Great Grey

Very strong NE wind this morning (Friday). Torn between a sea-watch and a mooch around Spurn. Should have done the former but went with the latter.

Tried to get to some sheltered spots, which wasn't easy! No luck in the churchyard, so I tried Cliff farm by the estuary.

Immediately, it was obvious that a decent number of Gannets had been blown in...

...many were seen inland, maybe patch ticks for a few?

There were also decent numbers of Goldcrests about, feeding and moving constantly through the vegetation. News then came over the radio of a Great Grey Shrike (P.164, S.136) behind Rose Cottage. That was handy! I picked it up briefly before it dis-appeared into the bushes. As already mentioned the wind was very strong and viewing was difficult.

I continued along the canal and after around 15 minutes I found it again in an isolated bush...

c80 yds

An even poorer super-zoom effort!

This morning Sat I connected with a Northern Treecreeper (P.165, S.137), Mealy Redpoll (P.166, S.138) and Long-eared Owl (P.167, S.138). Rather brief I know...Work and Birding dominate...no time to Blog!

More detail later...

More detail!

Northern Treecreeper

Long-eared Owl through the drizzle

I saw the Mealy Redpoll being ringed but didn't manage a photo