Part 2 Webs Count and Big Fall,Saturday 10th October.....

1st Winter Red-breasted Flycatcher,N.Genn.

As i was unable to do my Webs count on Sunday due to visiting my Mum-in-law in hospital,i completed section 2 of my webs count this morning in the same misty conditions as yesterday.No real highlights were seen today,but a good count of 220 Turnstone was pretty impressive and a nice flock of 44 Black-tailed Godwit flew east down the estuary.After completing my survey i decided to go to Spurn as there had been a few goodies there the previous day,imagine my surprise when i met up with Nige and he told me what had been seen,female Rustic Bunting and not one but two Little Buntings also!!!,bloody hell and i was stuck doing a survey,typical.Thankfully i had seen both species before,but it would have made for good reading in the notebook!.It was obvious,as yesterday at Donna Nook,there had been a huge fall of migrants,with Thrushes everywhere and amazingly Song Thrushe's were the commonest species,a great sight to see,these birds being darker than our native birds.Also in the same fields were Redstart,4 Ring Ouzel,Wheatear,Whinchat,Brambling,Chiffchaff's and Meadow Pipit's an amazing sight!.The first goodie was seen here,a Great-grey Shrike and it was watched perched atop a Hawthorn hedge,adjacent to the Church field in the usual Shrike style,my second of the autumn after last weekends bird at Donna,great to see. After this beauty,Nige and myself continued to walk the Triangle,seeing more migrants,which included a couple of Wheatear,roadside Siskin's which were oblivious to the strange humans looking at them as they fed on dandelion heads and 2 smart Mealie Redpoll which gave lovely,close views.We eventually made it back to the car and a message came over the radio that a Red-breasted Flycatcher had been found at Easington,so we went to have a look.After a bit of confusion as to where the bird was,it showed brilliantly,as it flicked about along the hedgerow it was feeding along,giving it's wren-like rattling call,a little stunner! and also along this same area was a 1st winter Pied Flycatcher,which showed equally as well, perching on an adjacent fence,lovely stuff!.The five hours i spent in the Spurn area today were amazing and to see a big fall like this was a truly special spectacle and one i will remember for years to come!.