Welcome to Spurn Bird Obs

Accommodation at the observatory

One of the key non-birding issues during the autumn has been negotiations and preparations focussed on the future of Spurn Bird Observatory. As you are all probably aware the majority of the buildings at the Warren have seen better days and we are unable to continue occupying them indefinitely. I am pleased to say that an agreement has been reached with the Yorkshire Wildlife Trust, who own the buildings, on a short term solution and that a more permanent solution is under discussion. The short term solution is that we will cease to occupy the Annex and Dun Birdin with almost immediate effect. We will continue to use the Warren Cottage until late January 2010, when a programme of refurbishment will commence to upgrade the facilities in the Warren Cottage. As a result of this we will be without accommodation for all of February and March, but we expect the refurbished Warren Cottage accommodation to be available with effect from the beginning of April 2010. The changes represent a significant reduction in the number of beds that will be available. All accommodation enquiries should continue to be channelled through Paul, as usual.

Artwork blog

Spurn birder Jack Ashton-Booth has set up his own blog to showcase his artwork, I'm sure you'll agree his work really is excellent and his enthusiasm for birds just leaps off the page. His blog can be found here

Spurn video 1950's!

Richard willison has sent us a link to an amazing video filmed by Charles Chislett, cousin of Ralph Chislett founder member of the observatory. It is hosted by the Yorkshire film archive here

Lesser Whitethroat

A very interesting Lesser Whitethroat was present around the Crown car park during early Novmember. Whilst we see birds most autumns showing features indicative of 'eastern origin' they receive little attention due to the complex and poorly known taxanomic situation. This bird however was trapped some small feathers were shed during the ringing process and have been sent for DNA analysis. Although we hope in time these will tell us the racial identity of this bird it is perhaps a little premature to speculate too much on this at the moment, despite it being confidently named by at least one news service! Some images of the bird with extended captions can be found on the November sightings page.

Yorkshire Wildlife Calendar 2010

Once again Michael Flowers, regular contributor to the website, has produced a Calendar featuring pics from the region. It contains 26 photographs by top Yorkshire Wildlife Photographers & almost 300 lines of info on what to look for at which time of year. Cost is £8 incl p & p with £1 for each copy being donated to Spurn Bird Observatory. Michael can be contacted by e-mail at mflowers81@live.co.uk or by phone on 07946 625688.

Spurn Wildlife 18

The new Spurn report - Spurn Wildlife issue 18 has arrived from the printers and is available for £8 from either Kew Villa or the YWT visitor centre at Spurn. Also available by post, please send a cheque for £9 (£1 p+p) made payable to Spurn Bird Observatory Trust and should be sent to Kew Villa, Kilnsea, East Yorkshire, HU12 0UB.

Feeding Station Sponsor

We are now in the fortunate position to announce that Cranswick Pet Products, part of the Cranswick Country Foods group have kindly sponsored the church field feeding station with a very generous donation which will allow us to keep a constant supply of seed out throughout the year. If you are buying food for your own garden birds please keep in mind the support they have shown us and purchase your food from them by visiting their site here