Spurn Mig Fest 3

Bonkers to think that the third Spurn Mig Fest has been and gone! A cracking weekend with some great seawatching on Saturday morning, including my first Yorkshire Cory's Shearwater, which flapped north dwarfing two accompanying Sooties, at least five Long-tailed Skuas, c50 Sooty Shearwaters, etc. A few cool land birds were seen around Spurn during the weekend including Red-backed Shrike in the Corner Field, a Barred Warbler picked up dropping in over the Westmere Farm barn into a hedge, several Pied Flys, Whinchats, Peregrines, etc. Very nice. Failed to find a mega on the Point, and didn't match my self-found Wryneck at SMF2. Spent the festival guiding over 90 people on trips to the end in YWT's unimog; checked out the lighthouse complete with impressive scaffold rig. It's shiny new paint job is almost complete. Marvelled at 'Spurn Island' which was cut off from the mainland during high tide on Saturday.

 40 tonnes of scaffolding, but with some pipe monkey genius, exerting only 10 tonnes ground pressure.

Juvenile Lesser Whitethroat caught at the Warren

 One of several Pied Flys. This one phonescoped in the field by the Warren

Spurn Island

The Warren at Spurn. One of the reasons YWT need better facilities at Spurn. This isn't really acceptable on a SSSI and NNR. Moving car parking north, removing the old buildings and re-naturalising this area will be a vast improvement on this.

 Knot etc shimmer in front of the high and low lights

The Unimog