Spurn Bird Observatory

Friday 06 September 2024

We arrived at around 5pm after a long drive during the day. We left on Thursday evening from Aberdeen and spent a night at the border town of Gretna, in the south of Scotland. Just as we were just driving down the road past Spurn Bird Observatory, we saw a group of people looking at the same group of trees. We parked and asked what they were looking at. “Red-breasted Flycatcher,” said one of the birders. Unfortunately, after a little while waiting, I had still not seen the bird so we walked towards North Field and the main event, seeing a lovely male Redstart on the way. Once we got checked in, we walked to the beach, seeing a Wheatear flying around the rocks. We headed back to North Field at this point, since the opening ceremony was about to start. We took our seats and listen to the ceremony. It was followed by a presentation by Lars Svensson, himself, and I managed to get my books signed by him as well as getting a selfie. The exam was the next day, so we went home and relaxed in the hot tub which came with our accommodation.

Saturday 07 September 2024

After spending some time the evening before in the hot tub that came with our accommodation, we went to bed to make sure I was not sleepy during my assessment. We arrived at Spurn at around 7am, starting by checking out Kilnsea Wetlands for some waders/wildfowl. We walked to the first hide, which was full of roosting Redshanks. As well as the Redshanks, we picked out a Black-tailed Godwit, a few Ringed Plovers, a Dunlin. With a flock of mostly Great Black-backed Gulls in the distance, I scanned them, picking out a lovely pair of Avocet feeding in the shallows.

https://spurnbirdobservatory.co.uk/news/martin-garner-spurn-young-birder-2024-22-06-2024