Spurn Migration Festival 2024

For the past three years Chris & I have been manning the Bird Observatories Council (BOC) stand at Spurn Bird Observatories annual migration festival. See here for more details. An event which I thoroughly enjoy and look forward to every year. This year was no exception and with winds forecast from the east expectations were high. There was also the added excitement of having the famous Lars Svensson as a guest speaker at the Friday night lecture.  Anyone with even a casual interest in birds or ringing will now Lars as the co-author of the famous Collins Bird Guide and his seminal 'Identification Guide to European Passerines' - for many years THE ringers bible and now on its 5th edition. First issued in 1970 I got my 2nd edition Svensson with the red cover when it was published in 1975 and spent many evenings abosrbing al the information and learning the latin names of all the commoner birds I was likley to encounter when training to ring at Wicken Fen.

With the weather looking good Chris arranged to pick me up at 06.00, which slipped to 06.30, so we could get to Spurn and get a few hours birding done before setting up the exhibition stand.  An uneventful journey saw us passing Spurn Bird Obs just as the news broke that Dawn Balmer had found an adult male Red- breasted Flycatcher in the Crown and Anchor car park. A few minutes later we'd pulled in to see this stunning bird. I've not seen many adult male Red-breasted Flycatchers and can only remember two others. A spring bird on Shetland, at Geosetter, and an autumn bird at North Collafirth so this bird was a real treat.

Just as we were about to leave Rob Horton arrived and informed us a Beeeater had just ben spotted about 2 km back up the road so we piled back into Chris's van to take a look. Passing two birders intently peering at something through a 'scope we stopped and I ran back to ask what they were looking at. Pallid Harrier........ a look at this and we arrived to the designated Beeeater site to find it perched on telegraph wires and making the occasional sally after a snack.

With time pressing we were about to head off to set the stand up in the main Migfest Marquee when the shout went up ' skua' and we looked up to see three Arctic Skua's flying overhead. An amazing start to our weekend. 

Setting up the stand we had tome to briefly see a Red-backed Shrike in the hedge surround in the field in which the marquee was situated before  going back to Kew to park Chris's van and set my tent up. Whilst talking to Rob again the Greenish Warbler that had been hanging around for a few days put in an appearance! We decided on an early meal at the Crown and Anchor before heading back to the marquee to listen to Lars Svensson. 

What an incredible guy and his contribution to ornithology has been outstanding. A proper ornithological legend. He's now retired and his interests are good claret, golf and birds in that order. The latest edition of the ' Svensson' ringers guide has a claret coloured cover apparently  in recognition of his favourite tipple. A bit star struck we introduced ourselves and got the great man to pose for a  photo with us.

Retiring back to the pub we met him again where he was enjoying a drink with his wife and the RSPB's Mark Thomas. 

After a rather late night in the pub Chris retired to his van whilst I endeavoured to climb into my sleeping bag in my single man tent.

We were both up early and after Chris had made us both porridge and a brew in his vn decided to go and see the Church field ringing site where Tim Jones was doing a ringing demo. Birds seemed to be everywhere with a good fall of Pied And Spotted Flycatcher's, Redstarts and several Wrynecks being reported.

By time we reached the marquee the 'Spurn Ladies' were well into their breakfast routine and the smell of bacon and eggs wafted through the air. Deciding it would be rude of us not to support them we both opted for and egg and bacon roll - even though we'd not long had porridge!  

Whats lovely about Migfest is the number of families there with youngsters. It's great to see so many young people enjoying the hobby and eavesdropping as to how many ' lifers' they'd already seen that weekend. It was also great to see so many familiar faces and make new friends.

Saturday was a hot day and as well as the birds it was obvious there had been a significant movement of moths overnight. Moth trapping at the Obs had produced a Many-lined a former breeding species that become extinct in the UK in the 19th century with the only UK records now being migrants. We decided to go and take a look and  as well as the Many-lined there was also a Clifton Nonpariel on show - another migratory species.

Many-lined

Whilst twitching this moth our old friend and ex-Cheshire county recorder Tony Broome messaged to say he'd caught an even rarer moth in his garden in nearby Easington - an Orache Moth.  A  quick call and we had an invite to come and see it and have a brew and a natter. Again this was a former breeder which become extinct and the only records now relate to migrants.

Convolvulus Hawkmoths were also a feature of the weekend with several being found around the marquee and even being seen flying in off the sea during a seawatch. This one decided to roost up on Neils truck tyre! 

Luckily for me and Chris the Great Newsome Brewery had set up a stand right next to the BOC stand and with their Tyto Alba bitter on draft we were able to cut our caffeine content and enjoy a couple of cold lunchtime beers. Theres a BBQ on tthe Saturday nght and we've usually been able to buy tickets when we arrive. Unfortunately they'd sold out of tickets before we arrived so we had to make do with going to the pub for dinner instead.

After another late night chatting with old friend Chris Galvin and putting the world to rights we retired to our respective accommodation and woke early the next morning to mist and rain. Once again we started off at the ringing demo, where Tim had caught a nice adult Lesser Whitethroat, before being guided by the smell of cooking bacon back to the marquee for a second breakfast. Slowly the weather improved and birds started being seen again with the Red-backed Shrike putting on a good show near the marquee.

The news of a Wryneck showing well feeding on ants on a garden wall had us taking 5 minutes out to go and see this cryptically plumaged member of the woodpecker family. Later, as we were about to pack up, news came through of another Wryneck showing really well on top of the cliffs at the nearby caravan site so we wandered across to take a look.

Beautiful birds and sadly extinct as a regular UK breeder. Back to the marquee to start packing up there was time for one more good bird when a Honey Buzzard was picked up flying distantly south! Our last bird of the trip but there was just time for one more good invertebrate when Megan found a Roesel's Bush Cricket  in the grass of the marquee flor. A new species for me.

We had a horrible wet journey home but were both tired but happy after a busy and enjoyable weekend.

Hopefully we'll be invited back to Migfest25!

 

Green Sandpipers

I'm lucky enough to live overlooking a field with a pond in it that attracts small numbers of wildfowl and waders every year as it fills up during the winter. This years exceptionally wet spring meant the pond has been fuller than usual and is still visible! Normally by this time of year you can't see the water as its virtually dried up and the vegetation hides the rest. The receding water has left a nice muddy margin that's attracted a few waders - Common Sandpiper, Oystercatcher, Black-tailed Godwit, Snipe and green Sandpiper. One of my favourite waders.

Green Sandpipers are generally scarce here with perhaps 1 record per year since we moved here in 2016. However, this year has been exceptional in that we've had a spring record and a late summer bird that's stayed for almost two months and has occasionally been joined by a second bird.

 

I've a soft spot for Green Sandpipers since I was a kid learning my birding craft in Suffolk. I saw my first one fly up, calling,  from field-side ditch one late summer. It took me awhile to work out what its was, by a process of elimination,  as I'd never seen one before! After that initial sighting they became a regular feature of my late summer walks round the fields near our house as they flushed from ditches.

Hudsonian Godwit, Burton Mere Wetlands.

When news broke on Tuesday 13th August that Colin Wells had found a Hudsonian Godwit at Burton Mere Wetlands RSPB (BMW) the previous evening I played it cool and went to Hilbre to man the Bird Observatory for a few hours  - especially as the wind had switched to SE over night. As it happened the winds hadn't brought any new birds in and the sole reward for my efforts was a juvenile Whitethroat that had been ringed the week previously and had put on 1g in weight during its stay.

Hudsonian Godwit is an extremely rare bird in the UK with around 6 accepted records and some of those refer to what was provably the same bird. The last one I saw was in January 1982 at the Countess of Wear near Exeter and ths was presumed to be the same bird that was at Blacktoft Sands in September 1981 where it was presumed to be the same bird returning in 1983! 

Needless to say it was a 1st for Cheshire and I resolved to call in to BMW on the way home if it was re-found. Which it was...........

Arriving to a busy site I was lucky that a car parking space became available in the main car park just as  I  turned in so I was directed away from the over flow car parking to the reception building. A quick yomp later and I found myself in a packed hide looking at a large flock of Black-tailed Godwits in which was the strikingly obvious Hudsonian Godwit. My telescope was at home but I'd decided to come straight to site and then potentially come back with it later when things has quietened down. Luckily a few friends were in the hide and Phil Jones kindly allowed me to view the bird through his telescope. I did have my camera with me though and fired off a few distant shots of this mega rarity. Probably the rarest bird ever discovered in Cheshire? 

The bird was noticeably smaller and darker than the surrounding Black-tailed Godwits with a long dark eyestripe extending well behind the eye and a thick white supercillium that extended to the base of the bill and tapered out behind the eye. The underwing pattern is diagnostic but unfortunately it never flapped its wings whilst I had the camera ready. 

Leaving site I was certain the bird would hang around for Steve & Chris to catch up with when they came back off holiday but it flew off later that evening and has been elusive since. This was my 321st species for Cheshire.

Scilly's pelagics - part 4. The final day and a final surprise

Bleary eyed after the Sundays adventures our sleep was rudely interrupted at 5 am by the Herring Gulls calling outside our bedroom windows. With the days pelagic being an evening one we had the day to fill so after alate breakfast we spent a few hours drinking copious mugs of tea and processing some of the hundreds of photos we'd all taken.

That suddenly changed when news flashed up on the Scully's birds WhatsApp group that Ash Fisher had found a summer plumaged Spotted Sandpiper at Port Hellick Pool! A lifer for Al and I'd only ever see na couple of full summer plumaged birds in the UK before with the rest being winter plumaged or juvenile birds. The last summer plumaged bird I'd seen was also a Cheshire tick  - a bird seen on the 13th June 2004 at Sandbach Flashes.

Luckily we bumped into Higgo as we were leaving our accommodation and he kindly gave us a lift in his van to and from the site. We were among the first to arrive so had the small hide to ourselves for awhile. The bird was showing ridiculously well down to a few metres as it patrolled up and down its chosen area of exposed mud. Its feeding technique was reminiscent of a small heron as it extended its next and intently  stalked its prey before stabbing forward with its bill.

Pressed for time we left the site and got back to our accomodation just in time to grab our bags and head down to the quay. Unfortunately, after 4 days of good weather, the rain forecast materialised and it was a very wet and lumpy trip. None of us suffered with sea sickness but several people on board did.Despite the conditions we saw several more Wilsons petrels but none of us took their cameras out the water proof bags! With thunder and lightning and fading light Joe took the decision to head back to St Mary's earlier than planned  and a very wet team disembarked and headed to the Atlantic to dry out and have a couple of celebratory beers.

Next morning we had our customary avian 5 am alarm call before having a leisurely morning before heading to the airport to catch our flight back to lands End airport and the long drive home. A great trip with great mates and loads of good birds! 

Scilly's pelagics - part 3. The big day!

It was a tired crew that work early the next morning to the sound of the herring Gull early morning  wake - up calls on the roof of our accommodation. Making our way to the quay for an 08.00 start we were still bleary eyed but excited about what the day could bring.

The day started well when a shout of 'skua' resulted in a 1st moult cycle Pomarine Skua appearing alongside the boat. A brute of a bird and one we see all to infrequently on seawatches off Hilbre. 

As we steamed out to the open sea a group of gulls followed us and among them was a juvenile Yellow-legged Gull. Another uncommon bird off Hilbre.

As we stoped and started chumming it was soon apparent that the overnight south westerly winds had done the business. There were birds everywhere with rafts of Shearwaters sat on the water - including Sooty, Great and Cory's but best of all Bob shouted everyone one to get on one particular shearwater as it took flight and this proved to be a Scopoli's Shearwater. A lifer for me as well as the other guys. Unfortunately I didn't get a photo as  I was to busy watching the bird. This was a bird I was hoping to get after a couple of near misses last year when I twitched the Red-footed Booby (see here). We'd seen several possible candidates but nothing confirmed. The Scilly's pelagics team have see numerous Scopoli's over the last couple of years and it takes a lot for Bob Flood to get excited but a melanistic Cory's Shearwater had him bouncing!  To quote Bob:

Melanistic Cory's observed from pelagic trip out of Scilly on Sunday. Am aware of 2 reported by Joel Bried et al. 2015, Canaries & Azores, & have photos of singles off Lanzarote 2010 (B Rodríguez) Portugal 2021 (T Guerreiro). Keen to hear of other documented records.

The day got even better. Wilson's Petrel were literally pouring in thick and fast and it soon became obvious we were on course to beat the Scilly's pleagic day record. Infact we ended up beating the all time record for Wislon's petrels in British and Irish waters by a huge margin. A massive total of 105 birds were recorded and this was a minimum! An incredible spectacle.

At one point we had 14 Wilson's petrels feeding together in the chum slick. Again a mixture of small and large birds with different flight and feeding characteristics. With European Storm petrels also in the slick a good comparison could be made. See photos below: 

The stars of the trip were obviously the Wilson's petrels but we also had good numbers of Sooty, Cory's and great Shearwaters.

Great Shearwaters 'rafting' with a Sooty Shearwater in the middle

Above: Cory's Shearwaters

Above: Great Shearwaters

Sooty Shearwater

At one point we just stood and watched as Wilson's after Wilson's, attracted by the smell, flew in to join the slick! What a day.

RBA report for the day.

It was Chris's birthday whilst we were away and as an annual visitor to St Agnes he arranged for Joe to drop us off so we could have a few drinks at the Turks head. What we hadn't realised was the annual St Agnes fair and round the island boat was also taking place so St Agnes was heaving! We couldn't get any where near the pub but Joe had told us 600 people were being taken off by17.30 so we had a walk around the island waiting for the crowd to thin out. Unfortunately we couldn't get any food but luckily the pub had a few sausage rolls left to add to our already high intake of foods we'd probably not consider healthy at home!

Chris had also arranged for John Peacock to take us back to St Mary's at 9pm and it was a very happy and slightly inebriated crew that disembarked straight to the Mermaid. Monday evening was to be our last pelagic of the trip so at lest we could get a lie in the next morning........