Birds ...
Little Grebe , Great Crested Grebe , Black Stork , White Stork , Spoonbill , Grey Heron , Night Heron , Little Egret , Cormorant , Mallard , Coot , Black Winged Stilt , Common Sandpiper , Curlew Sandpiper , Little Ringed Plover , Avocet , Ruff , Yellow legged Gull , Lesser Black backed Gull , Med Gull , Audoins Gull , Sandwich Tern , Osprey , Marsh Harrier , Montagu's Harrier , Black Kite , Honey Buzzard , Common Buzzard , Sparrowhawk , Hobby , Kestrel , Lesser Kestrel , Elenora's Falcon , Bee -eater , Swift , Swallow , House Martin , Alpine Swift , Pallid Swift , Sand Martin , Crag Martin , Red Rumped Swallow , Cuckoo ,Tawny Owl , Short -toed Treecreeper , Green Woodpecker , Great Spotted Woodpecker , Lesser Spotted Woodpecker , Nuthatch , Crested Lark , White Wagtail , Grey Wagtail , Yellow Wagtail , Collared Dove , Rock Dove , Woodpigeon , Stock Dove , Whinchat , Black Redstart , Pied Flycatcher , Spotted Flycatcher ,Wheatear , Blue Tit , Great T|it , Linnet , Goldfinch , Chaffinch ,Greenfinch , Serin , Golden Oriole , Nightingale , Eastern Subalpine Warbler , Sardinian Warbler , Icterine Warbler , Blackcap ,Chiffchaff , Willow Warbler , Cetti's Warbler , Fan tailed Warbler ,Blue Rock Thrush , Song Thrush , Blackbird , Wren , Robin , Italian Sparrow , Tree Sparrow , Jackdaw , Jay , Hooded Crow, Magpie , Starling , Corn Bunting.
Butterflies ...
Swallowtail , Citrus Swallowtail , Eastern Bath White , Orange Tip , Clouded Yellow , Brimstone , Small , Green Veined and Large White , Brown Argus , Common Blue , Small Blue ,Green Underside Blue , Holly Blue , Red Admiral , Painted Lady , Green Hairstreak , Small Heath , Speckled Wood , Wall Brown , Silver Washed Frilillary and Nettletap Butterfly...
Moths
Latticed Heath , V - Pug , Pale Tussock , Cream Spot Tiger , Barred Hook Tip , Wave Sp ,
Reptiles..
Italian Wall Lizard and 4 lined Snake , European pond turtle .....
The only morning of true birding and what a morning it was....Vis -mig from beach everything heading along beach North east......
Swallow......1128
Red - Rumped Swallow .....3
Swift ..500 +
Pallid Swift ...2
Alpine Swift...26
House Martin...65
Sand Martin ...10
Crag Martin ...4
Yellow Wagtail ....428( 87 + 120 + 35 +15 + 6 +75+ 90)
White Wagtail...3
Honey Buzzard ...2
Common Buzzard....4
Elenoras Falcon x 1
Montagu's Harrier ...1 adult female
Audouins Gull 2 (1 adult 1 2nd winter)
Present...
Pied Flycatcher x 1 , Crested Lark x 1 , Italian Sparrow 50 + , Cetti's Warbler x 6 , Common Sandpiper x 3, Hooded Crow 11 , Yellow Legged Gull x 12.....Yellow Wagtail 60 blogging mainly Blue Headed F but one black headed type............
A trip up to the tops today was like going back to December , so cold , north west wind cutting through you like a knife.....and snow lots of it...driving down like golf balls....but in between the snow showers bright sunshine and clear skies...the first bird seen was a male Merlin chasing Meadow Pipits , then 4 SEOwls together..another SEOwl behind us...in one of the heavy showers 3 Wheatear 2 males and a female dropped in and Meadow Pipits 100 + , 3 Grey Wags , 7 Song Thrush , 5 Mistle Thrush , 50 + Oystercatcher , Lapwings , Redshanks and Curlew ..A few Herring Gulls and LBBGulls heading west
The surprise of the evening was a LEO hunting out in the open and a SEO hunting the same area. 2 displaying SEO at a distance and then 3 more SEOwl quite close. 11 SEOwl's in total , if the weather would have been good who knows how many there could have been,,Another LEO was seen sat out on a branch in a local wood...an excellent evening for OWL's....................
Had a quick walk round Ogden last night, 2 Great Crested Grebes , 1 Redshank , 2 Chiffchaff , 3 Song Thrush (seem to be making a welcome comeback) 1 Raven and a Long eared Owl very high up in the sky being mobbed by 15 Crows.........................
An early morning dash to Spurn , weather looked good , southerly winds looked perfect.. Parked up at Easington and walked down to Long bank and Beacon Ponds and then to Kilnsea Wetlands and back. 2 Red throated Diver on the sea and a few Ringed Plover on the beach. Then amazingly I flushed a Firecrest by the path it flew into a thin line of Hawthorns and then headed high north..no chance of a photo but a stunning little gem...Down the track Skylarks and Reed Buntings shot off in all directions and as I got to Easington lagoon I flushed a Snipe...Redshanks and more Ringed Plover and a couple of Dunlin foraging along the lagoon edge..I then picked up 3 Rock Pipits feeding together on the edge of the ponds. 50 + Widgeon , 8 Little Grebe ,Oycks , Mallards and Little Egret added a bit of colour. Past the Little tern Colony (none there yet) my first Gannet of the year out at sea . More Widgeon , Teal and Curlew in the fields and a small flock of DB Brent Geese overhead .As I approached Kilnsea Wetlands I almost stood on a Wheatear it flew up onto a nearby HAwthorn just long enough to get a crap photo (turns out to be the first of the year for Spurn )..A scan of KW produced good numbers of Widgeon , Gadwall , Shoveler , Teal , 8 Mute Swan , 2 Avocet , 8 Black tailed Godwit one stunning adult in Summer plumage . A couple of Yellowhammer flew over and 18 Linnets.
My first Small Tortoiseshell of the year and a couple of Brown Hares. By mid afternoon DB Brent Geese were gathering in large numbers on KWetlands so I went into the hide and got a few photos before they got spooked...Did not see one other birder for the first 4 hours...!!!
