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| RSPB Liverpool away team at Spurn - L Bimson |
We’re
off, a 7am start, a mini bus and two cars speeding along the M62 east. RSPB
Liverpool’s East Coast weekend had finally arrived.
Our
intention was to go straight to RSPB Blacktoft Sands but a recent bird alert
told us of a Baird's sandpiper at White Holme Reservoir. This was a rare
visitor from North America, so a little detour was required (https://www.birdguides.com/sites/europe/britain-ireland/britain/england/west-yorkshire/white-holme-reservoir/).
On
arrival at the reservoir, other birders were evident, raising our hopes. A
distant blob on the sandy beach sent half of the group circumnavigating the
reservoir; alas, this was to be a mistake as the bird flew and those who stayed
on the path got a brief in-flight view, and that would be the last sighting of it
for us.
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| Whiteholme Reservoir Path - L Bimson |
White Holme is on top of the Pennines – a wild windy, exposed moorland
landscape, the wind turbines strangely beautiful in the morning sun.
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| Pennine view, Wind farm & Pylons -L Bimson |
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| Path maintenance workers having a laugh? - N Revera |
Some
of the other birds observed on the moors were stonechat, red grouse, wheatear, meadow
pipits and pheasant.
Leaving White Holme and travelling
east towards RSPB Blacktoft Sands for lunch and a much-needed hot drink (http://www.rspb.org.uk/blacktoftsands), a bus bonus species turned out to be two red kites circling over
the M62.
On entering the reserve, you
couldn’t fail to see that the bird feeders and hedgerows were heavy with tree
sparrows, chaffinches, greenfinches, goldfinches, linnets and tits
Visiting the hides, we noted reed
bunting and hirundines, and heard a Cetti’s warbler in front of the Singleton
hide but, alas, only a few saw the elusive bearded tits.
Waders and waterfowl using the lagoons included ringed
plover, shelduck, mallard,
teal, shoveler, wigeon, little grebe, dunlin,
ruff,
black-tailed godwits, snipe, redshank and spotted redshank, little and great egret, and lapwings. Several green sandpipers could be seen at the back of the reed bed, whilst several water rails weaved in and out
of the reed beds along with some moorhens. A pied wagtail landed on a scrape – some of us thought it might be a white
wagtail, but no.
On our way back to the car park we
were treated to a view of the cutest stoat dashing around the flattened reed
bed close to the feeding station.
Amazingly, the reserve still had a
meadow with the more spring/summer-like flowers – poppies, daisy’s and corn
marigold – in full bloom.
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| Wildflower meadow RSPB Blacktoft - L Bimson |
Of the visiting raptors, buzzard,
kestrel, merlin and marsh harrier were seen over the reed bed.
What
was to follow next was totally unexpected and distressing for our group. One of
our members shockingly had his car broken into and some of his possessions
stolen; we were all stunned. What made it worse was the car window could not be
repaired until after the weekend, which meant our friend had to go home, his
trip barely started. Due to this shocking incident, our group decided to head straight
for our hotel, Premier Inn Hull North, to drop off our bags, rather than go to
another site.
It
was after 5pm before we headed for Kilnsea and Spurn (http://data.wildlifetrusts.org/sites/default/files/140630%20SPurn_Kilnsea_map.pdf) for a quick taster before our full day there
on Saturday. As we arrived at the fabulous little Bluebell café (http://www.ywt.org.uk/bluebell-cafe), a little grebe cut a lonely figure on the nearby
pond. House sparrows foraged over the neighbouring caravan site.
We
called into the lagoon at Kilnsea wetlands, where mute swan, greylag and pink
feet joined mallard and teal. Clambering up the bank for a closer view, we were
delighted to see little stint and a poor curlew sandpiper with a bad leg http://www.ywt.org.uk/reserves/kilnsea-wetlands-nature-reserve.
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| Kilnsea wetlands- L Bimson |
Back
to the hotel, but not before we were treated to a jaw-dropping, close-quarters
view of a barn owl flying though some farm buildings close to the road.
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| Foggy morning in Hull - J Jones |
Saturday,
and a foggy morning dawned, not that this was going to put us off – nothing
like a little bit of atmosphere to enhance the experience. After a substantial
and delicious breakfast, we were back on the road. We would be spending the day
at Kilnsea and Spurn.
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| Spurn bird observatory |
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| Spurn observatory gardens - L Bimson |
First
stop, the impressive new bird observatory, http://www.spurnbirdobservatory.co.uk/. Sadly, we weren’t able to go into the building
and take a look as a course was running, but Nathan from the observatory was
good enough to take the group on a little guided tour of the site, including Church Field, which houses the ringers’ Heligoland
Trap. The field is specially planted for the benefit of the breeding tree
sparrows and the many migrant birds that
shelter and re-fuel there on migration. There is a feeding station in the
north-east corner (memories of the ringed ouzel we’d seen there the previous
October when we came to see the Siberian accentor and shore larks). They have also
created some small ponds, which are proving popular with the local toads in spring,
and with various dragonflies, some of which were on the wing whilst we were
there.
Talking of on the wing, an unexpected highlight of that walk was when a
bittern decided to fly overhead – a rare sight and a special one for many. Tour
over, we headed up the road near to the Crown and Anchor pub to search the car
park for warblers, but no sign.
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| Yellow browed warbler - D Aitkin |
We had travelled further down to the Warren to
do some seawatching when a bird flew up into the bushes. “A warbler!” Neil
shouted. It had an eye stripe; another without an eye stripe was chasing it: we
had found our own yellow-browed warbler and a willow warbler! Astonishingly,
at the same time Sean found another migrant, a red-breasted flycatcher. This,
of course, caused a bit of a commotion and, as the jungle drums beat, other
birders appeared out of nowhere!
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| Red breasted flycatcher - L Bimson |
Moving
on to the Spurn seawatch hide, we squeezed in and surveyed the waters in front
of the North Sea offshore wind farm. Distantly, you could see shearwaters, scoter, skuas,
gannets, cormorants, terns and divers flying past the turbines. Back on the Humber
shoreline, plovers, godwits and dunlin fed.
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| Grey plover - L Bimson |
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| Mixed waders - L Bimson |
By this time the weather was looking a little threatening so we beat a retreat to the lovely Bluebell café
for cake and coffee, and only just in time as the heavens opened and birders
ran in – drowned rats, I believe is the saying!
Back
to Kilnsea scrape and pool and a walk along Long Bank. A Brent goose appeared
to be sleeping on the scrape, a regular long-stayer, we were informed. Viewed
from the embankment, a group of pink-footed geese was causing some discussion
between the more experienced birders: were there bean geese in this group? Longer
bill, orange legs?? I don’t think they reached a consensus. A joy to see, several
roe deer and hares could be made out in the high grass of adjacent fields; they
were later to be joined by curlew, wood pigeons and godwits. A white flash drew
our attention to a barn owl flying low by Long Bank; it briefly disappeared,
then landed on a post complete with its dinner! Was this the owl we’d seen the
evening before?
The
drive back to the hotel was fittingly eventful, as a large gathering of birds
on a ploughed field turned out to be hundreds of golden plover, a congregation no
less. Safety in numbers was the order of the game as now and then they took
fright and flight before settling down again. Mmh, could this be the reason
they were so nervous; further down the
road a sparrowhawk sat obligingly on a post, a great view for those on the
right-hand side of the bus.
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| Golden Plover - L Bimson |
We
must say we had very good customer service in the Kingswood restaurant: they
arranged the tables to seat 16, had a varied menu and served our food quickly.
Seated together, we all had the chance for a catch up on the day and to relax.
Jenny B was hopeful, trying to pay for her bill with her bus pass – should have
gone to Specsavers… ha, ha!
Sunday,
and a mission to squeeze in both RSPB Bempton Cliffs http://www.rspb.org.uk/bemptoncliffs and Flamborough Head before an afternoon date
with a boat.
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| Lesser whitethroat - D Bradley |
Arriving
at the reserve, we were quickly on to some warblers in a scrubby patch by the
car park. Chiffchaff, blackbird and dunnock gave way to a splendid lesser
whitethroat and a male blackcap. Nearby was the bunting feeding station; sadly,
the only thing of awesome note was the extraordinary number and size of the rat
family that scurried under the feeders!
From
the cliffs, a seabird spectacle awaited us: although the seabird breeding season
was over, there were still some young, unfledged gannets, clinging to the cliffs
with their parents. Over 1000 gannets were still present, bickering, diving,
hanging on the wind – terrific!
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| Bempton Cliffs - L Bimson |
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| Gannets at Bempton - L Bimson |
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| Bempton cliffs gannet families |
Other
birds espied by eye or scope on and over the sea included guillemots, scoter,
kittiwake, fulmars, herring gulls, great skuas and jackdaws!
The
reserve visitor centre has had a makeover and now features a nice café and shop
to shelter in from any sudden squalls of inclement weather, and yes we did get
caught out: whilst on the cliff viewing platform, we endured a rather unpleasant
five minutes.
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| Red backed shrike - L Bimson |
We
were nearly back on the bus when a sudden shout went out that a juvenile red-backed
shrike has been found. Lovely – and smiles all round, especially for Jenny and Laura,
as this bird sighting meant they had both reached the 200th species target
on the ‘my 200 bird year challenge’ http://www.birdwatching.co.uk/my200/
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| The 200 club, Jenny & Laura - L Bimson |
Onwards,
a quick visit to Flamborough South Landing and a stroll through the woods.
Another yellow-browed warbler had been seen but we didn’t have time for an
extensive search; a great spotted woodpecker and some splendid sea views had to
do.
The afternoon saw us getting on the
Yorkshire Belle at Bridlington for the RSPB skua and shearwater cruise: a 3½-hour
sailing from Bridlington up to three miles off Flamborough Head, looking for
migrating seabirds (http://www.yorkshire-belle.co.uk/).
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| The Yorkshire Belle |
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| Busy at the back of the belle! |
Packed
to capacity with eager birdwatchers, the Belle sailed out of the harbour walls,
and we noted onomatopoeic kittiwakes and clockwork turnstones as we passed. Once
out towards the headland, the ‘chum’ – a stinking mix of fish bits –was thrown out at the boat’s stern; this helps attract the birds in close
to the boat, so
commentators and volunteers from the RSPB’s East Yorkshire Local Group can
shout out any sightings.
We
were not disappointed: sightings included a fabulous sooty shearwater, Manx
shearwater, and all four skuas – bonxie, arctic, pomarine and long-tailed. (Breathtaking
bullyboy bonxie harassing gulls.) https://www.bto.org/about-birds/bird-id/bto-bird-id-skuas.
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| Bonxie bullying - C Mellor |
Others
seen included assorted gulls, fulmars, gannets, cormorants, guillemots and
terns. Not forgetting brief glimpses of harbour porpoise and seals.
A great afternoon and we were pleased to say no one was seasick.
And a final surprise: just as we were getting off, we bumped into a birding friend
from home, Derek – three hours on the boat and we never knew you were there!
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| Peaty and the Gansey girl - L Bimson |
Meanwhile, back on land, after a quick mooch through the
town, Debs walked along the prom and ate her lunch watching a few turnstone and
sanderling looking for their lunch on the beach as the tide went out. Venturing
on to the beach herself, she walked about two miles towards the wind turbines
on what was a lovely sunny afternoon. Not far out at sea, juvenile gannets
practised their diving technique: a slight upward lift, a half-turn, wings
folded and dive, dive, dive, splash! Bob back up and take off, wings flapping
ponderously, and start all over again. On the walk back, two common terns flew
overhead and then landed further up the beach, among a small flock of gulls,
and three young boys stripped down to their trunks and ran into the sea – only
to run out again moments later, shrieking with shock at the cold. Debs also
encountered her first ever Jackuahuas - Jack
Russell x Chihuahua for the uninitiated. Plenty of exotic wildlife to be seen
on Bridlington beach!
Fish
and chips and mushy peas in Bridlington rounded off the day for us all and
prepared us for the long drive home. “Carry on driver!”
119
species seen over three days:
Mute
Swan, Tundra Bean Goose, Pink-Footed Goose, Greylag Goose, Canada Goose, Brent Goose, Shelduck, Mallard, Pintail, Shoveler,
Wigeon, Teal, Common Scoter, Red Grouse,
Grey Partridge, Pheasant, Red-Throated Diver, Little Grebe, Fulmar, Manx
Shearwater, Sooty Shearwater, Gannet, Cormorant, Shag, Bittern, Little Egret,
Great Egret, Grey Heron, Red Kite, Marsh Harrier, Buzzard, Sparrowhawk,
Kestrel, Hobby, Merlin, Barn Owl, Water Rail, Moorhen, Oystercatcher, Ringed Plover, Grey Plover,
Golden Plover, Lapwing, Knot, Sanderling, Turnstone, Dunlin, Little Stint,
Curlew Sandpiper, Green Sandpiper, Baird’s Sandpiper, Redshank, Spotted
Redshank, Greenshank, Black-Tailed Godwit, Bar-Tailed Godwit, Curlew, Snipe,
Ruff, Black-Headed Gull, Common Gull, Mediterranean Gull, Herring Gull, Lesser
Black-Backed Gull, Great Black-Backed Gull, Sabine’s Gull, Kittiwake, Arctic
Skua, Great Skua, Long-Tailed Skua, Pomarine Skua, Sandwich Tern, Common Tern,
Black Tern, Guillemot, Razorbill, Feral Pigeon, Stock Dove, Wood Pigeon,
Collared Dove, Swift, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Swallow, House Martin, Meadow
Pipit, Pied Wagtail, Dunnock, Robin, Wheatear, Stonechat, Song Thrush, Mistle
Thrush, Blackbird, Blackcap, Lesser Whitethroat, Willow Warbler, Yellow-Browed
Warbler, Chiffchaff, Wren, Red-Breasted Flycatcher, Great Tit, Blue Tit, Long-Tailed
Tit, Bearded Tit, Red-Backed Shrike, Magpie, Jay, Jackdaw, Rook, Carrion Crow,
Raven, Starling, House Sparrow, Tree Sparrow, Chaffinch, Linnet, Goldfinch,
Greenfinch, Reed Bunting.
A trip remembered…
The East Yorkshire coast at Bempton had been
highly recommended, and it certainly didn't disappoint. From the wide
open spaces of the arable lands to the dramatic chalk cliffs at Bempton itself,
the landscape was breathtaking, and as for the birds .... ! I had
never seen so many golden plover at one time, or had such close-up views
of gannets preening and pairing and floating out from the cliffs into the
rising breeze. A wonderful weekend.
Anne Pope
Laura
