East Coast jaunt

I took a jaunt along the East Coast today and had originally planned to start at Scarborough then head to Hornsea but on seeing the weather forecast of high winds in the afternoon I thought it might be better to do it the other way round, it worked well for me as the Grey Phalarope at the Mere was just off the end of Kirkholme Point first thing flying off towards Swan Island some 15 mins later and the two Great White Egrets were feeding in the bottom corner, them flying off to the top end around the same time, a scan round found the recent female Velvet Scoter and Long Tailed Duck although they were more distant, also a flock of 30/40 Barnacle Geese were flying around and although they maybe of dubious origin they still looked good. Late morning I moved up to Barmston but it was relatively quiet there, no sign of the recent Kumlein’s Gull, I also visited nearby Fraisthorpe where I got close to some Sanderling on the beach, it was then on to Filey for a late lunch after which I made a scan of the Bay, it had got pretty windy by this time and although I managed to pick out a few Eiders off the Brig the wind made using the scope virtually impossible. I spent the rest of the afternoon at Scarborough Harbour where the juv Great Northern Diver took a bit of finding but once found showed well, all in all not a bad day.

lovely little bird, performed well early on

noticed this fella flying to the bottom corner where it joined one that was already there

five mins later they both flew off towards the top end

Black

and White

Oycs at Fraisthorpe

and some close encounters with these

on the run

this image is uncropped

always close encounters with these at Scarborough

please sir can you spare some scraps

feeding well on Crabs

Dipped in Ivory

Out with Mark and Paz and we were tempted back up north to Northumberland again this morning as not one but two Ivory Gulls had been found in the Seahouses/Beadnell area yesterday, an incredible sighting and we were fairly confident they would remain in the area at least a day or two more, we had a field full of Pink Footed Geese as we headed in towards Seahouses but alas there was no sign of the Gulls when we got there nor of the Iceland Gull that had also been in the area although that would be seen later in the afternoon when we were on the way home. We spent the morning into early afternoon searching the area from Seahouses Harbour to the beach at Beadnell but to no avail then headed off to Stag Rocks for a change of scenery and a look through the stuff on the sea, highlights included a Great Northern Diver, Slavonian Grebe plus a handful of Velvet Scoter and Long Tailed Ducks amongst the more common species, also a small flock of Twite flying around. Mid afternoon news came over about some Waxwings at Felton so we thought we'd take a look at them on the way home unfortunately by the time we got there the light was fading fast and they had probably already gone off to roost, not the best of days.

part of the Pinkfeet flock

Great Black Backs at Seahouses

Purple Sandpiper at Stag Rocks

waiting for scraps

North Cave

I was out after work today and nipped to North Cave Wetlands again on the off chance the Black Throated Diver might still be around but there was negative news on it today, shame, it was a lovely sunny afternoon as well. Highlights included the juv White Fronted Goose with the large flock of Greylags again on the Main Lake, a Marsh Harrier over Dryham Ings, then just as the light was about gone a Green Woodpecker flew down onto Dryham Lane and proceeded to feed on the grassy edge, bloody typical they never do that when the sun is shining.

juv White Front

more Greylags arriving

Linnet illuminated by the evening sun

very late Green Woodpecker

Having a Lark on the Shore

Out with Mark, Pete and Paz today and it was over the bridge and into Lincs then on to Saltfleetby where the Shore Larks from a couple of weeks ago have started being reported again, it was a beautifully sunny morning and we soon located the nine or ten Larks albeit rather distant at first, we stayed with them though and they did eventually come closer offering some photographic opportunities, there was also a very flighty flock of Twite present with a couple of Snow Buntings mixed in with them, plus a large skein of Pink Footed Geese flew south and we flushed a Lapland Bunting in the dunes as we headed back to the car. Nothing much else had been reported for Lincs and with news the Black Throated Diver had returned to North Cave Wetlands we decided to head back and call for that on the way home, we arrived with about an hour of light left, the Diver was still present on the Main Lake but distant, there was also a large flock of Greylag Geese with half a dozen Pink Feet and a juv White Fronted with them.

flighty Twite

plus one or two Snow Bunts

Black Throated Diver at North Cave