Visit to Spurn Head : 7th August 2013

Visit to Spurn Head : 7th August 2013

On the second day of our visit to Yorkshire we actually got to the coast and we started off by visiting the Yorkshire Wildlife Trust reserve at Spurn Head. Everyone has heard of Spurn Head so we were really looking forward to this trip. We drove down the spit past the pub and cafe (where there is free parking) and down to the visitor centre where there is parking included in the entitlement to drive down to the bottom of the spit (they charge £4). It is worth paying because it is quite a walk down to the end of the spit but it is worth going. We did make a bit of a mistake, however, but more of that below.

We got out of the car and walked up a small rise to where some bird observers seemed to be doing a count and a lot of counting they would have to do because on the mud flats there were tens of thousands of birds. A casual glance showed that a lot of them were Dunlin and Redshank but since the observation area was a little busy we thought we would drive down to the end of the spit and look there. One side of the spit is essentially a beach and the other side is mud banks but as we drove down there the mud seemed to get less and so did the number of birds. We had a look around and we did have fantastic close views of large numbers of Swallows hovering over the bushes and flying just inches from our heads and we did see a couple of Kestrels but it was obvious that this part was probably better for looking for migrants amongst the Sea Holly that is the dominant vegetation there but we didn’t have the time for prolonged searching so we went back to the visitor centre where, when we looked again from the observation area, to our amazement almost all of the thousands of birds we had seen earlier had almost completely disappeared. There were a number of Ringed Plovers and a few Shelduck and Redshank and Dunlin left but the magnificent sight we had seen earlier had totally disappeared as the tide had receded at a very fast pace. It didn’t even look as if the birds were just further out on the mud. It seems they had just moved on. This is a salutary lesson to us not to assume that birds will be where they are next time you look !

We had a quick look at the seawatching hide on the sandy side of the spit but that was manned by a few hardy souls seated on chairs outside the hide with their eyes peeled to the horizon. This was all a bit daunting for us so instead we headed off to the cafe for a cup of tea. When we got there we parked up for a bit to wait for the cafe to open up and whilst we did that we met a chap from the Yorkshire Wildlife Trust who told us all about the fantastic birds we should be able to see but as we walked around the various pools and the beach there we didn’t actually see anything much at all except some House Martins, Swallows and House Sparrows. One thing he did tell us was that if we wanted to see Curlew Sandpipers we just needed to drive up to the pub, the Crown and Anchor, at Kilnsea which was just up the road and park up and take a walk along the coastal path. We had a cup of tea and headed off there excited at the thought of seeing the half dozen or so Curlew Sandpipers that apparently are always there.

Well we looked and looked and tried to convince ourselves that we had seen one but, in the end, we realised that we were just kidding ourselves and that they were probably not even Whimbrel but were probably just smallish Curlews – so another disappointment. Although it was very interesting to go there (and next time we will know better what to do) we were let down by our own birding inadequacies and really it is a site for more expert people than us. Another suggestion we did get from the chap we spoke to was to go to Filey Pits which he said was a dead cert for great waders ! We would find out the following day but for now we were heading for Bempton Cliffs.

Bird Sightings : Spurn Head