Masked Shrike - Kilnsea 21/09/14

Cant believe it has taken me Forty years for my first ever Spurn trip!  Probably the 4 hour drive that has always put me off, but with Monkey chomping at the bit to twitch Britain's third ever Masked Shrike, and was willing to chauffeur me, it would be terribly rude not to join him on this East Yorkshire adventure!

Leaving at just before 5am it wasn't till about 06:45 we received news on the bird still being present via Twitter, making the rest of the journey far more relaxing,

Arriving about 08:30 with already c100 birders in the vicinity it wasn't long before we were enjoying good views of the shrike, albeit distant.

In the same hedge, flocks of Tree Sparrows fell from the sky and landed joining all three flycatchers, Redstarts and various warblers and Whinchats! Amazing sight.

An OBP was elusive a Barred warbler less so topped off a great mornings birding,

Another go at the Shrike found the bird much closer as it hunted crane flys on the ground.

 Another RB fly & a couple more redstarts at Sammys and we headed home in time for tea.