Blue is the colour..

Easterly winds and heavy rain... east coast here we come. As we approached Spurn at dawn, an early start was filled with anticipation.

First stop was Cliffe Farm where yesterday a Red-Flanked Bluetail showed well. Spotted Flycatcher, a couple each of Redstart and Chiffchaff boded well. Suddenly pagers bleeped - the Bluetail had been trapped and was going to be released in 10 minutes.  A quick dash to Church Field and we joined a socially distanced line to patiently wait. Red-Flanked Bluetail has been a bogey bird for me so the next ten minutes was totally worth the early start...

What a start to the day. The Bluetail was then released back into the garden of Cliffe Farm where it performed well for the rest of the morning. We popped in for seconds and thirds later in the day.

We next worked our way along the Canal towards the Warren. More Redstarts flicked through the Hawthorns, whilst Song Thrush, Redwing and various finches kept flying over. Siskin, Redpoll, Greenfinch and Brambling were in amongst the most numerous Goldfinch. We walked past the obs, towards Chalk Bank. Possibly the flighty Olive Backed Pipit (which had been reported) called within a group of Meadow Pipits, although Tree Pipit was also seen today by others, so left at that.

A couple of sharp showers saw us head back towards Kilnsea. A cracking Short-eared Owl was perched up, along with Sparrowhawk, Kestrel and a Ring Ouzel.

Around the church, a Firecrest was difficult to pin down, but called a few times. More Redstarts appeared and a couple of Migrant Hawkers added variety. We watched some more ringing - always great to learn new stuff...

It was getting very busy in Kilnsea so we decided to head towards Sammy's Point, Easington.

Simon and I really enjoy birding Sammy's Point - its like a magician's hat as birds appear and disappear at will. It makes for frustrating but fascinating birding.

Amongst more Redstarts and Chiffchaffs, a couple of Yellow-browed Warblers flicked about with typical enthusiasm. Reports of Olive Backed Pipit, Wood Warbler and Common Rosefinch got us searching more closely. More Redstarts and Blackcaps appeared from nowhere, Reed Buntings, Song Thrush, Redwing and Fieldfare flew about. Then a quick glimpse of a dark tail and orange flanks... there had been another Bluetail here yesterday, but this glimpsed bird was not seen again.

The third paddock was getting very busy now and birds were getting harder to pin down so we headed back towards the car park, a distant Peregrine adding another raptor for the day.

Half way down the second paddock, a group of Pipits appeared. This time a solid Olive Backed Pipit stood out as it was feeding with a couple each of Meadow Pipits and Yellowhammer. Quite distinctive as it fed differently to the Mipits with frequent tail movement. Another Yellow-browed Warbler was in the first paddock, when three Owls appeared!

Two were clearly Short-eared Owl, the third slightly smaller and darker - Long-eared Owl. Shame this didn't come as close as one of the Short-ears...

Unfortunately afternoon plans meant we had to leave at lunch. It did mean we missed a few new ticks for Simon (Icterine and Western Bonelli's Warblers) but the close up Bluetail more than made up for it. Another cracking visit to Spurn 😀