December 2005

The last day of an amazing year, some movement at sea but little else except for an end of year celebration planned!

Movement at sea consisted of 2 Diver sp. N, 3 Red-throated Diver, 3 Cormorant S, 1 Shag S, a Wigeon, 3 Teal, 2 Mallard & 2 Eider, 1 Kittiwake all S and a Razorbill N. The only other birds moving were 38 Lapwing S.

Grounded birds included a Water Rail (Salt Marsh), 14 Snipe, 1 Stock Dove, 39 Meadow Pipit, 2 Rock Pipit, 32 Blackbird, 17 Fieldfare, 6 Song Thrush, 18 Redwing, a male Blackcap (Warren), 1 Goldcrest. In Easington one of the white headed northern Long tailed Tits was once again seen around “two hoots”.

It just leaves me to wish everyone a happy New Year from all at Spurn Bird Observatory.

An awful day for birding especially in the morning with driving snow slowly turning to rain in the afternoon and a strong S wind.

Quiet mostly everywhere with very few grounded birds been found 5 Meadow Pipit, 28 Blackbird, 12 Fieldfare (Point), a Song Thrush, 5 Redwing, 5 Chaffinch & 9 Reed Bunting.

Elsewhere a Whooper Swan was blogging around, 3 Teal (Canal Scrape) a Goosander came in, 150 Golden Plover & 50 Lapwing (Triangle), 28 Snipe & 2 Little Gull went S.

Another cold day with a splattering of light snow overnight and very icy conditions, some cold weather movements today and more thrushes around than of late. Birds on the move were 3 Red-throated Diver N, a Shag S, 2 Wigeon & 3 Eider in, 4 Goldeneye S, 8 Snipe S, 120 Common Gull N, 95 Skylark S, 8 Meadow Pipit S, a Rock Pipit S.

Grounded birds included a Jack Snipe (Salt Marsh), 22 Snipe, 2 Woodcock, 11 Skylark, 11 Meadow Pipit, a Waxwing at Kew in the morning before heading S at 11.45, 45 Blackbird, 25 Fieldfare, 8 Song Thrush, 23 Redwing, a Mistle Thrush (Triangle), 1 Goldcrest, a Snow Bunting blogging around the Warren area & 26 Reed Bunting.

Other birds of note were a Peregrine hunting the Humber by the Warren, 200 Golden Plover, 35 Lapwing, 3 Black-tailed Godwit (Tank Blocks) & a Barn Owl (Triangle).

With plenty of snow inland a slight increase in birds let’s hope for even more in the next few days.

The only birds moving were 8 Eider (2 N, 6 S) & 6 Skylark N. Grounded birds were up slightly with a Meadow Pipit (Church Field), 13 Robin, 4 Stonechat (1 Lighthouse, 2 Chalk Bank, 1 Triangle), 26 Blackbird, 34 Fieldfare, 3 Song Thrush, 37 Redwing, 23 Starling, 13 Reed Bunting.

Waders of note included 280 Oystercatcher, 10 Lapwing (Well Field), 16 Sanderling, 16 Snipe (a big increase), 2 Black-tailed Godwit (Tank Blocks).

A better day at sea in harsh conditions with a bitterly cold stiff NE wind, and wintry showers in your face ever so often.

Birds seen at sea were 2 Red-throated Diver, 5 Fulmar N, a Gannet S, amazingly a Grey Heron came in of the sea, 36 Eider N, 3 Common Scoter S, a Red-breasted Merganser N, 1 Kittiwake N, a Guillemot S & a Razorbill N.

On land very little change with just a few thrushes around, whilst on the Humber 77 Brent Geese, 27 Wigeon & 29 Mallard were observed. Also of note were 5 Ringed Plover, 4 Lapwing & a Snipe (Clubley’s).

Still very little around although with the wind now in the northern sector hopefully the sea will get better, but it didn’t today!

A Gannet was fishing of the Point, a Cormorant & 51 Mallard were on the Humber, 8 Common Scoter went N at sea.

A Water Rail was at Tank Ditch, a pair of Stonechat (Chalk Bank), only 21 Blackbird, 16 Fieldfare (13 Point), 2 Song Thrush, 1 Redwing & 3 Goldcrest were all that could be found.

Christmas day so very little coverage and little change from previous days.

Of note were a 4 Little Grebe (Canal), a Water Rail calling from the Salt Marsh, 8 Ringed Plover, and a Barn Owl (Triangle).

Passerines included 32 Blackbird, 2 Fieldfare, 3 Song Thrush (Point), 4 Redwing, 3 Goldcrest, 4 Goldfinch (Crown), 2 Siskin (Kew), 14 Reed Bunting mainly on the Salt Marsh.

A lovely sunny day with little wind a few birds on the move but generally still very quiet.

At sea 2 Red-throated Diver S and a few Gulls was about it with 3 Shelduck in, 6 Skylark N, a Rock Pipit S, 17 Siskin S were the only birds on the move

Birds on the Humber included 459 Brent Geese, 40 Shelduck, 49 Mallard, 600+ Golden Plover, 12 Lapwing, 8 Sanderling, 4 Black-tailed Godwit, 25 Black-headed Gull. Grounded birds seen were 12 Wood Pigeon, a Stonechat (Middle Camp), 34 Blackbird, 12 Fieldfare, 2 Song Thrush, 4 Redwing, a Blackcap (Point), 6 Goldcrest, 41 Starling, 3 Goldfinch, a Linnet & a Snow Bunting blogging around the Warren.

Very little change but still a pleasant winter’s day with lots of sunshine. The only movement anywhere today was 2 Siskin S.

Grounded passerines were similar to previous days with a Stonechat (Chalk Bank), 22 Blackbird, only 2 Fieldfare, 1 Goldcrest, 66 Starling and a Linnet, the low numbers could be down to the amount of predators around which included 2 Sparrowhawk, 2 Kestrel a juvenile female Merlin & a juvenile female Peregrine all on the look out for a meal.

Birds on the Humber included 316 Brent Geese, 27 Shelduck, 34 Mallard, 200 Golden Plover and 6 Lapwing, other birds of note were a Teal (Walker Butts), 6 Grey Partridge (Church Field), a Jack Snipe (Clubley’s) & a Barn Owl (Triangle). Late news for yesterday is a Woodcock (Narrows) & at Chalkie’s Point there were 60+ Black-tailed Godwits.

Another quiet day with hardly any wind making sea passage non-existent

Grounded birds included 30 Blackbird, 25 Fieldfare (20 Point), 2 Song Thrush, 4 Redwing, 2 Goldcrest, 55 Starling, 6 Chaffinch & 8 Reed Bunting.

Birds of note elsewhere were a Cormorant & 150 Brent Geese on the Humber, 23 Moorhen, a Snipe (Clubley’s) and exactly 100 Curlew (77 Humber, 23 fields).

A big change in the weather is needed for an influx of birds, but with a high pressure in charge that is very much doubtful. A very quiet day, with a sea watch producing: 2 Red-throated Diver, 2 Goldeneye S & 18 distant Auk’s.

On land there were 30 Blackbird, 12 Fieldfare (Wire Dump), 2 Song Thrush, 2 Redwing, the long staying Blackcap at the Warren appeared again, 2 Goldcrest, and 3 Carrion Crows came in of the sea and were dealt very harshly with by the local population.

North of the area at “Two Hoots” a rare visitor to the Spurn area was seen in the form of a Marsh Tit, there was also the Great Spotted Woodpecker and c400 Brent Geese in the fields.

Some sunny spells encouraged grounded birds to show themselves more with a Barn Owl (Triangle), 3 Pied Wagtail, 15 Robin, 36 Blackbird, 30 Fieldfare (16 Point, 8 Chalk Bank, 6 Triangle), 6 Redwing, 4 Goldcrest, 10 Chaffinch, 2 Siskin (Point/Crown), an unseasonal Linnet (Chalk Bank) and a Snow Bunting went north over the Warren.

At sea 14 Red-throated Diver N, 13 Common Scoter S & a Guillemot N were about the best of it.

Other notable birds were 320 Brent Geese, 180 Golden Plover & 8 Sanderling (Humber) and 4 Snipe (3 Salt Marsh, 1 Canal Scrape).

A day of little coverage but at least the road was cleared and open to traffic again.

There was nothing moving on the sea, despite a couple of days of "northerlies".

All that was of note was a Barn Owl (Triangle), 20 Blackbird, a Fieldfare (Chalk Bank), 2 Redwing (Point), and a Chaffinch (Rose Cottage).

With lots of tidal debris on the road using it was impossible, so it was closed all day. A covering of half an inch snow was deposited at dawn which started to thaw but some patches remained into the evening.

On the bird front things were rather quiet with 3 Little Grebes on the Canal, a Goosander went south.

A Stonechat (Chalk Bank), 56 Blackbird, 12 Fieldfare, 4 Song Thrush, 15 Redwing (14 Point, 1 Chalk Bank), 3 Goldcrest & 3 Chaffinch was about all that could be found.

Another dull day bird wise albeit sunny and rather mild in a cold NW wind.

At sea only distant Auks and single Red-throated Diver & Gannet were blogging.

Whilst on land a Snipe (Clubley’s), 1 Stonechat (Lighthouse), 35 Blackbird, 4 Fieldfare, 4 Redwing & single Blackcap (Point) & Siskin (Crown) were the best observations and 1 Goldfinch, 18 Siskin & a Reed Bunting went south.

A day that could easily be forgotten as not a lot was happening anywhere.

At sea there were 5 Red-throated Diver N, a Gannet N, 1 Common Scoter N & 5 Guillemot N.

Elsewhere 7 Grey Partridge were in Sunnycliff, 33 Blackbird, 2 Fieldfare (Wire Dump), 2 Goldcrest & 5 Siskin were the best birds around.

A day of light southerly winds producing some passage, plenty of sunshine making it feel rather pleasant. Birds heading south included 4 Whooper Swan, 1 Stock Dove, 11 Skylark, 2 Rock Pipit, 47 Starling, 2 House Sparrow, 10 Tree Sparrow, 8 Goldfinch, 106 Siskin an extremely large number for the time of year & a probable Water Pipit.

At sea there were 45 Red-throated Diver, 2 Gannet S, 8 Black-headed Gull S with the best bird of the day being an adult Glaucous Gull that flew north past the sea watch hide. With it being wader count day as well there were counts of 450 Golden Plover, 500 Lapwing, 142 Dunlin, 4 Black-tailed Godwit with another 20 on Long Bank & 15 on Beacon Lagoons.

Other birds of note included a Water Rail (Canal), single Barn & Short-eared Owl, 5 Meadow Pipit, 2 Rock Pipit, 2 Stonechat (Lighthouse/Scrape Field), 22 Fieldfare, 3 Blackcap (Warren), 10 Siskin (Crown) & 3 Linnet between the Warren & the Triangle. North of the area at Beacon Lagoons there were still around 30 Twite and a very late Small Tortoishell butterfly was on the wing along Beacon Lane.

Limited coverage today with only few birders around, some duck still moving at sea with the best highlight being a Waxwing.

At sea there were 126 Red-throated Diver (3 N, 123 S), 51 Pink-footed Geese S, 7 Shelduck S, 14 Wigeon S, 18 Teal S, 2 Tufted Duck, 60 Eider u-turned N, 12 Common Scoter, 2 Goldeneye S, 20 Lapwing in, 49 Knot, a GBB Gull dived onto a Guillemot and devoured it with ease! 1 Razorbill S.

Grounded birds were very similar to yesterday with a Peregrine hunting the Humber, a Short-eared Owl & a Rock Pipit (Salt Marsh), a Waxwing N over the Warren, 45 Blackbird, 17 Fieldfare, 2 Song Thrush, 12 Redwing, 3 Blackcap (2 Chalk Bank, 1 Warren), 2 Goldcrest & 90 Starling.

Once the fog cleared there were some duck movement at sea and the first Pink-footed Geese for a while. At sea 38 red-throated Diver (18 N, 20 blogging), a Great Crested Grebe, 2 Gannet, 52 Pink-footed Geese SE, 3 Shelduck S, 70 Wigeon S, 9 Mallard S, 5 Pintail S, 2 Scaup S, 34 Eider N plus 3 out, 11 Common Scoter & 2 Goldeneye S, 20 Guillemot were on the sea.

Grounded birds included 170 Golden Plover, 4 Snipe, a Barn Owl (Church Field), a Stonechat (Big Hedge), 48 Blackbird, 17 Fieldfare, 8 Redwing, 2 Blackcap (Point/Warren), 2 Goldcrest, 5 Snow Bunting (Wire Dump).

At Sammy’s today there was a Common Redpoll. The two northern Long tailed Tits were again in the two hoots area of Easington

Another bright and sunny day with no new birds of note. At sea 12 Red-throated Diver, a Cormorant S, 22 Kittiwake, 16 Auk sp. 10 Guillemot and a Razorbill were see

Grounded migrants were similar to previous days with a Meadow Pipit, 2 Rock Pipit (Point), 51 Blackbird, 12 Fieldfare, 3 Song Thrush, 4 Redwing, 1 Goldcrest (Chalk Bank), 2 Goldfinch (Kew) and a Redpoll (Crown).

Other birds of note were 110 Shelduck & 3 Wigeon (Humber), 3 Sparrowhawk, 2 Kestrel & a Merlin hunting the area, 6 Grey Partridge & 2 Barn Owl (Triangle) with the only birds south being 2 Skylark.

A day with plenty of winter sunshine with some light movement at sea and over land but not much in the way of new birds in.

Birds moving over land included a Buzzard that u-turned over Kew and heading back north a rare bird for Spurn in December, 5 Skylark S plus 2 N, a Shore Lark N over Clubley’s, 6 Meadow Pipit, 2 Fieldfare, 2 Tree Sparrow, 11 Goldfinch, 12 Siskin all south, 1 Snow Bunting S plus 6 N.

At sea there were 40 Red-throated Diver, a Great Crested Grebe, 1 Gannet S, 6 Cormorant S, 1 Wigeon in, 2 Shoveler S, single Eider & Common Scoter, 1 Arctic Skua N, 15 Kittiwake (1 N 14 S), 62 Auk sp. N, 38 Guillemot (8 N 30 on the sea).

A cold day with a strong N-NE wind made sea watching the best thing today.

At sea there were 60 Red-throated Diver (16 N, 34 S & 10 on the sea), 1 Fulmar S, 1 Manx Shearwater N, a Storm Petrel N, 6 Gannet (1 N, 4 S & 1 out), 20 Shag (2 N, 18 S), 3 Eider S, 34 Common Scoter (12 N, 22 S), 3 Velvet Scoter S, 2 Bonxie (1 S, 1 blogging), a Little Gull blogging, 69 Kittiwake (57 N, 12 S), 889 Auk sp (27 N, 862 S all of these birds were very distant), 19 Guillemot, 4 Razorbill & a Puffin N.

Birds of note in the area included 220 Shelduck & 5 Wigeon (Humber), 13 Teal, a Shoveler, a Peregrine on the Humber that killed and ate a Knot, 1 Water Rail (Canal), the regular Barn Owl (Triangle), 2 Skylark, 2 Stonechat (Chalk Bank), 63 Blackbird, 56 Fieldfare, 14 Song Thrush, 8 Redwing, 3 Blackcap (1 Chalk Bank, 2 Warren), 4 Goldcrest, 20 Siskin (Kew), 2 Snow Bunting (Chalk Bank).

Another mild day with plenty of sunshine and light winds inducing some passage plus a few new grounded birds. Birds heading south included 3 Whooper Swans, 1 Grey-lag Goose, 1 Sparrowhawk, 6 Lapwing, 16 Skylark, 15 Meadow Pipit, 2 Rock Pipit, 10 Greenfinch, 14 Goldfinch, 49 Siskin, 6 Lesser Redpoll, 6 Snow Bunting & a Reed Bunting

Nothing moving at sea today, but 8 Pintail & 13 Eider came in.

Grounded birds today numbered 2 Water Rail, 350 Golden Plover, 2 Snipe, 2 Waxwing (Chalk Bank), 22 Robin, a Stonechat (Lighthouse), 60 Blackbird, 35 Fieldfare, 9 Song Thrush, 10 Redwing, 2 Blackcap (Point/Warren), 7 Goldcrest, 2 Goldfinch, 20 Siskin, a Snow Bunting (Triangle) & 17 Reed Bunting.

With a nice bright sunny day with a decreasing S wind some southerly passage occurred and a few new birds were grounded. Birds heading south today were 2 Whooper Swan, 1 Canada Goose, 2 Common Scoter, 423 Lapwing, 2 Wood Pigeon, 21 Skylark, 30 Meadow Pipit (a large number for the time of year), 2 Rock Pipit, 38 Fieldfare, 20 Starling, 1 Greenfinch, 14 Goldfinch, 160 Siskin, 1 Reed Bunting.

Grounded birds included 15 Ringed Plover, 900 Golden Plover, a Jack Snipe (Canal), 2 Snipe, a Black-tailed Godwit (Tank Blocks), 4 Stonechat (2 Chalk Bank/Scrape Field), 53 Blackbird, 23 Fieldfare, 10 Redwing, 3 Mistle Thrush (Warren), a Blackcap (Warren), 2 Chiffchaff (Warren/Kew), 3 Goldcrest, 2 Redpoll, 4 Snow Bunting (1 Point, 2 Narrows, 1 Blue Bell), a Yellowhammer over the Triangle.

North of the area a jack Snipe was on the “shooting pond” and 28 Twite were again on Beacon Ponds.

As hoped a much better day bird wise, although constant showers made for uncomfortable birding. Birds heading south were 2 Grey Plover, 14 Knot, 7 Dunlin, 40 Fieldfare plus 131 in, 49 Redwing, 9 Starling, 1 Goldfinch & 6 Siskin.

Birds moving at sea were 10 Red-throated Diver, 1 Gannet, 1 Shag, 2 Shelduck S, 31 Wigeon S, 19 Teal S plus 1 N, 10 Mallard S, 17 Eider N plus 5 out and 6 on the sea, 2 Common Scoter N, 2 Goldeneye S, 1 Pomarine Skua S, 14 Kittiwake S.

An increase in grounded birds with 2 Gadwall & 17 Teal (Canal), 6 Snipe, 2 Stonechat (Triangle), 32 Blackbird, 66 Fieldfare, 13 Redwing, a long staying Blackcap (Warren), 2 Goldcrest (Chalk Bank), a Siskin (Crown). Other local birds of note were 7 Grey Partridge (Church Field); the Tawny Owl gave good views from the Churchyard, 3 Barn Owl (Triangle). North of the area at Beacon Ponds there was c30 Twite & 28 Snow Bunting. Whereas on Long Bank 2 Short-eared Owl & 1 Barn Owl were hunting and a Water Rail was in the ditch.

A day that should have produced a lot more with a strong SE wind but produced very little with nothing at sea to speak of and not much in the way of new birds.

The only birds of note were 3 Teal (Canal Scrape), 1 Mallard S, 46 Lapwing in then S, a Stonechat (Middle Camp), 14 Fieldfare, 14 Redwing, a Goldcrest (Blue Bell) and 110 Starling.

Lets hope tomorrow is better!

A poor day for birding with a strong southerly wind veering SE by late afternoon, which hopefully may produce some duck moving tomorrow.

At sea today there were 1 Red-throated Diver N, 1 Gannet N, 1 Teal S, 7 Mallard S, 1 Eider S plus 1 out, a Common Scoter S 72 Kittiwake S.

Birds heading south were few with a Meadow Pipit, 8 Waxwing in one flock, 4 Siskin. Grounded birds were almost the same as yesterday with 2 Snipe, a Black-tailed Godwit (Tank Blocks), 49 Blackbird, 25 Fieldfare, 27 Redwing, 1 Blackcap (Warren), and a Goldcrest (Point).