Easterly winds forecast and the talk of big arrivals and surprises meant a Spurn trip was on the cards.  Ian, Kevin, Nigel and I made a plan.  Interestingly it was 1 year ago this Sunday when we last went.  We met at 7.30am, 2 hours later than when we last went and arrived on time.  

First stop was the sea watching hide where we joined some of the locals and outsiders hoping for a slice of some action.  A Grey Wagtail over was a good tick as they were hard to catch up with here.  In no particular order we saw lots of Gannets, Red Throated Divers including 4 together on the water, Common Scoter - the most numerous of all the ducks of the day, Little Gulls very distant but their diagnostic wing pattern giving them away, a Mediterranean Gull, Arctic Skuas, a Puffin, Razorbill, a Great Northern Diver, Manx Shearwater, Shag, Drake Eider and 3 Sooty Shearwaters.  The first 2 were found by seawatchers near me which I was lucky to see.  Luckily another bird this time closer appeared and all the group managed to see it.  Sooty Shearwater was a lifer for all of us.  My first lifer of the year.  The sea was very choppy, how anything survived here always baffled me. 

It was fun chatting to some of the others there and they caught sight of Redwings coming in off the sea.  One of the main stars was the Snow Bunting outside the hide giving really close views.  It really entertained the people present.  We had a look at the Warren viewpoint and then we noted the exodus of people from the sea watching hide up the Point.  Apparently a Leach's Petrel had been spotted but no one had seen it within a 5 minutes walk from the hide.  We had a look around the Warren where various waders such as Grey Plover, Golden Plover, Curlew, Dunlin, both Godwit species, Ringed Plover, Redshank, Oystercatcher were all present.   We then headed to the cafe and he plum crumble was still on offer.  I had it with cream and then off we went for a walk along the Humber.  One of the main highlights here were the arrival of Blackbirds, Redwing, Song Thrush and 2 Fieldfare.  There were over 20 Blackbirds resting in the bushes and then suddenly flew out towards bushes further up.  They were probably tired and in need of rest.  Redwing were coming in and working their way towards the mainland.  There may have been a small fall of Goldcrests as they seemed active and communicative as usual

There were lots of Common Darter dragonfly including at least 12 on a wooden fence in the sun.  A Hawker species or 2 were also present.  One Chiffchaff and one Cetti's Warbler was our total for the Warbler family.  We never managed to hear the Yellow Browed Warblers present probably because of the wind!  We were told we missed a Leach's Petrel close in 5 minutes after we left.

A decision  was made to visit Beacon Ponds in case the Curlew Sandpiper was still present.  Interestingly the car park was full which was indeed very unusual.  We managed to find a place to park and when I looked at the sightings - 3 Shore Larks at the North end of Beacon Ponds.  We marched on for this sadly not encountering any Tree Sparrows today but saw Yellowhammers with Reed Bunting.  Yellow Hammers are a Spurn first for me.  It was my 9th visit in total.  They fed with Reed Buntings.  We caught up with the Shore Larks where there Yellow faces really shone in the bright sunlight.  What a bird to see.  They fed on the ground with a Meadow Pipit occasionally looking towards us thinking "what the hell are you looking at me for?"  That really was the perfect end for the day.  This is my 2nd time I have seen this species in Britain.   

On Beacon Ponds we saw Brent Geese, a Common Sandpiper found by Kevin, Knot and some waterfowl which bolstered our day list.

Had we arrived earlier we would have added Long Tailed Skua and Leach's Petrel but hindsight is a wonderful thing.  The only bird of prey we saw was a Kestrel or 2.  We ran out of time to see the Black Redstart at the Riverside Hotel and the Bramblings eluded us!

A big thanks to Ian for driving!  

Mute Swan

Canada Geese

Shelduck

Mallard

Shoveler

Wigeon

Teal

Goldeneye

Common Scoter

Eider

Pheasant

Great Northern Diver

Red Throated Diver

Little Grebe

Sooty Shearwater

Manx Shearwater

Gannet

Shag

Little Egret

Kestrel

Moorhen

Oystercatcher

Ringed Plover

Grey Plover

Golden Plover

Lapwing

Knot

Dunlin

Common Sandpiper

Redshank

Black Tailed Godwit

Bar Tailed Godwit

Curlew

Arctic Skua

Great Black Backed Gull

Lesser Black Backed Gull

Herring Gull

Common Gull

Black Headed Gull

Mediterranean Gull

Little Gull

Razorbill

Puffin

Stock Dove

Feral Pigeon

Woodpigeon

Collared Dove

Skylark

Shore Lark

Meadow Pipit

Pied Wagtail

Grey Wagtail

Dunnock

Robin

Stonechat

Redwing

Song Thrush

Fieldfare

Blackbird

Chiffchaff

Cetti's Warbler

Great Tit

Blue Tit

Wren

Goldcrest

Starling

Carrion Crow

Jackdaw

Jay

House Sparrow

Chaffinch

Linnet

Goldfinch

Yellowhammer

Reed Bunting

Some birds I may have missed.  Did anyone get the Great Skua when we arrived at the sea watching?