With very little on offer elsewhere...today Chris and myself made our way to the Spurn area and with some effort managed a good days birding despite the strengthening South Westerly blow.
We had planned to look at Beacon Ponds first and then mooch about and see what we could turn up elsewhere.The first bird we saw after leaving the car was a warm mantled Lesser Whitethroat seen in the hedge opposite the Bluebell,no doubt having some eastern origins in its genetic make up..a good start.Much commoner fare was seen on the walk up to Beacon Ponds and included a scattering of Goldfinch,2 Roe Deer and 3 south bound,juvenile Swallows.The target at the 'Ponds' was the Black Brant that has been seen here along with it's commoner cousins and after some considerable searching i managed to eventually find it.This bird wasn't the most striking of individuals we had seen,with only a reduced neck patch,but still showing the striking rear flank patch.I'm guessing this bird is still in moult possibly and the neck patch will develop over the winter.We managed some great views of the Dark-bellied birds present allowing some lovely close views as they browsed on Eel grass and also amongst the flock were 2 P.Bellied adults and a bird which looked like a 1st winter.Other species seen on the water included a female Scaup,4 Little Grebe,1 Pintail and 50-60 Wigeon.Overhead 4 Pink's flew south and a juv Marsh Harrier did the same heading out over the sea and a hand full of Rock Pipits followed suit.
A return back to the car and a quick refuel,saw us heading down to the warren to look for the Barred Warbler.A look on Canal Scrape revealed very little apart from the usual Juvvie Mute Swans and a couple of Moorhens,along with a Robin pretending to be a Bluethroat in the adjacent reed bed.On arrival at the Warren,a few people were looking for the skulking Sylvia,but after a little patience it was far from that,appearing on several occasions to feed on the Sea Buckthorn berries which were abundant in the area.The birds face was stained and slightly matted from the berry juice and gave it a slightly unusual appearance,but still a great bird to study at close range.Also here was a single Male Blackcap,the two often appearing together to feed on the berry crop.
After enjoying this monster Sylvia and seeing it nearly blown out to sea as it flew from one area of bushes to the next,we carried on walking back to the Bluebell,this time it was open and we enjoyed a welcome cuppa before deciding to walk down to Sammy's for the previous days Pallas's Warbler.It was an interesting walk to say the least,with the wind really blowing now and after much searching we couldn't see the bird anywhere.All we found for our troubles was 4 Goldcrest which showed magnificently as usual and they are lovely little gems,but it just wasn't good enough,oh well maybe next time.
We hiked back to the car park and that was that for the day,but what a good day again in this fantastic birding destination.
We had planned to look at Beacon Ponds first and then mooch about and see what we could turn up elsewhere.The first bird we saw after leaving the car was a warm mantled Lesser Whitethroat seen in the hedge opposite the Bluebell,no doubt having some eastern origins in its genetic make up..a good start.Much commoner fare was seen on the walk up to Beacon Ponds and included a scattering of Goldfinch,2 Roe Deer and 3 south bound,juvenile Swallows.The target at the 'Ponds' was the Black Brant that has been seen here along with it's commoner cousins and after some considerable searching i managed to eventually find it.This bird wasn't the most striking of individuals we had seen,with only a reduced neck patch,but still showing the striking rear flank patch.I'm guessing this bird is still in moult possibly and the neck patch will develop over the winter.We managed some great views of the Dark-bellied birds present allowing some lovely close views as they browsed on Eel grass and also amongst the flock were 2 P.Bellied adults and a bird which looked like a 1st winter.Other species seen on the water included a female Scaup,4 Little Grebe,1 Pintail and 50-60 Wigeon.Overhead 4 Pink's flew south and a juv Marsh Harrier did the same heading out over the sea and a hand full of Rock Pipits followed suit.
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| Reed Bunting,Beacon Ponds. |
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| Goldfinch,Beacon Ponds. |
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| Dark-bellied and Pale-bellied Brent Geese,Beacon Ponds. |
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| Dark-bellied Brent Geese,Beacon Ponds. |
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| Record shot of the distant Black Brant. |
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| Barred Warbler at the Warren. |
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| One of the local girls. |
A return back to the car and a quick refuel,saw us heading down to the warren to look for the Barred Warbler.A look on Canal Scrape revealed very little apart from the usual Juvvie Mute Swans and a couple of Moorhens,along with a Robin pretending to be a Bluethroat in the adjacent reed bed.On arrival at the Warren,a few people were looking for the skulking Sylvia,but after a little patience it was far from that,appearing on several occasions to feed on the Sea Buckthorn berries which were abundant in the area.The birds face was stained and slightly matted from the berry juice and gave it a slightly unusual appearance,but still a great bird to study at close range.Also here was a single Male Blackcap,the two often appearing together to feed on the berry crop.
After enjoying this monster Sylvia and seeing it nearly blown out to sea as it flew from one area of bushes to the next,we carried on walking back to the Bluebell,this time it was open and we enjoyed a welcome cuppa before deciding to walk down to Sammy's for the previous days Pallas's Warbler.It was an interesting walk to say the least,with the wind really blowing now and after much searching we couldn't see the bird anywhere.All we found for our troubles was 4 Goldcrest which showed magnificently as usual and they are lovely little gems,but it just wasn't good enough,oh well maybe next time.
We hiked back to the car park and that was that for the day,but what a good day again in this fantastic birding destination.
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