October birding

After returning from Indonesia I only had a couple of days at home before I was off on another trip. 

Spurn

I had a three day trip up to the Spurn area with fellow Dagenham Chase patch birders Vince & Sam. We stayed in a nice self-catering 3 bedroom house in Welwick which was conveniently located next to a pub.

On our way up we had planned to stop at Frampton but nothing had been reported there so we carried on up to Bempton to look for the Isabelline Shrike. It was very windy when we got there and although it had been seen earlier in the day there was no sign of it. At least one Yellow-browed Warbler was heard by the feeding station which also housed a small flock of Tree Sparrows, the first ones I'd seen this year.

Tree Sparrow

The following morning was spent at various sites in the Spurn area. We tried for the American Wigeon at Kilnsea but it was either hiding or asleep. However, there was Little Stint and Spotted Redshank there. In the afternoon we crossed back over the Humber Bridge and made a short exploratory stop at Far Ings NR. There weren't many birds visible from the first hide but we did have great views of an Otter.

Far Ings NR by the Humber Bridge

Not the Loch Ness Monster but an Otter's tail!

Our main target was the goose roost on Read Island and we next went to a viewpoint where a few other birders had gathered. Pink-footed Geese started coming in up the estuary and we scanned through them and then Vince found a small flock that were flying in from the north with two white birds in it. Through the scope we could see that they were the two Snow Geese we were looking for. They did a circuit over Read Island but decided not to roost there and carried on up the Humber.

Pink-footed Geese

We stopped for dinner at a carvery before driving back to Welwick. While Vince & Sam had a nightcap across the road I went to scan the skies for the Northern Lights as they had been forecast to show and a few reports were coming in. After a few minutes a large streak of red light was visible next to a patch of green sky. I retrieved the others from the pub along with all the other patrons and we watched the spectacle.

Northern Lights

For our last day we walked down to Welwick Marsh from our cottage. There were quite a few birds around in the adjacent fields and there's a nature reserve at the end of the track.

Great Egret

We then headed back to Kilnsea. We decided to give the wigeon another go and after a bit of a search found it on the eastern pool. As we walked back a Red-throated Diver swam towards us before flying off south. A few Whooper Swans flew past as well.

Red-throated Diver

Whooper Swans

We walked back, seeing a Little Owl by the farm, then went up the road and heard a Yellow-browed Warbler. There wasn't a lot being reported in the area so we went back to our digs and checked out. We had a last look down Welwick Marsh then drove home. Although we hadn't come across any rarities from the east it was a nice break with 90 species seen.

Dagenham Chase

I made eight visits here this month and it proved to be a very productive October as I saw three new patch birds: Bearded Tit, Cattle & Great Egrets. I did several dawn starts in the hope of some good visible migration but it was fairly quiet apart from on Oct 16th when 900+ Redwings flew over. Despite Bramblings and Hawfinches being seen at many other sites we couldn't manage either one.

Bearded Tit

Cattle Egret, just the second ever record at The Chase

Great Egret, also seen flying over The Slack

My second Marsh Harrier of the year at The Chase

Rainham Marshes

I only managed five visits to Rainham this month but that was enough to get one new patch tick - a Hawfinch that flew over the old silt lagoons as I was walking along Coldharbour Lane. Having missed three the day before I was very pleased to catch up with one, especially so as it was my 150th  bird there this year which was my target. I also spent some time looking for a probable Dusky Warbler but it had presumably moved on. I was up in Norfolk for the last few days of the month so missed the Long-billed Dowitcher.

Photographs

A very poor month for photographing new species - the only one was the Cattle Egret at Dagenham Chase which brings me up to 134 this year.