There is a very early ringing record at Spurn when a Little Tern was ringed as a chick at Spurn on 10th July 1914 and was recovered in Portugal on 29th September 1914. The first Heligoland trap at Spurn was built by G.H.Ainsworth with the help of others at the Warren in September and October 1946, this was the first type of this trap on mainland Britain, the only others were on Stockholm and the Isle of May, the only two Observatories in Britain at that time. The first bird that was ringed in the trap was a Blackbird on 17th November 1945; amazingly, it was recovered near Grimsby on 19th February 1947! These Heligoland traps along with automatic walk in traps were the main tools for catching birds in the early years of the Observatory; they were heavily baited with food that attracted large numbers of sparrows, finches and buntings.