WRYNECK REVISITED

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Eurasian Wryneck, Cant Clough Reservoir, 26 September 2020 (Mike Watson)

AFTER THE CROWDS HAD LEFT, the Cant Clough wryneck landed closeby along the footpath on the southern shore of the reservoir there. Rocket and I fired off lots of photos and eventually it chose a nice spot on the grassy bank where it was feeding, quite unconcerned by our presence. It seems that as soon as the number of folks watching it exceeds three or four it becomes much more nervous. We are all surprised and happy it has stayed for a week now and longer if it wasn’t found on its first day. I hadn’t been that bothered about getting nicer photos of it but I was keen for Alexander to see it. In the end he got some nice views but he was more excited to take a walk with Rocket’s bulldog. We drove by Burnley’s famous football ground, Turf Moor on the way home and then the temporary Covid testing tents in the middle of town. The wryneck has certainly brightened up this awful period in East Lancashire history.

ELOC WRYNECK!

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Eurasian Wryneck, Cant Clough Reservoir, 22 September 2020 - love the lichen markings on its tail

AT LAST A WRYNECK IN THE ELOC RECORDING AREA! It is more than 15 years (the length of time I’ve been here now) since the last twitchable wryneck in East Lancs, at Dean Clough Reservoir so I was delighted to see the news that Bernard Lee had found one at Cant Clough Reservoir a couple of days ago. Less delightful was a lack of co-operation that meant I missed it during a quick try yesterday, during which I saw a Grasshopper Warbler and a few Twite. So it was a relief to catch up with it quickly today and enjoy some nice views of one of my favourite birds. OK I’ve seen lots of them, from my first at St Mary’s Island, Northumberland in September 1982 onwards: on migration in spring and autumn in the UK, including inland in Hampshire and Hertfordshire; singing and in nest holes in Belarus and Poland; on wintering grounds in India and on migration again in sping and autumn in the Middle East, but never one in East Lancs and that means something to me for some reason. As they go this one is quite shy, nowhere near as tame as some I’ve seen, particularly at Spurn and in Norfolk. I guess it is not a tired migrant that is more concerned to feed than for people to be near it but then again individual birds vary. Not all dotterels are tame for instance. It was quite tricky to see on the ground on the northern, south-facing shore of the cold upland reservoir but posed nicely in willows a couple of times. Eventually we lost track of it in the long grass of the moor, where Gaz commented it looked just like a snake as it disappeared from sight. When we eventually looked for it in there it had already given us the slip, a master of camouflage and disappearing acts!

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Wryneck habitat! Cant Clough Reservoir

SPURN MIGRATION FESTIVAL 2014

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Eurasian Wryneck, Beacon Lane, Kilnsea (on the same driveway that the 2013 Great Snipe frequented)

A GOOD SELECTION OF MIGRANTS AT SPURN THIS WEEKEND tempted me across the Pennines again. Coincidentally it was also the Spurn Migration Festival so there were a lot of birders around (although I have seen just as many or maybe more on an autumn 'fall' weekend) and I caught up with a few friends as well. Whinchats were probably the most visible migrants but there was also a wide variety of other species. I spent a long time trying to take photos of wryneck and Barred Warbler (I saw one of the former, mostly along Beacon Lane and the adjacent campsite and two of the latter, one in the hedge opposite the church and another in a hedge at Kilnsea Wetlands) but also caught up with sother interesting birds including a first winter Caspian Gull (expertly picked up flying north by Martin Garner at the warren and thanks to Garry's emergency stop we saw it fly by just south of the Bluebell). Martin said it was only around the 10th record for Spurn as this recent taxon catches up much rarer birds with records already in double figures here. A sandy-coloured Lesser Whitethroat in the Crown & Anchor car park was probably a blythi Siberian bird but I missed the 'Lesser' Golden Plover that flew over my head at the warren. Pied and Spotted Flycatchers were everywhere and Common Redstarts popped up in hedges here and there. Chattering flocks of Eurasian Tree Sparrows passed overhead at the Warren - is there anywhere else that you can see this in the UK I wonder? I have not heard so many flava wagtails flying over in this country for many years and newcomers like Mediterranean Gulls and Little Egret (at least five of each) were also conspicuous. I love birding at Spurn, despite the crowds of other birders and hope to be back there again later this autumn.

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Barred Warbler, in the hedge opposite Kilnsea Church, a real brute that stuffed its face with elderberries all day

EAST COAST WRYNECK FALL!

Eurasian Wryneck, Crown & Anchor, Kilnsea. Magic! 

A BIG FALL OF WRYNECKS ON THE EAST COAST prompted a visit to Spurn Point with Mark Varley and Rocket. We arrived to news of a wryneck trapped at Kew Villa, which we zoomed off for immediately. A lifer for Mark it soon showed how it got its name, twisting and turning its long neck before it was released. There had been an unprecedented 20-30 wrynecks the previous day but we were happy to see a total of six, including a couple of very showy and confiding birds, feeding on ants on sunny grass verges in the evening. It is great to know that drift migrants can still turn up in such good numbers and we were surrounded by others - smart whinchats and wheatears were dotted all along the Humber shore to the point, as well as lots of warblers, mostly Willow Warblers and Common Whitethroats and we also managed to see two Icterine Warblers. One of the 'Ickys' disgraced itself while Rocket was barbecuing his head in the hot sun, landing a fence wire only a few metres away. Other interesting migrants included Yellow Wagtails, Pied and Spotted Flycatchers, however, the bird of the day for Spurn was a Yellowhammer over the Warren – good one for us too, it was lost as a breeding bird from the East Lancashire Ornithological Desert years ago. It was also nice to see lots of familiar faces at Spurn today with cars from Burnley and Blackpool as well as Spurn regulars Adam Hutt and Garry Taylor. Less welcome was another encounter with armed police. We had been reported acting suspiciously near Easington Gas Terminal in the morning – looking for another wryneck. They added this facility to their list of other places I’ve been stopped that already included Heysham and Seaton Carew Nuclear Power Stations! Should I be worried?