East Coast

I was out with Mark and Paz today and we decided on a jaunt along the East Coast to do some general year ticking, we started at Harwood Dale near Scarborough where some Waxwings had been reported yesterday and after a treacherous drive along some very icy roads we soon had a group of 10 birds feeding near the church, good one to get they're a bit thin on the ground this winter, we headed back into Scarborough parking up along Marine Drive, there are already quite a few Fulmars back on the cliffs but again the Peregrines were notable by their absence, the Harbour was quiet but a few Guillemots were on the sea, the juv Great Northern Diver was feeding just outside the Harbour mouth and at least three Purple Sandpipers were roosting below the outer wall. Next up was the Mere where the Firecrest from last year was still showing but was extremely active and only offered fleeting glimpses then as per the norm it was lunch with the Med Gulls at Holbeck. On to Filey, a look out over the Bay only found a handful of Eiders and Great Crested Grebes etc, the Dams was also very quiet but a decent flock of Common Scoter off Hunmanby Gap were joined by at least two Velvet Scoter, we finished off at Hornsea Mere where there was a good selection of Ducks etc but we failed to locate any Scaup or any of the other recent rarer Ducks but a Buzzard was over the back and after very distant views of a Great White Egret in the reeds at the far end both birds then came in to roost  at our end just before dark affording us much better views, we missed a couple of our target species but all in all it was a pretty good day plus the rain stayed off until we were driving home.

Fulmars back on the cliffs

Guillemot

and GN Diver

not much contrast against a grey sky

GW Egret coming into roost at Hornsea Mere

Both Egrets roosting with a Grey Heron