Dave, Roger, Ken and I were
thinking of going to Norfolk as there was a good selection of scare migrants
scattered around. However we decided to
go to Spurn as there was also a good selection of migrants there to and despite
it being further we felt we had a better chance of connecting with more there.
Dave drove and we arrived just
be 09:00 and on turning the corner by the Crown and Anchor at Kilnsea there was
a small crowd gathered at a gateway. We
stopped and walked over to find they were watching a Wryneck and a
Redstart. What a good start and we also
found at that there was a Subalpine Warbler at Sammy’s Point. We drove the short distance to the car park
at Sammy’s Point and then walked towards the scrub on the point. There were at least five Whinchat and two
Wheatears in the horse paddocks on route and we also had a Whimbrel on the
estuary.
When we arrived there were
quite a few birders but they were clearly not watching the bird. We walked back along the top scanning the
bushes seeing at least two Pied and two Spotted Flycatchers as well as several
Whitethroats and Willow Warblers. Dave
then saw the Subalpine on the top of bush but flew and disappeared before
anyone else got on it. They birders on
the other side of the bushes then appeared to have something but the excitement
was short lived, although it was the bird.
News of a Red-backed Shrike back near the car park induced to go back to
try and see it and whilst it was not showing when we got back it soon
reappeared and we got good scope views of it.
We decided to go back to the Subalpine site and this time went to the
other side of the bushes. It had been seen
again but again only briefly and not by everyone that was there. We had further views of Pied and Spotted
Flycatcher, several Whitethroats and single Blackcap and Garden Warbler. Roger then found the bird near the top of a
an elder bush but only very briefly and the rest of us failed to connect. We eventually gave up and went back towards
Spurn.
Again as we turned the corner
at the pub there was a gathering again and this time there was a Wryneck
feeding on the opposite of the road providing excellent views and photo
opportunity. It eventually flew off and we
decided to go tot he canal as there had been a Common Rosefinch reported. When we arrived nobody seemed to know much
about it but then a couple said they had seen it in the phragmites near the
canal. When we arrived two other birders
sad they had not seen it but then Roger said he had it in the reeds. We had brief but good views of it before it
flew into the bushes on the other bank where it performed for a short while
before flying off. Whilst we were
waiting hopefully for it to return we learnt of an Icterine Warbler close to
where the second Wryneck had been. We
decided to give the Rosefinch a little longer until a CB announced that the
Icterine was showing really well.
Wryneck
On arrival there were quite a
few birders around but they appeared disinterested as if the bird had gone. I asked a birder with a camera where it had
been seen and he replied it is in these bushes but that they couldn’t see it at
present but almost immediately he said there it is and it was just a few feet
away. We watched and photographed the
bird for quite some time before moving off to the observatory and paying to
drive to the point as there was a Red-breasted Flycatcher close to post 61.
Icterine Warbler
We got parked and walked a
short distance back to the gain access to the area. It had been lost when we arrived but we soon
found it again and had some nice, if distant, views of a nice juvenile. There was also Pied and Spotted Flycatchers
and a Redstart and Whinchat close by. As
Dave and I returned to the car another birder waved at us to stop and we had a
third Wryneck of the day perched on a fence before it dropped out of sight onto
the ground.
Red-breasted Flycatcher
We had our lunch overlooking
the sea but there was nothing except for a few Herring Gulls and a single
Sparrowhawk that drifted out to sea before returning back over the point. There were a few waders on the Humber and we
found several Sanderling and a single Bar-tailed Godwit as well as a couple of
Little Terns.
Ken wanted to try for the
Common Rosefinch again at the canal but there was no sign but as we got to the
end of the road several were watching it feeding from a wire fence. There were also at least three Whinchats and
two Redstarts to end the day.
It had been an excellent day’s
birding despite missing the Subalpine Warbler, with five good scarce migrants
and a number of more common ones.
Wheatear at the observatory
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