The month started slowly with single Hobbys on the 1st and 2nd, and a Short-eared Owl over Clubley’s Field on the 3rd. Things picked up on the 4th with two Wood Warblers at the Point, a Great Spotted Woodpecker at the Warren and two Roseate Terns, a Black Tern and 14 Curlew Sandpipers on the Humber. Offshore the first Sooty Shearwater of the autumn flew north. The Great Spotted Woodpecker was present again the following day, as were the Curlew Sandpipers, increasing to a monthly maxima of 18. The 5th also produced a Marsh Harrier south, a Black Redstart at the Point, a Spotted Redshank on the Humber, a Water Rail on the canal and a Little Egret north over the triangle at 1100 hours. The 6th dawned wet and windy, and many birders could have been forgiven for staying indoors. However persistence in atrocious conditions reaped it’s rewards with an early Jack Snipe on Clubley’s Scrape and a juvenile Long-tailed Skua past the Warren in the evening.

Large evening southerly tern movements are a feature of Spurn during August. This year was no exception with good numbers of Sandwich, Common and Arctic Terns moving south most evenings. Mixed in with these terns were small numbers of the rarer Black Tern and Roseate Tern. The first Roseate Tern moved south on the evening of the 8th with a further 17 bird-days south during the month. Black Terns were also very much in evidence with 36 bird-days south, including 15 south on the 19th.

A Wood Sandpiper was on Clubley’s Scrape on the 10th, with a Pomarine Skua offshore and two Yellow-legged Gulls at Chalk Bank the following day. The number of Wood Sandpipers had increased to three by the 12th, when another Pomarine Skua was off the Point and a Yellow-legged Gull was on the Humber. Wood Sandpipers continued to be seen during the next few days, with two on Clubley’s Scrape on the 13th and 14th, and one remaining until the 15th.

The 13th was a good raptor day with a male Montagu’s Harrier south over the lighthouse at 1005 hours and a juvenile Osprey south over the sea at 1135 hours. There then followed a quiet period with the only records of note being single Pomarine Skuas on the 15th and 16th, and two Marsh Harriers south on the 17th. Strong winds on the 18th produced better than average seawatching with 3 Sooty Shearwaters, 2 Pomarine Skuas and 5 Little Gulls past. In addition 2 Spotted Redshanks were on the canal and a Wood Sandpiper flew over Kilnsea. The Wood Sandpiper count yet again increased, with 5 on the Humber the following day. A juvenile Red-backed Shrike was found at the Point on the 19th, where it showed well until the 22nd, with a second juvenile north of the lighthouse, for one day only, on the 20th. Other birds seen over this four day period, included four Marsh Harriers, a Water Rail, two Yellow-legged Gulls, two Scaup, a Pomarine Skua and a leucistic Sand Martin, which stayed until the 26th.

A scattering of autumn migrants had started to appear by the 26th, including a Wood Warbler at the Warren and a Hobby in the triangle. A first-winter Barred Warbler was in the Canal Bushes on the 27th, along with two Marsh Harriers south, a Hobby in the triangle and a Water Rail flushed from the Warren compound. The Barred Warbler could not be re-found the following day, however a different first-winter was in the Point Dunes, remaining until the 29th. The 28th also saw another Marsh Harrier move through and a Purple Sandpiper at the Narrows, also remaining until the 29th.

August finished well, with a Little Egret roosting at Chalk Bank for over an hour on the 30th, and a Long-eared Owl over Clubley’s Field, and a Black-necked Grebe on the sea off the Warren, on the 31st.

Paul Massey - Spurn Bird Observatory Warden

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