So where to start... Spring at Spurn was tough. I was the only residential volunteer for the season and that meant doing almost all of the point count surveys. Because there were not enough volunteers to cover both the Triangle and Peninsula point counts, the Triangle took priority. Having walked the Triangle almost every morning between mid-March and mid-June, by the end I had got a bit bored of it. There were barely any common birds (the main focus of point counts) and I was walking the exact same route each morning. For the first time ever, birding felt almost like a chore. I became desensitised to missing good birds, which in all honesty helps when it comes to doing point counts because you can't leave halfway through one anyways. However, it wasn't all bad: I was still out and getting fresh air; still admiring the true scenic beauty of Spurn; bumping into people and having friendly chats and catch-ups. Despite the lack of common migrants, I was spoilt with the amount of rare birds I managed to see during this time, both during point counts and around other tasks. Woodlarks, Green-winged Teals, Scaup, Golden Oriole, Montagu's Harriers, Collared Flycatcher, Bee-eater, Blyth's Reed Warbler, Rosefinch, Stone-curlew, and Turtle Dove were the main highlights.
Then it was onto the Little Tern colony and monitoring their success at Beacon Ponds. Joined by a fantastic team, we managed to help the Little Terns fledge a total of 85 young from 59 pairs in an extremely tough season. This was the second-best total, after 2023's record! Some wader species also use Beacon Ponds to breed and this season saw 8 Avocet and 22 Ringed Plover fledge. The Tern Wardens (Bethan Clyne, Joe Griffin and Harry Coghill) and fellow volunteers Eva Finney, Tate Lloyd and Emma Rigate (plus locals Richard Boon and Georgia French) all played their part ensuring that it was a successful season and when faced with the challenges of predation and human disturbance they all did very well. I am proud to say that I was a part of the 2024 Little Tern team and they all should be too. During our time as Little Tern Wardens and volunteers there were some more superb rarities, including Least Sandpiper, Gull-billed Tern, Black-winged Pratincole, Sabine's Gull and Stilt Sandpiper - all of which were seen on either Kilnsea Wetlands or Beacon Ponds at some stage.
Once the Little Tern season was over, it was time to go back to doing point counts and other observatory related tasks for the autumn season. Thankfully, I was not the only autumn residential volunteer, and I was joined by Colin Teal, Matt Binding, and Matt Livsey - all of which were great to have around! This meant I got to also do point counts down the peninsula and have more free time for myself to both bird and relax. Throughout the autumn we were all spoilt to some class birds. We all had so many leaf warblers, including my first ever Greenish, Hume's, and Pallas's Warbler, plus Arctic Warblers. We also managed to successfully group-twitch the Bempton Pale-legged Leaf Warbler!! The male Stejneger's Stonechat at Middle Camp in September was a beautiful bird and I thoroughly enjoyed watching it. Other highlights included a male Red-breasted Flycatcher at Migfest, Red-backed Shrikes, Pallid Harrier, Honey Buzzard, and Shore Larks.
After starting my relationship with Bethan in June, by late August we decided to buy a caravan in the area. I spent the rest of the season still with the observatory but stayed in our new caravan. We instantly began adding to our garden list as we are interested to see what we may get in the next year or so. Over Migfest, we had Harry Coghill and his girlfriend Millie stay over, as well as Jonathan Dodds. Unfortunately, whilst staying in our caravan, Harry managed to grip us off by getting a few birds from the garden than Bethan and I missed! Thankfully nothing too rare though and so we should get them by Migfest 2025. Highlights of the autumn from the caravan included a regular pair of Tawny Owls, Hobby, Mediterranean Gulls, Tree Pipit, Spotted Flycatcher, Bullfinch, Blackcap, Lesser Whitethroat, Willow Warbler, Pink-footed Geese, Barn Owl, Brambling, Yellow-browed Warbler, Ring-necked Parakeet (worthy of going on the radio at Spurn), Whooper Swans, Tree Sparrow, and Jay - the latter of which stayed a few days and is not that common in the Spurn recording area. We ended 2024 with a garden list of 74 species.
Over the winter I stayed in Yorkshire at Bethan's and we both worked doing bird surveys, which was new to both of us but has been a great experience and we are lucky to have such a good job. It can be very peaceful walking farm fields with no one else in sight.
For Christmas we both headed down to London to stay with my mum and visit my Gran at her care home. I of course also went to Beddington Farmlands and dragged Bethan along with me, although rather surprisingly she quite enjoyed it! I showed her the classic winter birds of Beddington, including Green Sandpipers, Water Pipits and close views of Jack Snipe. It was also great to see the pair of Firecrest that were overwintering along the boundary with Beddington Park.
So far, 2025 has mostly been a mixture of survey work, birding in our own time, and being in and out of hospital as Bethan has been suffering with gallstones since November. She is awaiting keyhole surgery for removal of her gallbladder, but wait times are very long - on average three to six months, but potentially up to 18 months! Unfortunately, this means that she has to be very careful with what she eats, which is quite limiting. It is mostly a case of trial and error for some foods, but when she does have a flare-up it causes her extreme pain and discomfort, so we are hoping her surgery comes around sooner rather than later.
On Monday I head of to London for at least a week whilst Bethan continues working. It will be good to see my mum again and visit my gran, plus meet up with some friends. I am keeping my fingers crossed for a good bird or two at Beddington Farmlands too. I still have not seen a "proper" spring migrant yet this year. However, today there was a big push of some spring migrants and most notably a lot of Hoopoe and Black Redstart popping up in places. Birdguides reports show that an absolute minimum of 34 Hoopoe were found today, so hopefully one turns up at the Farm soon - it would be only the 5th site record!
