A kind of twitch to Spurn and some special thanks

The main reason for leaving Lewis early was to twitch a Masked Shrike, as well as going to see the Snowy Owl.  So, after trekking for 6 hours to see the Snowy Owl, we then embarked on a car journey of 9 hours to East Yorkshire.  Fortunately, we could share the driving and in between us each driving, we managed some sleep.

We arrived at Spurn at about 5:00am and took the hours before dawn as sleep time before finding the field where the Shrike is currently residing.  The Shrike was predicably sitting on a fence and gave us great views, although distant.  Before any other twitchers arrived, we moved away from the viewing spot and had a look around the nearby area, finding a Pied Flycatcher and a Redstart.

Masked Shrike

The drive back to Warwick seemed to go on for an age but we finally got back safe and sound in the early afternoon.  Now that the holiday is over, I would like to thank Matt for inviting me and for showing me the Snowy Owl and his parents for allowing a stranger into their rented self catering Cottage for a nominal cost - I had a great but tiring time.