Thames Gulling - Thamesmead and Erith Pier

I met up with Dante and Rich Bonser today for some afternoon gulling along the River Thames from Thamesmead and Erith Pier. The strong north easterly wind helped with turnover of gulls so it was a more productive visit than my last time out. We ended on 2 Caspian Gulls (both 2nd winters) and 8 Yellow-legged Gulls.

2nd cycle Caspian Gull

Dutch ringed blue 'F|6' 2nd cycle Caspian Gull above and below

A rather blunt-winged 1st cycle Yellow-legged Gull above (with 'F|6') and below

French ringed green '84B:C' 1st cycle Yellow-legged Gull

Another 1st cycle Yellow-legged Gull above and below

2nd cycle Yellow-legged Gull

An interesting and rather lovely looking 1st cycle 'argentatus' Herring Gull below:

1st cycle Herring Gull with a funky tail band

Adult Great Black-backed Gull above and below

Spurn Chapter 2: Weekend Work Party and Mini Reunion

I've just got back home after a long weekend back up at Spurn Bird Observatory. Beth and I had seen them advertising about a work parties for a couple of weekends in January to help with some site maintenance and we both thought that this was a great opportunity to head back there since we left last October. We both had three main birding targets for our stay - to see the Shore Larks, flock of Snow Buntings and the Bearded Tit that had all been reported recently. I travelled on the train up to Hull from London on the Friday afternoon. Birding highlights from the train included 15 Red Kite, 14 Buzzard, 3 Kestrel, 3 Pheasant (including a leucistic/albino individual), 2 Grey Heron, 2 Egyptian Goose (possibly a train tick - maybe I should start a public transport/train list), 150+ Lapwing, 100+ Fieldfare, and 8 Mute Swan. Beth then picked me up from Hull and drove me the rest of the way to Spurn. Just before we entered the Spurn recording area we were treated to a great view of a Barn Owl hunting by the side of the road.

Saturday morning started with a classic stunning Spurn sunrise. I had gone for a brief walk before meeting the work party outside the Obs at 9am. The 3 Tree Sparrows that flew over calling (my first ones since leaving here last autumn) were the best bird on my short walk. We then all headed to Beacon Ponds, where we would be pulling old Little Tern fence posts out of the ground and carrying out a group litter pick to remove the vast quantities of plastic that had tragically washed up into the nesting area for the colony. Sadly the pair of Scaup that had been reported in the area the day before were nowhere to be seen. After struggling to get some of the fence posts out - the holes being dug were just filling back up with water and basically cementing the posts in place - we stopped for some lunch. Whilst all stood around having a bite to eat and a chat, I heard this call from behind me that caught my attention. My brain instantly thought Reed Bunting but I was convinced it didn't sound quite right. Then a second call, much closer, confirmed to me that it was not a Reed Bunting calling, but that it was the pair of Shore Larks that have been present in the area since mid-November. Then I got sight of them flying towards us, over mine and Beth's heads and then dropped down right in front of the work party. I did not instantly call them out. I was so surprised that no one else had seemed to notice them drop in that I had to do a double take before saying anything. I said quietly to Beth, "get up that's the Shore Larks" before then saying to the rest of the group, "am I going mad or is that the Shore Larks?" So despite being sure I still didn't feel comfortable enough to just shout them out (definitely something I need to work on). Everyone then turned and were delighted to see the Shore Larks showing well. They gradually worked their way south along the edge of the Ponds before going out of sight and being lost. Once all the work was done Beth and I waited with Rob for a bit whilst he managed the fire before then heading down to Canal Scrape at dusk for the Bearded Tit. It was quite vocal and we did eventually locate it through our binoculars but the light levels were shocking and so not the best views considering it was Beth's first ever.

Sunrise below:

My best attempt at photographing one of the Shore Larks

On Sunday morning we helped install some fencing around some newly planted trees in Schipper's Field. The job didn't take too long and so despite both our bodies aching Beth and I decided to walk to the end of the point and back. At The Warren on the way out we saw a Stonechat and a Yellowhammer. The point was very quiet in terms of birds as to be expected at this time of year, with the best areas being along the breach, at Chalk Bank hide and at Green Beacon. It was high tide when we walked along the breach, so the large flocks of Knot, Grey Plover and Dunlin were all relatively close. We used the shelter and comfort of the Chalk Bank hide to stop and have some lunch. Whilst sat enjoying the peace the flock of Snow Buntings suddenly dropped in. The bank obscured our view of them whilst they were on the deck and so we only got flight views as they came in and then flew off north a minute or so later. Shore Larks the day before and now a Snow Bunting flock whilst eating lunch: it's obviously the most efficient way of birding! A few hundred Oystercatchers, a couple of Turnstone, Reed Buntings and a Kestrel were also seen from the hide. We then continued on and were ironically surprised to see Sheep in Chalk Bank Sheep Field, and there were also Cattle in Potato Fields. At the end of the point vegetation has been cleared since we were last there and so it gave a whole different look and feeling to the place.

Cattle selfie!

Green Beacon view with newly cleared vegetation

On the Monday we made the most of our final full day by firstly heading down to Canal Scrape - sadly no sight or sound of the Bearded Tit this time - before then having some food in the YWT Discovery Centre late morning. Whilst sat eating our bacon baps news came out that the flock of Snow Buntings were on the breach so we headed off that way. They seemed to have vanished by the time we had got there and all we could see was some Red-throated Divers moving out to sea, lots of waders and a young Grey Seal. But then I managed to pick out 2 Snow Buntings flying about. They circled round for a fair while before appearing to drop down just north of the seawatching hut. We headed towards where we thought they'd gone and managed to see another one in flight (this time calling too which made me very happy!). They were obviously about somewhere but we failed to locate the main flock or to see any on the deck. Instead we found a Meadow Pipit and 2 Rock Pipits. We then headed up to Kilnsea Wetlands and Beacon Ponds via Beacon Lane. A male Marsh Harrier flew low south before later heading back north. Between the Wetlands and the Ponds 14 Yellowhammers ticked away. 1 male and 2 female Goldeneye were at the far end of Beacon Ponds, which are always a treat for me to see, but again no sign of the recently reported Scaup. A minimum of 105 Lapwing and 100+ Golden Plover were in the field immediately north of Kilnsea Wetlands. From the Wetlands hide we were treated to lovely views of a Black-tailed Godwit. On leaving the Wetlands we checked for the Little Owl that locals have been seeing recently but unfortunately did not get lucky there. In the evening we enjoyed the briefly stunning sunset that managed to find a gap between the grey clouds from the comfort of the common room sofa in front of the fire.

Young Grey Seal

Black-tailed Godwit

For all my sightings from the long weekend see my eBird trip report here.

It was great to visit Spurn again and catch up with the locals. I'll definitely be going back up some time this year, especially when migration picks up again. But for now, it's back to rinsing the local patch!