Sunday 19 April 2015

Birding Sunday - 19th April 2015

This Sunday presented the opportunity to make a first foray of the year to the coast. After a little half-hearted debate, Spurn won out as it often does.

A cold north easterly put paid to much migration movement. First stop was the North Ferriby walkway in hope of a Ring Ouzel or Yellow Wagtail on the horse paddocks. A fairly quiet morning, the Chiffchaffs and Blackcaps continue to be vocal while the number of Swallows had increased with 7 hawking around the Humber bank.

Male Blackcap skulking amidst the blossom
The next move was to head straight to Spurn. A Peregrine just outside Patrington was a great start before reaching Sammy's Point which is my traditional place to start, and it was clear pretty quickly that there was limited movement of small birds. Two Great Tits and a few Linnets was the sum total of the first 3 paddocks before reaching the paddock furthest East. A number of Redshank and Oystercatcher were on the Humber as the tide reached its highest - and the familiar call of a Whimbrel quickly put me onto a bird as it lifted from the flats and headed inland overhead.

You'll have to trust me - it's a Whimbrel!


The field itself was pretty quiet. Again Blackcap and Chiffchaff made their prescence known but no sign of the Redstart which has been present for the previous few days. On the walk back to the car a couple of Yellow Wagtails flew overhead, my first for the year. Reaching the paddock by the car park, 2 Pied Wagtail, 1 White Wagtail and 2 Yellow Wagtail were all present, the latter a male and female but no sign of the Flavissima from the previous day.

Stunning male Yellow Wagtail. The colour of summer.
Moving on to the Wetlands - the Avocets have returned with 6 birds there this morning. A Little Egret threatened to land but then moved over the bank towards Beacon Ponds. The pools with the most activity were those on the Holderness fields where the female Garganey has found the first pool to it's liking whilst a trio of Greenshank shared the space with a Redshank a couple of Dunlin and a pair of Avocets.

Female Garganey - Spurn 19th April 2015

My first Greenshank of the year along with Redshank, Dunlin and Avocet, Spurn 19th April
The rest of the walk was pretty quiet. A rest in the hide at Canal Scrape provided an opportunity to get out of the wind and watch a pair of Little Egrets displaying - one of which had a very impressive plume. 

Little Egret - Spurn 19th April
I decided to head back to patch early afternoon, but the journey was to turn up the bird of the day. A superb adult almost pure white Iceland Gull flew low over the road by the Port of Hull building on the east side of Hull. The bird flew low ahead before banking around giving great views. The size and lack of heaviness around the head and build quickly eliminated Glaucous - a real unexpected treat which I wish I could have appreciated more - but the traffic would not have appreciated me stopping!

Finally I finished up back on patch - with a walk from Brough Haven to Welton Water. Sedge Warblers were in three seperate locations along the Humber Bank. There are now two female Marsh Harriers on the airfield marsh - but sailing is now well under way on Welton Water - so there was nothing to be seen there today. The best birds were on route back, whilst listening to a Sedge Warbler a Grasshopper Warbler began reeling from the ditch by the Humber Bank between the fishing pools and the sump. Just as I was taking in this wonderful sound, a Swan flew low across the field and headed off towards Welton. A closer look revealed the thick yellow wedge of a Whooper Swan - a lone bird trailing the rest of its group who headed off to breeding grounds a couple of weeks ago.

Whooper Swan - an unexpected late bird at Brough Airfield, 19th April

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