Harpham Dipper and Flamborough delights

Me and Mark headed off for the East Coast yesterday morning calling in at Harpham on the way for the wintering Black Bellied Dipper, I've been quite laid back about this bird as I saw the Tophill bird in 2008 but as it was still there thought we'd have a look, glad we did it was a superb area with a lovely crystal clear stream and although the Dipper gave us a run up and down it posed nicely on a couple of occasions, we carried on to Flamborough and had a look from the cliffs at Sewerby for the recent Red Necked Grebes, we found what was a good candidate but the tide was right out, it was very distant and the light was bad so we decided to return later when hopefully conditions would be better. South Landing was next and we were soon scanning through a load of Rock Pipits and managed to pick out at least three or four of the Scandinavian race littoralis coming into their summer finery, a Peregrine was patrolling the cliffs. After lunch we went on to Bempton Cliffs, a good number of seabirds are back on the cliffs now but we couldn’t find any Puffins, we ended up walking to Buckton and after a bit of searching found at least three possibly four Short Eared Owls, also a Barn Owl in the area and we had distant views of the Grindale Rough Legged Buzzard hunting further along the cliffs. Late afternoon found us back at Sewerby and sure enough with the tide in at least two Red Necked Grebes were closer in and showing well through the scopes, one of them looking splendid in full summer plumage.

the atmospheric backlit shot

didn't have a choice really with the path right next to the stream we'd have flushed it trying to get past

Scandi's

Seabird City, Bempton, apparently Springwatch were there

not often you see them in trees

it would be nice at times to be a bit taller

didn't get chance of many flight shots but here are couple