Stejneger's Stonechat & The Long Walk.....Sunday 23rd October 2016.

With a good list of birds on offer and the prospect of a good day's birding,i again made my way to the Spurn area today.
 I started by looking for the Isabelline Wheatear and the 'Maurus' Siberian Stonechat at Easington,but unfortunately after a good search it was apparent that both the birds had left overnight.All was not lost though,as news soon came over the radio that the 'Stejneger's Stonechat' was still present at the point,so that was the direction i headed in.
 After parking up at the Bluebell and getting the gear packed for the long walk down the point,i was off.
 I made a steady walk along the beach,past the breach looking along the way for the previous days Shorelark's,but no sight of them unfortunately and i thought to myself it was going to be one of those days.
 A handfull of Brent Geese fed on the incoming tide around the narrows and after a brief conversation with Geoff,Gary and Stuart,they told me the Stonechat was still present and showing well.
 After bumping into Daz again as on the last three weekends,the small assembled group split up to try and find the now elusive Stonechat.
 After a short while i found the bird as it sallied after fly's from it's perch,but it certainly wasn't easy to get near.This scenario was far from the good views Geoff and the lads had described,but piece by piece after several views i could see the ID features which make this potential 'full' species so distinct.
 It was interesting to note how the birds colouration changed with lighting conditions,it sometimes looking quite non-descript,particularly when seen from behind,with the mantle looking quite dark.But head on and in good light it was a different story with it's pale 'Super' and pale throat standing out well and in flight,the rusty buff rump patch,pale wing bars and almost translucent primaries really stood out as it carried on flycatching.This is my first sighting of this species/race and it is the most eastern breeding of the 'Siberian Stonechat' complex being found in Northeast Siberia.
 After the gruelling effort in trying to get good views of the Stonechat,the return walk back to the car was a much more relaxed and enjoyable affair with highlights including a Northern Wheatear,35+ Redwing,20 Fieldfare and similar numbers of Goldcrest,some of the Crests and Redwing showed incredibly well as they foraged for food on the beach and were obviously newly arrived birds,what a privilege to see these superb birds in these surroundings feeding out in the open,instead of trying to see them in a leafy woodland.
 Overhead a few migrants passed south and this included a couple of Grey Wagtail and at least 10 Brambling.
 As i walked just passed the lighthouse,a small group of 30 Dark-bellied Brent Geese fed on the dropping tide and included 1 Pale-bellied bird in amongst them.I love Brent Geese,always so confiding and always allowing a relatively close approach,with their chuntering calls amongst the flock,just brilliant.
 Eventually i arrived back at the car slightly worse for wear,but a final sighting in the form of a very confiding Snow Bunting showing down to a few feet at the edge of Sandy Beaches was a great way to end another brilliant visit to this cracking area for birding.

Sanderling,Easington Lagoon.

Stejneger's Stonechat.

Wheatear,Point Car Park.

Goldcrest,Point Car Park.

Pale-bellied Brent Goose,With Dark-bellied Brent Geese.

Pale-bellied Brent Goose.

Foraging Redwings.

Redwing.

Redwing.

Snow Bunting,Sandy Beaches.

Snow Bunting,Sandy Beaches.

Phyllosc Overload And Stunning Lark.....Sunday 16.10.2016.

The same scenario as the previous weekend,this weekend,with the continuing easterly airstream and with yesterday's unbelievable report of 9,yes 9 Dusky Warbler at Spurn amongst an array of other Siberian migrants,you can guess where i headed today.
 As i thought it may be busy at Easington first thing,i decided to visit the Sibe Accentor later in the day for second helpings and parked at my usual place at the Bluebell.
 As i arrived,i was a bit concerned,as it was clear skies with a super bright full moon and i thought to myself i may have made a mistake here,with no birds along the approach road.
 As it became light properly birds began to appear on the roadside verges down towards the Crown and i at least held hope that some of the previous days goodies may still be present.
 A quick look in Corner Field saw 3 cracking Mealie Redpoll,female Siskin and 3 Chiffies,i was feeling a little more optimistic now.
 After meeting up with young birders Darragh and Ellis we walked down towards the Church when a message came over the radio that a Dusky Warbler had just been trapped in Church field and was going to be shown shortly.
 While waiting for the Dusky to be shown,i spotted a Pallas's Warbler briefly appear at the back of the church yard before it disappeared again,a quick but very welcome sighting all the same.
 The guys arrived with the stunning little Dusky Warbler to show the small group,what a great privilege to see this cracking siberian warbler at close range,before it was quickly released,superb stuff.
 We all looked in the Crown & Anchor car park for a while with only a hand full of Chiffies being seen,when again a message came over the radio that a Radde's Warbler had just been found at the northern end of the canal,just a spit away from where we were stood.
 A few minutes later and we were stood where the bird had just been found by Pete Wragg.A little wait and the bird appeared briefly giving a tantalising view of its sulphur tinged undertail coverts,before dropping into the adjacent ditch.It gave us a bit of a runaround,but we managed super views eventually,but it was too quick to get photos for me,as i was too busy trying to study the bird.One feature about the sighting i was really chuffed about,was hearing the bird call,a soft 'Chuck' or 'Check',completely different to the harsher Sylvia like 'Tack' of Dusky.....amazing stuff and a personal first in the form of seeing Dusky and Radde's on the same day and within half an hour of each other as well.
 We all continued up to the Canal Scrape searching all the bushes,but i could only find half a dozen Chiffchaff,single Ring Ouzel and overhead 3 Bearded Tit migrated north towards the Warren,a great sight to see.
 The sky was beginning to darken as we sat in the Canal Scrape hide and then it began to belt down with rain.We were stuck in the hide for about an hour and a half as it bucketed down,but a few birds kept us entertained in the form of 2 Jack Snipe,a Rock Pipit,2 Snipe and a few flocks of Redwing.
 After a long wait the rain began to ease and i headed back to the car at the Bluebell.
 As the rain stopped and the sun came out i went and had a look for the Shorelark near to the car park.At first the bird didn't show that well,but for some reason it flew up,did a loop and landed right infront of me and then proceeded to run towards me.I managed to get some nice images of the bird,even though it was a little wet,but what a cracking species they are,my first for a few years.
 After watching the lovely Lark another circuit of the Crown and Triangle saw me gaining some cracking views of a Yellow-browed Warbler in the Crown car park and another brief view of the Radde's Warbler and a nice Lapland Bunting showed from the Canal Bank,thanks to Dean and Nicola for pointing this out.
 After arriving back at the car again and now 2 Shorelark on show,but more distantly now,was another great sighting to add to the already notebook full i had already seen.
 I then left towards Easington to go and see the Sibe Accentor,stopping briefly to see a flock of 9 Tundra Bean Geese on a stubble field along Easington straight,another great sighting to add to the notebook and part of a current grey goose arrival.
 I arrived at the Sibe Acc site to only a hand full of birders there and a much more relaxed affair than on Thursday and it was great just to study the bird through the scope as it fed at incredibly close range at times,what a cracker.It had a comical feeding habit of searching through the leaf litter,throwing them in all directions as it searched,not unlike a Thrush sp,just great to watch.
 So after enjoying my fill of this beautiful Siberian visitor,i made a steady journey back home to North Linc's after another fantastic visit to this amazing area for birding.

Dusky Warbler,Church Field.

Bearded Tit,Migrating Over The Canal.

Chiffchaff,Canal Bank.

Shorelark,Kilnsea Cliff.

Shorelark,Kilnsea Cliff.

Tundra Bean Geese,Easington Straight.

Siberian Accentor,Easington.

Siberian Accentor,Easington.

Siberian Accentor......What A Bird!!!....Easington,Thursday,13.10.2016.

There i was chilling in the bath when my mobile starts ringing,had a look and saw it was Tim,i thought to myself 'I will ring him when i get out of the bath'.The phone then rang again,i got out the bath and it was Tim again and i thought that it must be bird related.I started to get dried off as i rang and imagine my disbelief when those words from Tim said 'SIBERIAN ACCENTOR AT EASINGTON NOW' holy @#*" i said,or something to that effect and we quickly said our good byes.
 It was headless chicken routine,a combination of grabbing my gear together and trying to get dressed at the same time,the wife thinking i was having some sort of epileptic fit or something,i said my goodbyes and i was on the road.
 The drive to Easington was a blur and i don't know how i got there so quickly,but i arrived at the gas terminal in about 45 minutes.
 I crashed out of the car,grabbed my bins and camera crossed over the road and there was the crowd of about 30 birders.
 I was welcomed by Dave Tucker  'it's over here' and there it was,the most stunning bird i have clapped eyes on in a very long time,at this point i couldn't stop shaking.
 At first i just kept looking at it through the bins and kept thinking to myself i can't bloody believe what I'm looking at.It was feeding on an old car park where the old school used to be adjacent to the gas terminal,just a spit from where i had been watching the Olive-backed Pipit the weekend before.
 I spent the next two hours watching this supremely beautiful bird as it fed quietly,picking insects and seeds from the ground showing more distantly at first,but then for the last 30 minutes or so before dark,about 30 feet away!
 The bird was most probably a first winter,as it wasn't as bright as the recent Shetland bird,with a slightly duller head pattern,but it was still a stunningly striking bird.
 The first record for Britain had only been found 4 days earlier on the afore mentioned Shetland mainland,so this was more importantly the first record for mainland Britain,Yorkshire,Spurn and a new species for nearly everyone present including myself.
 As i write this blog i still can't believe i have had the privilege of seeing this beautiful species,what an absolute cracker.

Little Beauty And Stunning Pipit...The Spurn Area.......Sunday 9th October 2016.

After a very uncomfortable and tortuous week at work,seeing the constant daily reports of good birds arriving along the Yorkshire coast i eventually got the chance to get out and attempt to find something,or at least see some of the goodies myself.
 So after the drive over from Barnetby,i began the last stretch of the journey through Easington and Kilnsea,to the sight of roadside Robins and Thrushes,it was looking promising!.
 I had organised to meet up with Mike today and after he arrived we spent the first few hours looking between the Bluebell,Church Field,the Crown & Anchor and Cliffe Farm.
 There were some decent numbers of birds about,with the most common species being Redwing,Chiffchaff and Robins.
 Perseverance paid off when we finally found our first goodies of the day,with 2 lovely Yellow-browed Warbler being seen around the Crown & Anchor car park,with one of the individuals showing very nicely,a lovely sight to see.
 Other niceties seen included several Goldcrests,Redpolls,Siskins,Blackcap,Song Thrushes,Blackbirds and Grey Wagtail.
 After hearing on the radio that an interesting Locustella had been seen down the point,Mike and myself went our separate ways and i made the long walk down along with Daz and Garry and a few others.
 The area were the bird had been seen was huge and dotted with bushes and to be fair the area was covered well with no luck unfortunately,but all was not lost as we decided to go and look for the reported Little Buntings near the Green Beacon.
 As we arrived,we timed things just right as Adam had just trapped one of the Little Buntings and after a short wait we had the great privilege of seeing this cracking bird in the hand.After the bird was processed we were given the chance to take some photos,before the 'Little' beauty was released back into the dunes,with a couple of 'Tick' calls as it flew.A big thank you to Adam and the guys for showing us this super bird!.
 A steady walk back saw me seeing some nice birds which included a fem/imm Black Redstart near to the Lifeboat jetty,a cracking adult male Redstart,Short-eared Owl,3 Stonechat,a Willow Warbler and 3 Wheatear.
 After eventually arriving back at the car,with a knackering 13 miles walked so far today i decided to have a rest and something to eat before paying the reported Olive-backed Pipit a visit at Easington Gas Terminal.
 The bird,from reports,had been showing well,but that was an understatement on arrival as it was only 20 feet away!.The bird gave stunning views as it fed quietly along an area of gravel interspersed with sparse vegetation,allowing all visitors the chance to study this siberian breeding species at close range,what an absolute beauty.It was really difficult to get sharp photos due to lack of light and the fact you had to try and take pics through two fences,but frankly i didn't care after enjoying my best views of OBP to date.
 So after another cracking visit i made my way home contented after seeing two very smart birds.

Common Snipe,Church Field.

Continental Robin,Cliffe Farm.

Yellow-browed Warbler,Crown & Anchor Car Park.

Dunnock,Cliffe Farm.

Goldcrest,Cliffe Farm.

Redwing,Middle Camp.

Male Blackcap,Middle Camp.

1st Winter Little Bunting,The Point.

1st Winter Little Bunting,The Point.

Male Redstart,The Narrows.

Short-eared Owl Over the Humber At The Narrows.

Willow Warbler At The Breach.

Olive-backed Pipit,Easington Gas Terminal.

Olive-backed Pipit,Easington Gas Terminal.

Olive-backed Pipit,Easington Gas Terminal

Olive-backed Pipit,Easington Gas Terminal.

Olive-backed Pipit,Easington Gas Terminal.

Spurn Sprites!....Sunday October 2nd 2016.

After seeing the forecast for today and the windflow from Scandi,where else would you head for but Spurn!.
 I arrived slightly later than i would have liked today after dropping her indoors at home after her nightshift,but eventually got to Canal scrape car park for just after 9.
 Today i decided to give the sea a miss and try and concentrate on land birds as the wind just had that feel to it.
 After bumping into John we headed down to Kew where a Yellow-browed Warbler had just been seen and so i thought that would be a nice way to start proceedings.
 After a good look and only hearing the bird call on two occasions we decided to walk the Triangle along with Pete and James.
 It was apparent that there were quite a few birds arriving,with small flocks of Redwings,Brambling and a single Fieldfare being seen,all first records for the autumn for myself.
 Very little was seen along Canal Bank apart from a poss Ring Ouzel and after reaching Canal Car Park for the second time,we all went our separate ways.
 I then decided to walk up to the Bluebell and along Beacon Lane,very few birds were seen again,with only a few flocks of Redwings again overhead.
 At the top of Beacon Lane,a nice flock of 120 Pinks had briefly stopped to rest and refuel on a stubble field before flying off west,no doubt to the upper reaches of the Humber,what a great sight and sound.
 A brief shower around lunch time seemed to do the trick,with a small fall of birds which was nearly all Yellow-browed Warblers.
 I spent a good hour around Cliff Farm with several other birders and saw between 2 and 4 different Yellow-browed's giving superb views,along with 3 Chiffchaff and 2 Willow Warbler.Along the beach here,2 Grey Wagtail gave occasional excellent views also.
 Another Yellow-browed in the Crown And Anchor Car Park and 2 in Church Field brought the daily personal total to 7.
 I walked along Canal Bank again as earlier,expecting to see more Yellow-browed's and it wasn't long before i saw 2,possibly 3 more birds,with 2 in the Canal Bushes and one at the entrance to Canal Scrape hide,bloody hell,this was amazing!.
 With growing numbers of people around Cliff Farm, i then decided to attempt to see the Wryneck at Easington.After a very good search all along the length of the beach infront of the Gas terminal i could'nt find it sadly,but all was not lost,3 lovely Wheatear feeding along the beach here kept me entertained,with one bird being incredibly tame.
 On the walk back to the car my 11th Yellow-browed of the day was found feeding in Sycamores along the path which skirts the south side of the Gas terminal,what a nice end to another amazing visit to this great area.I travelled home with thoughts of how this stunning little bird from Siberia had made every ones day special!.

Arriving Redwings,Triangle.

Pink-footed Geese,Beacon Lane.

Yellow-browed Warbler,Church Field.

First Winter Male Wheatear,Easington Beach.

First Winter Male Wheatear,Easington Beach.

First Winter Male Wheatear,Easington Beach.

The Triangle.

Holderness Field.