In search of Storks

A few weeks back a handful of immature Black Storks were seen up and down the East Coast including a couple in the Spurn area but I never managed to catch up with them before they moved on, there has still been one or two reported from around the country since and then this week one of the Spurn birds has been seen again in the Sunk Island area, I thought I’d try for it this morning, travelling towards Stone Creek I came across a large group of birders who pointed out where the bird had dropped in some 30 mins earlier, it was eventually decided the bird must be in a ditch and a few of us would walk out and see if we could locate it, following the line of a ditch out to where it was thought it had dropped we came upon a point where another couple of ditches came in and formed a small pool and there it was, of course as we saw it, it saw us but remarkably it just flew up into the corner of the field opposite no more than twenty feet away and pottered around for a few minutes, seemingly curious of us, it did then eventually fly off and after gaining height on a thermal appeared to drift off over the Humber. I carried on to Stone Creek where there was an impressive number of Yellow Wagtails and Whinchats then decided on the afternoon at Spurn, the imm Red Backed Shrike from yesterday remained at Sunnycliff Farm but apart from that it was just common migrants, late afternoon I ended up at Kilnsea Wetlands and with the rising tide there were big numbers of Redshanks and Little Egrets roosting there plus three Mediterranean Gulls dropped in as well. 

coming up out of the ditch it landed not too far away

flying off

Red Backed Shrike

Lesser Whitethroat

Spotted Flycatcher

Garden Warbler destroying a damson

Pied Flycatcher

a second go with the Shrike but the light was dire

being mobbed by a Willow Warbler

Redshanks and Egrets at the Wetlands

all put up

by this fella

one of the Med Gulls

imm Med Gull