Super Saturday

I don't get as many opportunities to visit Beddington Farmlands than I used to now that I am mostly living and working up in Yorkshire, so on my occasional visits down south to see family, I also try to maximise my time birding there. I travelled down on Friday after completing my survey work for the week. This unfortunately meant that I missed the 3rd site record of Grey Phalarope, which was found on Wednesday and last seen Thursday evening. However, the wind conditions for the weekend looked ideal, so I was hopeful that something else good might turn up. I only had until the Tuesday, but the forecast was showing that the wind would stay NE for a few more days after that. However, the only day that wasn't sunny whilst I was around was the Saturday, and it is well-known that low cloud can make things much better in a NE wind at this time of year. Therefore, I knew Saturday was going to be my best bet for finding something decent, but I had no idea how good the day would end up being.

I got to site early, entering through Mile Road gate at around 06:45. One of the first birds I saw was a Pintail flying about, last seen heading south. Not a species I had expected to see, and one that is not always guaranteed here. Autumn is usually the best time to see them at Beddington. Shortly afterwards, I bumped into Ian Jones on my way towards the "vismig" hide. He decided to tag along, and we spent the next hour and a half counting the southwards movement of Meadow Pipits and Swallows. Passage seemed to start to slow down a bit just after 08:30, so Ian suggested that we go across the mound and check the Phase 3 Wet Grassland area. Our stroll across the mound took a while, as every so often there were still flocks of Meadow Pipits passing over. Just as we got to Phase 3, some darker low cloud rolled in from the south and put a stop to the movement of Meadow Pipits. Instead, they actually started dropping down and gathering near us on the mound, feeding on the ground and sheltering in the copses.

A short while later, I happened to look up and spot a low-flying Tern above us. Even with my naked eye I could tell it was a juvenile Common Tern as it was so low! Seeing plenty of Terns recently at Spurn definitely helped make the identification of the Beddington bird much easier, as usually I take a lot longer to decide between Arctic and Common Tern when at Beddington, due to all Tern species being irregular/scarcely seen.

About half an hour later, as we walked near the Enclosed Lagoon, Ian spotted a juvenile Ruff in flight. It dropped down onto Phase 3 and began energetically feeding. It has been quite a good year for Ruff onsite, with a mix of both spring and autumn records. When we then headed back up onto the mound, we heard a Tree Pipit calling from a copse, and managed to catch a fleeting glimpse of it as it flew around with a flock of Meadow Pipit. At the same time, I heard a Ringed Plover call about 8 times. It seemed to be flying south but we never managed to spot it.

Once back at the vismig hide, it was clear that the passage of commoner species had entirely stopped. I decided to scope the treeline and other vegetation behind the Sand Martin Bank. I saw a couple of Blackcap and other warblers flicking about, so we decided to head down and check the area to see what else was about, hoping for a Spotted Flycatcher or Redstart. We only ever managed Blackcaps and Chiffchaffs, but it was good to see some warbler activity. We then proceeded to skywatch from the Sand Martin Bank.

Not much was happening and Ian had to leave at midday. Given how many good things we had already seen, I thought we had "lucked out", but decided to stay an extra half an hour just in case anything else came in. But what I saw next was totally unexpected. Just 12 minutes after Ian had left, I spotted a large raptor heading south west straight towards me. I am not quite sure what about it alerted me to it being different initially, but I stayed on the bird through binoculars. As it got closer, it became more and more clear that it may be something different to the usual Common Buzzards. I attempted to get my scope on it, but the steep upwards angle meant I was off balance and so viewing was not great. Instead, I grabbed my camera and started taking a few pics, which helped confirm what I thought I was seeing. This raptor had a very interesting shape to it. I continued to take photos, but my settings were not quite right and the light was shockingly poor. It took three minutes to pass over me, plenty of time to assess what I was seeing, and also not too high. I was pretty sure I was watching a Honey Buzzard!

Despite prolonged and good views, the usual self-doubt started to creep in. Was I sure enough to put the news out straight away? I had seen plenty of adult Honey Buzzards when out at Skagen in Denmark two years ago, but this bird looked like a juvenile. I had never seen a juvenile before. I sent an underexposed back of camera photo to Dodge, who I had just been messaging, and purely said "I cannot figure this out". I was starting to convince myself I had imagined it and it was just a Common Buzzard. Dodge asked for another pic, and then brightened them up for me, before sending them back. The features were now clearer to see - the yellow cere was particularly conspicuous. Nonetheless, I still did not have full confidence to put the news out, so I sent the now lightened back of camera shots to a few other birders, who all agreed it was a dark morph juvenile Honey Buzzard. I then put the news out, but by this point half an hour had passed since I had seen the bird. Thankfully, there was no one else onsite so no one missed it due to my delayed news.

Once I got back home and reviewed the pics once more, I really started kicking myself that I had not just been more confident and trusted my gut. Why did I try so hard to convince myself I had got it wrong to begin with? I quite like the fact that as a birder, I do often second guess myself and double check things, but sometimes, like in this scenario, it becomes a problem and I talk myself out of good birds. But anyways, it was a fantastic bird to top off an already amazing day. It is the first confirmed record since 2016 and my 164th species at Beddington Farmlands!

Full eBird list HERE.

Dark morph juvenile Honey Buzzard below:

The moment I first decided to take a photo, already showing distinctive shape compared to Common Buzzard

Shape becoming more obvious throughout series of photos

Features become more obvious

Life Update and East Yorkshire Birding

I have finally got around to doing a blog post after far too long away from it. A lot has happened, positive and negative, but the not-too-distant future looks promising.

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 off 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!

Patch Grippage!

Many of you that know me are aware of how obsessed I am with my patch, Beddington Farmlands. Obsessed in terms of rinsing it and seeing good birds, but also regarding its restoration, its future and its legacy. Today there have been several members of the BFBG on site and they have absolutely gripped me off this morning! Two patch ticks!! I cannot remember the last time it was possible for me to get two patch ticks in a day! Firstly, a Cattle Egret on Phase 1 Wet Grassland and North Lake. Visible from public hides too, which is brilliant. It's the 4th site record - see records on the website HERE. Then, an hour and a half later, they twisted the dagger... adult Kittiwake west. Ouch! First record since 2019. Also a patch tick for Steve Thomas (Tank) so I am glad he got onto it. So despite me being at Spurn (I know where most people would pick if given the option between Beddington or Spurn), it still hurts when a patch tick gets found.

But I cannot complain. Spurn is just fantastic. Even on quiet days there's plenty of birds to look at - waders on the Humber, mass movements and roosts of Starlings in the evening, Whooper Swans, lots of Brent Geese etc. There was a strong westerly wind yesterday and although the point counts around The Triangle were fairly quiet there was still a small scattering on Chiffchaff and Goldcrest in the bushes. I also saw my first Wheatear of the year, a stunning male, on the rocks along Canal Footpath. The other highlight was a Crossbill that I picked up on call going south over Cliff Farm. Jacob got on it down at The Warren too and it just carried on going. It was also a good day for raptors. I saw Red Kite, Buzzards, Sparrowhawks, Kestrel, and Merlin. The others had a Peregrine at The Warren. My full eBird list for yesterday can be seen HERE.

Today the strong westerly continues and actually picks up even more in the afternoon. Point counts were even quieter this morning but it was just nice to be out and about, as always. Having said that, a few more birds would have been a welcomed distraction from the good birds I am missing back home!

Back at Spurn for Another Season

I am back volunteering at Spurn this year but this time I am doing the spring and summer rather than the autumn.. I did apply for the Assistant Warden role but just got trumped by Jacob Spinks. He has lived up at Spurn for the past six years and his knowledge of the area is impeccable. I know he is going to do a great job as the new AW. I am very pleased that I even managed to make it a close call between us and overall the application and interview process was all good experience - the second interview being my first ever in person.

I am looking forward to the season ahead, both in terms of birds that could turn up and also building up more experience so that I can become a stronger candidate for AW applications either here or at other bird observatories. Posts on social media and on this blog have been very slow over recent months, partly to do with having a broken camera lens and partly down to changes at home. However, I do intend to start posting more frequently again in the near future. By some time next week I should be able to take photos again, as thanks to Peter Alfrey I am getting a replacement second-hand lens. After so long being out without the option of taking photos with a camera I am excited to try out the new lens. Hopefully throughout the season it will come in handy when finding some rarities.

I have also started to learn to ring this time - something that I intended to do last autumn but never got round to. After ringing 19 birds in Skagen last summer I am keen to get under way again, with the eventual goal to obtain at least a C permit for ringing. Lots of bird observatories ask for this in AW and some volunteer job descriptions so it will be beneficial to me in that sense, but I am also looking forward to learning lots of new and interesting facts throughout the process - particularly how to age and sex different species. Paul Collins has been great at teaching me the very basics over the last couple of days.

After completing the point counts round The Triangle this morning I joined PC in Church Field. He had not caught much and was considering packing up for the day. Thankfully, he changed his mind so that I could do a few net rounds with him and soon there were more birds turning up in the nets. The star highlights included a female Firecrest and a male Brambling nearing summer plumage, along with several male Siskins, some Chiffchaffs, Redwings, Blackbirds, and Goldcrests etc.

Female Firecrest

Early afternoon Rob gave me a lift up to Withernsea so I could go food shopping. On the way back he (rather impressively) managed to pick out the Black Brant amongst the Brent Goose flock whilst driving along. I soon got onto the bird he was on and being my first ever view of one I was happy that I too could recognise the difference between it and the Dark-bellied Brents fairly easily. Over the next few days I will go and have another look to see if I can pick it out again without anyone's assistance.