cliftonbirding: Crestfallen (Day one)

With some good Easterlies over the weekend and into this week I decided to take advantage and booked Monday off so I could have a couple of days birding at Spurn. Day one Sunday 11th, I started at Kilnsea Wetlands to try for the American Golden Plovers seen the day before but there was no sign of either of them that morning so I soon moved on to the Crown and Anchor car park, it soon became obvious a massive fall was occurring, mainly Goldcrests but also smaller numbers of Bramblings and Thrushes etc, news came over that a Richard’s Pipit was showing down the road in a field opposite Westmere Farm so I went down and got reasonable views of its head and shoulders as it picked its way through the long grass, also two or three Ring Ouzels were seen there, nearby a Firecrest was found amongst Goldcrests in a Sycamore but could I hell as get on it, tried for several more through the day and missed them as well, they are becoming a real bogey bird this Autumn. While milling around news filtered through of a Pallas’s Warbler near Easington Cemetery, as I returned to get my car I passed two stakeouts back along the road, one for a putative “Ehrenburg’s” Redstart and the other for Black Redstart but neither were showing as I passed, neither was the Pallas’s which hadn’t been seen since the original sighting, I headed back to the Warren and after another failed Firecrest attempt I was pleased to get some good views of a Merlin hunting over the Humber foreshore, first time I have observed one in active pursuit I think, I walked back through the Canal Bushes that were dripping with Goldcrests and came across a group watching a Siberian Chiffchaff, it showed very well, a classic “grey” individual that also called a few times for good measure then ended up back at the Crown and Anchor where I was informed one of the American Golden Plovers had been relocated in a field back towards Easington, I shot off and came across a couple of birders scanning a very distant Golden Plover flock that was also into the sun and deeming it an impossible task I turned to go, as I did I caught sight of a single Plover drop down into the field on the other side of the road, it immediately struck me of being small and very slim I alerted the others to get their scopes on it and it was soon confirmed as being the bird, it eventually settled down and ended up giving us all fairly good views, I ended the day at Sammy’s Point with loads more Goldcrests, some landing just feet away, and a superb Short Eared Owl as I walked back.