Steve's Birding,Wildlife & Walking Blog: September 2017

Tuesday, 12 September 2017

White-rumped Sandpiper & Mig Fest Highs,Saturday And Sunday 9th & 10th September 2017.

Saturday 9th September

With the smart adult White-rumped Sandpiper still in residence on the Yacht Club Pools at Humberston and for it's 11th day,i decided to pop in along with Mrs R after a visit to Grim sby on a shopping trip.

On arrival and after setting the scope up the bird was seen straight away feeding alongside a small flock of Dunlin giving some lovely views through the scope.Unfortunately it kept trying to rain and the light was pretty dire,but i managed a few record shots of this cracking wader all the same.This is my sixth sighting of this amercan wader species with previous birds being seen at Blacktoft Sands RSPB,South Ferriby,Titchwell RSPB & 2 birds at Frampton Marsh RSPB.Unfortunately i have never seen a juvenile,with all my records being of adult birds.

Sunday 10th September

With the Migfest at Spurn in it's second day and thoughts of all the car parks being jammed full,i got over to Spurn for first light and used Kilnsea Wetlands as a base.

Fortunately it wasn't long before i was watching the previous days cracking juvenile Long-billed Dowitcher from the Wetlands hide as it fed in amongst the roosting Redshank flock at high tide.What a smart bird and my fourth sighting of the species and my second in Yorkshire.Also on the Wetlands in amongst the growing numbers of wading birds were singles of Spotted Redshank,Curlew Sandpiper and Little Stint,the Spotshank and Stint being year ticks.

This year the wetlands has been exceptional and with a bit of luck it will turn something else up before the year is out.

A message over the radio as i scanned the fields near Beacon Ponds saw me connecting with a juvenile Caspian Gull as it made it's way onto the wetlands for a wash and brush up,another nice addition to the day list.

Bird of the day was seen next as i went to look for the previous days Wryneck along the cliff in front of Sandy Beaches caravan park and it showed brilliantly as it showed some interesting feeding behaviour.It was watched climbing the stems of Corn Sowthistle and licking Aphids from the stems and flower heads an amazing sight to watch and just goes to show bird species can exploit food sources on migration.Another fantastic sight was watching our premier bird artist Darren Woodhead along with his son Corin as they both painted the Wryneck,just amazing talent and it looks like Corin will be following in his dads footsteps in becoming a top artist.

A few other notables were seen near to where the Wryneck was being watched and included a scruffy female/immature Black Redstart and a Wheatear along the beach and overhead a steady stream of Mips,Hirundines and a juvenile Cuckoo just showed what an amazing place this really is!.

Adult White-rumped Sandpiper,Humberston Yacht Club Pools,Lincolnshire.

Kilnsea Wetlands Sunrise.

Swallows At Holderness Field.

Wryneck,Sandy Beaches.

Wryneck,Sandy Beaches,Showing How The Species Gets Its Name.

Wednesday, 6 September 2017

Spurn Highlights,Sunday 3rd September 2017.

A bright and early start today saw me heading over to Spurn and meeting up with Tim.
The forecast was a pretty good one with a south to south easterly airflow,but on arrival it was apparent it was going to be difficult to look for passerines in the fairly strong breeze.
We started proceedings at Numpties and to start with just after dawn on the dropping tide there were a few birds to keep us entertained which included a couple of hundred Common Terns moving out of the Humber,along with a handfull of Gannets and a Fulmar.Some great views of the massing wader flocks included the usual clouds of Knot and some gorgeous Grey Plovers still in their summer finery.
A Peregrine scattered the feeding flocks as it made its way south along the peninsula and near to where we stood a lovely juvenile Whinchat and a single Wheatear sallied after their flying prey.
We decided to then have a look for the Purple Sandpiper which Andy Hanby had found close to the Breach the previous evening and along with a few others enjoyed some fantastic close views of this cracking little wader.They always make for a superb photo subject,being generally so confiding and not afraid of humans,what a great bird.
On returning to Numpties we decided to have a walk about and try and find some birds,the Canal area held a few migrants with several juvvie Willow Warbler and a Whitethroat and Reed Warbler and some south bound flocks of Swallows wheeled about preparing for their long journeys south.
A quick look in the Crown & Anchor car park revealed very little and Kilnsea Churchyard likewise so we headed on up to the wetlands.
A concerted effort here paid dividends with the best period of birding during the day.Highlights included the Juvenile Pectoral Sandpiper that had been present for several days,at least 10 Ruff,a lovely Juv. Curlew Sandpiper which showed nicely in front of the hide,Common Sandpiper,Greenshank,a Drake Pintail and a scattering of Med Gulls.
A few passerines around included 2 Juvenile Wheatear.
We walked back along Beacon Lane,with again not much to show for our efforts and as we neared the Bluebell we decided to call it a day and i headed off home.Not a classic Spurn day,but an enjoyable one all the same.