October '09
Weather This Month
Max Temp = 16 °C Min Temp = 1.2°C
Max Wind = 21.2 mph Max Rain in 24 hr Period = 36.7 mm
Max Rain in 1 hr Period = 6.2 mm Total Rain For Month = 98.9mm
Live Local Weather HERE
Diary
19th Another
busy weekend with one thing or another but I did get the chance to
break away for the second trip to Spurn Point in a month. The first
trip was a very quiet affair with little in the way of either anything
out of the ordinary or even any great numbers of common birds. The
weather was all wrong with high pressure and a SW winds. The day was
lovely though as friends accompanied us and the sun shone for most of
the day with a touch of sunburn in evidence. There were a few birds
about but we dipped on most like the Barred Warbler, Lapland Bunting
and even the Snow Buntings. The second trip had Mandy, Dad and myself
up early with a 05:00 start due to the 2½hr journey time. The weather
looked a little better with strong Northerly winds and a fall in
pressure. We had a good wander round the point and it was not long
before a cracking Short Eared Owl was hunting in front of us as it
followed the shoreline. We noted it twice in an hour and the second
time it flew right above us giving amazing close views. I was sure I
could here the calls of Brambling as they rattled a little like
Greenfinch, although I could not connect with them. Plenty of Redwing,
Blackbird and Fieldfares were about which is one reason why I like to
visit at this time of year. We earlier stopped off at the Canal Scrape
hide and a little patience was rewarded with views of a Water Rail
although the recent sightings of Jack Snipe alluded us.
We
headed out up the canal in search of Yellow Browed Warbler but after a
few glimpses of a possible it was gone and we could not be sure. Eyes
were trained on the beach as we took in some waders with Grey and
Golden Plovers, Knot, Sanderling, Little and Ringed Plover, Dunlin and
plenty of Redshank on offer. As we headed to the end of the path I
noted the famous Twitchers Shuffle as several birders had taken up
speed walking.....eh up! Sure enough as we walked into the car park of
the migrant hot spot of the Crown & Anchor pub it became apparent
that something was about. With ears and eyes wide open it wasn't long
before a radio bellowed out that it was a Red Flanked Bluetail! That
would be a lifer for me! The crowds were mobbing so we headed out into
where we were hopeful of catching site of it as it had not been seen
for half an hour. It was not long before another radio blurted out that
it had been caught in nets at Kew Villas and would be released in
20mins at Canal Scrape car park. Well we too joined the Twitchers
Shuffle and picked up the pace to reach the car park which was some
distance away. We waited as people jostled for position. Several
altercations broke out, somebody walked into my Dad's scope and the
usual small appendage brigade did there best to infuriate anybody
around. The gathering was reminiscent of a Jelly Fish as the crowd
expanded and contracted as a suitable shape ( one big line- two double
lines and several size circles) was found to give people a good view. I
just stood in the same spot and it worked out good as the car turned up
and the bird was brought out past me. It was exciting for some reason
yet it just felt wrong, really wrong. This bird was a migrant that in
the words of the handler was light in weight. It was a young female and
had just been caught in a net, handled by giants, stuffed in a bag,
weighed, rung, stuffed back in a bag, driven in a car for 10mins,
brought out with legs held and finally paraded around a ring of fire!
That will be my last time I do that as although I now know this bird by
it's common name I feel I never really saw it and to be honest if that
bird ever sees me...I shall be embarrassed if it ever utters my name. I
am all for Scientific research and I think ringing done correctly is
very worth while but to be a part of what we did was only about self
gratification....and that is not scientific in any language. It is easy
to get caught up in the furore and Mandy got some very close pictures
of it but I am not going to post as the more I think about it the more
I can't justify my actions. If you fancy keeping an eye on Spurn for
future visits the website HERE is a great resource for what is about.
Moving on from that we headed to the seawatch hide and before long I was noting a Bonxie, Guillemot and Gannets which was nice even though overall it was quiet. Thanks to the guys in the hide who put up with my questions I really appreciated the help as I don't get much chance to sea watch.
It was soon time for hoe after a fruitless trip up to beacon pools where the tide was rushing up to the already much eroded shoreline. Mandy was very kind to us all as she drove there and back whilst other had a sleep so thank you!
I bought a GPS tracker with our trip to India in mind so I tested it out at Spurn to see how well it performed and to be honest I was very impressed. Have a look at the map below which shows where the GPS tracked us.
Click on the map for full trip detail
15th. A
huge gap in the diary due to other commitments. Today changed that
commitment as a friend came to visit me at work. He said he had a bird
in his van that his Cat had brought in that morning and thought I might
know what it was as he had no idea. Howard has an interest in birds and
wildlife so whilst it did run through my mind that it may be a new
plumaged Starling or something similar I was aware that he knew his
common birds. On opening his van door I peered into a cardboard box and
could see a small Starling/Blackbird size bird that had some fantastic
colour to it that showed up nice in the light. As I noted it's body I
was unsure until I noticed the longish red bill and red outer eye ring.
A beautiful Water Rail was laid down! I could not believe it as the
area it was found at was Waterfoot in Rossendale and whilst it must
visit any kind of water source, it is usually noted at larger waters
with good cover. A river was about 300 yards or so away so it is quite
possible that it was there although I guess the other possibility is
that it had landed exhausted from a migration over night as the weather
in the evening and night was poor with lots of heavy drizzle and low
cloud.
Anyway I managed to get a few poor pics of the bird with my mobile phone. They were poor as I did not wnat to stress it any more than I felt obliged. Between us it was decided that the best thing to do was a trip to the Three Owls bird sanctuary in Norden would be the best option so Howard took it over. The news was that whilst it leg looked broken, it seemed like it was just soft tissue damege and they were sure that it would overcome this injury although feeding the bird was the most daunting prospect with this point being the difference between surviving the ordeal or not.
