L.O.S. Field trp to Spurn NNR - Saturday 6th September 2025

Leigh Ornithological Society undertook their first Field Trip of the 2025/2026 Season to the Yorkshire Wildlife Trust site of Spurn Point. The location at just over 200 miles (323kms) is a well known site for migatory birds as they use it as a stepping stone to cross the Humber Estuary. One of our lucky participants, (Kenny) was so very lucky to add White-tailed sea eagle to our list. Huge appreciation to Keith for organising the venture. Here's the report from Keith, our fieldtrip officer.

The Eagle has Landed (and I don’t mean Eddie!! )

Nine hardy soles rose with the lark and headed east along the M62 for the two-and-a-half-hour journey to the migration mecca that is Spurn National Nature Reserve. On leaving the Castleford area the M62 opens to arable fields and we were treated to flyover Kingfisher and Sparrowhawk with a Kestrel hunting fields that contained several Roe Deer, though these were not added to the days tally. 

After readying ourselves for the day with lunches on our backs we headed to our first port of call, the Canal Scrape hide at the side of the Spurn Discovery Centre, this looked far different from our previous visit a couple of years back with more open water and much less vegetation. The pool contained Mallard, Teal and a couple of Moorhen. The adjacent fences were adorned with a stream of Meadow Pipit and Yellow Wagtail with Woodpigeon and Stock Dove atop the nearby hawthorn trees. 

On exiting the hide a small passerine was feeding on some nearby grasses but with the morning sun directly behind the bird making it a black silhouette. Gaining a better vantage point showed the bird to be a Linnet. We made our way to the beach and headed along the coastal path towards the Sea Watching hide, a constant stream of Swallows passed through with Lesser Black-backed Gull and Herring Gull cruising over the sea. At the hide, a warm drink and a bite to eat was consumed as three Oystercatchers, a pack of Wigeon and several Common and Sandwich Terns passed by. 

The Sea Watch hide is at The Warren, to the back of the hide is The Warren screen, this overlooks the Humber Estuary and with the tide out there was plenty of mud for the cast of birds to feed upon. These included Little Egret, Dunlin, Ringed Plover, Golden Plover, Curlew and hundreds of Shelduck for as far as the eyes could see. The group decided to walk towards the lighthouse down towards the point, this meant wading through quicksand, well it felt like quicksand. As we reached the end of the quicksand we camped down and had lunch on the beach whilst watching inquisitive Grey Seals hunting the shallows.

After a very short discussion we agreed to abandon the trek to the lighthouse as no birds were passing by at this time so likely a wasted journey, instead we looked forward to attacking the quicksand for a second time! Arriving back at The Warren one member had decided against the trek down the point, this proved to be a very good decision as they added Little Tern, Gannet, Common Scoter, Arctic Skua (x 4), Gadwall and White-tailed Eagle from the Sea Watch hide. The eagle we later found out was one of two birds in the general area.

On a stroll along the coastal path back to the car park area, a bird flapping in the surf was noticed, closer inspection showed this to be a juvenile Guillemot that looked to have a broken neck, the bird took its last breath and slowly passed away. On reaching the car park we were informed that Wheatear and Stoat needed adding to the days total. 

A stream of House Martins and Sand Martins passed through as we walked The Triangle in search of reported Stonechat and Whinchat, this proved fruitless on the first leg other than a Roe Deer. As we reached the Crown and Anchor Pub, a scan of the estuary produced 3 x Bar-tailed Godwits, a great addition to a growing list. The walk along the road from the pub to the Blue Bell car park produced Chiffchaff and Blackcap with many passerines passing overhead. Behind the Blue Bell carpark is Borrow Pit, a small pond at the side of the beach that added Little Grebe to the tally. The final leg of the triangle back to the car park produced a hunting Sparrowhawk gliding a couple of feet along the road, then a sharp left and it was gone. In hindsight we would have been better walking the triangle after the Sea Watch hide, one for the memory bank.

As time was pressing we headed around half a mile, to our last stop, to Kilnsea Wetlands. The pool at the front with the hide was completely dry, a stark contrast to a couple of years back when it was full of water and brimming with wildfowl. This proved to be a great decision as the birding was great as we headed to the back of the wetlands to Beacon Pools. A Sparrowhawk with prey was the first noteworthy bird that traversed the hedgerow. On reaching the end of the hedgerow at the corner of the first water there were several bird feeders, in the corner of the field, no doubt the larder for the hawk. Amongst the sheep grazing nearby several Yellow Wagtail were opportunistically following close by devouring any insects disturbed as they grazed. The water was teaming with waders, waterfowl, gulls and terns with more pouring in from the estuary every minute, and eight Little Egret also gathered in a nearby field. We added Curlew Sandpiper, Knot, Turnstone, Avocet, Spotted Redshank, Pintail, Shoveler, Great-black Backed Gull and Common Gull to the final tally.

The first trip proved to be a good one with lessons learned for our next visit. We ended with a tally of 60 birds plus Roe Deer, Stoat and Grey Seal, which is very respectable for a small area.

I hope you have enjoyed reading about our day out and if you fancy a walk with like-minded folk why not join us on our next outing to RSPB Leighton Moss in October.

Keith Williams

leighos.trips@gmail.com