cliftonbirding: Pallas's Double take

Saturday, 17 October 2015

Pallas's Double take

The winds were still looking good so I took the day off and along with Mark, Darren and Mike again headed for Flamborough, one; for a change of scenery and two; there had also been some good birds there yesterday, as we drove along the approach road the pager bleeped there was a Dusky Warbler along Old Fall hedge, we parked up and joined the small group staking it out but unfortunately the bird had disappeared into a thick part of the hedge and was sitting tight, we carried on to the Plantation hoping for yesterdays Pallas’s Warbler, there were plenty of Chiffchaffs, a few Goldcrests and Bramblings, a Yellow Browed Warbler called but there was no sign of the Pallas’s, after a while we decided to go and have a look at the Siberian Stonechat in the set aside near the lighthouse, a Great Grey Shrike somehow eluded us as we made our way round but the Stonechat showed well, a smart looking bird. By this time there had been reports of two Pallas’s Warblers and an Olive Backed Pipit at Buckton so we thought our best bet would be to head round there, we walked out along Hoddy Cows Lane taking care to not step on Goldcrests then had a good session near the Heligoland Trap where one of the Pallas’s showed well several times as it did a circuit, we had a little look for the “very elusive” OB Pipit to no avail but one or two Short Eared Owls offered some recompense. Mid afternoon we heard that the Pallas’s had been found at Old Fall and was showing well so we decided to have a look at that one, typically by the time we got there it had disappeared, there were still plenty of Chiffchaffs and Goldcrests to go through though and the Yellow Browed Warbler put in an appearance this afternoon, also the Great Grey Shrike was seen distantly and a Barn Owl was out hunting then eventually the Pallas’s came around again so we ended up with two for the day.