she would give us a clear view.
Success :) as she briefly came out to the edge of the bush and I managed a couple of clicks before she disappeared again.
  Female Sardinian Warbler


  Before we left her, a Cuckoo was heard calling and Majella spotted it on a distant fence post.
Cuckoo

  It took a while hobbling back to the farm but the pain was temporarily forgotten when we saw this Fox running across the field with its prey, a unfortunate Rabbit.

  Next morning I left Majella asleep at the farm and headed off down the trail towards Sammy's Point at about 5.45am.A bit of a breeze but so peaceful with no-one else around, just me , the Reed Buntings and a few Hares.
  One young Hare seemed to be curious as to why someone else would be up and walking around at this ridiculous hour and proceeded to follow me along the trail.Every time I stopped to turn round and look at him, he stopped too, but then continued following me when I walked on.It was like playing "Statues" with the Natural World, a glorious wildlife encounter.
  Playing Statues with the young Hare.



  We spent the next couple of days relaxing and having 2 or 3 walks a day around Spurn & Kilnsea.There were not a lot of Migrants around but I did see my first Sedge Warbler of 2016 and a stunning Wheatear.
  Sedge Warbler

  Wheatear

  If you want to visit a Birding Mecca in the UK then come check out Spurn Point especially during the Spring & Autumn migrations and come support the Spurn Migration Festival Sept 9th-11th for guided walks, lectures, great company and amazing birds :)

http://spurnmigfest.com/

http://www.spurnbirdobservatory.co.uk/

Thanks for reading and hope to see you at the MigFest :)