Spurn Migration Festival 2014

I have just spent a long weekend at Spurn Bird Observatory helping out with the Migration Festival. This is the second year the event has been held and, like last year, my role was to give some of the bird ringing demonstrations. The weather was kind and provided a good selection of drift and passage migrants to the delight of the many people that attended. Guided walks, workshops, optics stands and entertaining and informative talks all helped make it a really good event. On top of that a good pub and a chance to catch up with old friends made it a great weekend. More information on Spurn Bird Observatory and the birds seen over the festival weekend can be found here and here.

Barred Warbler (Sylvia nisoria), a real crowd-pleaser.

Pied Flycatcher (Ficedula hypoleuca), a classic drift migrant at Spurn.

Adult male Redstart (Phoenicurus phoenicurus).
 They don't get much better looking than this.

Adult male Redstart (Phoenicurus phoenicurus), same bird as above.

Mike Dilger, TV presenter and Patron of Spurn Bird Observatory, showed his naturalist's credentials with a really entertaining presentation.

It was not just the birds on show, the warm weather meant there were plenty of insects around like this Common Darter (Sympetrum striolatum). 

Quite a few Reed Buntings (Emberiza schoeniculus) were on the move. The bird on the left had a plumage aberration that gave it very pale sandy wings although the rest of the plumage wasn't much paler than normal. Normal bird on right for comparison.

Another view of the 2 Reed Buntings with wings held open to show the marked difference in the colour of the wings.

Sunset over the Humber from the Crown and Anchor.

Andy Roadhouse enjoys a cigar and a pint outside the Crown and Anchor after a very busy and rewarding weekend.

Festival Weekend

I spent the weekend on the east coast helping out at the Spurn Migration Festival. There was a packed programme that included migration, sea and wader watching, various guided walks, illustrated talks, moth trap demonstrations and ringing demonstrations. In addition there were photography workshops, art exhibitions, optics trade stands and a hog roast.
 

It was a well attended event but unfortunately it was relatively quiet on the birding front for the time of year. On the plus side the weather was very pleasant being sunny and warm throughout with the generally southerly wind direction contributing to the lack of birds. Having said that Wryneck, Red-backed Shrike and Common Rosefinch were present and there was some southerly passage and movement over the sea.
 
My role was to provide the ringing demonstration at the Warren and I did manage to catch a few birds for very appreciative audiences. As the catching rate was fairly low I was able to allow quite a few people to hold and release birds, much to their delight. Hopefully everyone will have gained something from the experience and a few may have been encouraged or inspired to take up ringing.
 
I did manage to take a few photos around the ringing and those I have chosen to post are fairly random. They show there is always something to look at or that there is always a new way of looking at something you have seen before. It is a while since I have been to Spurn and it was great to catch up with friends that I haven't seen for some time. It was good to be back and made even better by great people.
 

Starlings are declining as resident and migrants birds and shouldn't be taken for granted.

No question which way the wind was blowing.

Gutter Pigeon at Warren Cottage

Migrant Hawker

Keeping Warm



My wire



Feather management



View from Spurn Lighthouse looking northeast



View from Spurn Lighthouse looking southwest

I don't usually play with the art modes on my cameras but here are a few in what are called dramatic mode.
 

 

 

 

 

 
And back to normal with a Comma.


Comma on a mist-net pole