Spurn Point(part 2)

Jack Snipe

Common Snipe.

Fieldfare alongside a Redwing,a nice comparison!

The pilots pier at Spurn .

The present lighthouse at Spurn.

Picking up from my last blog,the lighthouse above was built in 1893/95 however it was decommisioned in 1986 and now the only visible lights flashing are the green lights at the end of the pier which the pilots out on the Humber estuary use.The lifeboat station however was built earlier in 1810 and is crewed by staff who are the only crew to be fully paid,52 weeks a year.

Going back to the bird theme on Spurn, which is what I really came to see,I noticed a few Fieldfare in amongst the Redwing,usually they are rather flighty and are difficult to photograph,but I was allowed to creep quite close to one near to the lighthouse.They are about the size of a Mistle Thrush and have a beautiful slate grey head and mottled chest.On this particular day, the Redwing far outnumbered the Fieldfare

Walking back towards the main bird observatory,I called in to a hide overlooking the canal scrape,the two species of Snipe were both present.It`s not that often you see these at close quarters but I was lucky to be in the right place at the right time and managed a few decent shots.Size is the main difference in these birds with the Jack Snipe being much smaller,it also seemed to prefer the cover of the reedbed to feed, and has has a very particular bobbing motion when viewed.Moving on back towards the carpark the light was now beginning to fade so I decided to call it a day.I was well pleased with my efforts to capture a few images of the visitors and inhabitants of Spurn and can throughly recommend a days visit to anyone.It is well worth a trip and you never know what type of migrant rarity you may encounter.I`ll be returning next year at the middle of September,I`ll keep you informed!