First Visit To Spurn of 2025

Well Sunday afternoon Neil and myself discussed where we would be going on Monday and we both agreed that Spurn Point was going to be the place to go.

Neil picked me up just after 7 and away we went. We pulled up at the warren at 08:45 and decided that Sea Watching was going to be the first thing we did. We entered the hide and Steve Exley and a couple of others were sat in . We started scanning the sea and the first bird we saw was an adult Gannet which was closely followed by 5 Common Scoter 2 new birds for our year lists already then some Red Throated divers started passing in front some north and some south the majority went north. Then Steve called out 5 Guillemot were going south another addition to the year list. We continued to sit there for a further 30 minutes with plenty of Red Throated divers passing and some even showing amazingly well on the sea.

We decided that there wasnt much new passing on the sea so we decided to go to the viewing screen near the warren to check out the waders. After a couple of minute walk to the screen we set up and started scanning there was loads of birds Dunlin, Curlew, Grey Plover, Golden Plover Brent Geese and Shelduck on the humber too which was nice. After we kept on scanning the birds i noticed a goose that had appeared inbetween some waders in the saltmarsh the first thing i noticed was the striking orange bill next thing i checked was the leg colour orange the bird had to be a Tundra Bean goose i got Neil on to the bird he thought the bill looked pinkish im like no its bright orange but he couldnt see the legs after a short amount of time the bird walked out so he could see the legs BOOM . I noticed Steve and his friend so i called to him that i had a Tundra Bean Goose so he came over to see it and put news out on the Radio a few people started to turn up to see this Goose as they are quite scarce and especially at spurn.

After watching the goose for a bit longer we decided to move on to Kilnsea Wetlands to see what birds were on show there. After a short drive we pulled into the car park and made our way to the hide. We got into the hide and we were the only ones in it we started scanning the usual bits were on the water Teal Shoveler Mute Swan and a drake Pintail Neil found a Pink Footed Goose hiding in the long grass when news of a Barnacle Goose was put out on Whats app we decided to walk upto Beacon Pond to see what was on there. We arrived after a short walk and noticed there was a good number or Brent Geese on there there was a few Wigeon a Little Egret hiding in the reeds also on the pond there was 7 Little Grebe which is a good number but nothing else of note on here so we decided to go to the area where the Barnacle Goose was seen.

After a short drive we pulled up at the side of the road near canal scrape and the discovery centre and got out of the car and found the field where the Barnacle had been sighted . There was plenty of Greylag geese when we scanned the filed but no sign of the Barnacle yet. Then after a short wait the Barnacle Goose appeared it had been feeding in a channel in the field so couldnt be seen so we ended up watching this bird for 10 minutes before we decided to go to the Crown and Anchor to look for waders on the Humber as the tide was going out.

We set up at the side of the road and started scanning the waders Black Tailed Godwits, Curlew , Redshank, Ringed Plover , Grey Plover , Oystercatcher , Dunlin birds a plenty we decided that we would go to Welwick Saltmarsh for the last part of the day a place we have never been to before.

We drove about 15 minutes and pulled into a carpark and walked a short distance to a hide like area it had windows sides front but no back . We sat down and started scanning over a very big area of saltmarsh with various channels of water . There was a good number of Teal on the water infront of us and some Redshank were flying up and down the channel . After about 10 minutes i picked up a male Marsh Harrier flying along the coast line which was nice to see. There was a nice flock of Linnets and Goldfinches which kept going into the long grass. I then picked up another Marsh Harrier closer to us and then i picked up another bird it was a harrier but with thinner wings and when it banked around it had a white rump it was a female Hen Harrier a rare bird of prey in the uk and a great bird to see.

We carried on looking to see what else we could find then after 15 minutes i shouted Barn Owl which was flying down the road behind us it banked left and carried on across the fields briefly perching on a fence post for a few minutes before carrying on. Neil then shouted Merlin i was like where he tried his best to get me onto it but no i didnt see it but as we both turned around the Ringtail Hen Harrier was flying infront of us showing very well we watched it for about 5 minutes before we lost it to view. We waited for a further 15 minutes incase the Short Eared Owl decided to show itself but sadly no so we decided to head home calling at Gatewood Lane for the Whooper Swans and we saw 2 Bewick Swans too which gave us a total for the day 60 Species which is great.