Quiet day on the East Coast

Very quiet day at Flamborough today, no sign of yesterdays Barred Warbler and the few birds that were around weren't exactly cooperative, a Yellow Browed Warbler was found in the hedge near the Lighthouse late morning but didn't show during the hour or so I was there, a good passage of Pinkfeet though with skeins passing high overhead throughout the day.

dashing between the reeds at Thornwick Pool

North East wanderings

I had a trip up to Whitburn Coastal Park this morning where a Buff Breasted Sandpiper has been showing well the last couple of days but despite a good scan of the ploughed field it been frequenting there was no sign of it today, nothing much else in the area so after lunch I headed back South calling at Blackhall Rocks, just a couple of Eiders, Hartlepool Headland, very quiet, Newburn Bridge, a couple of Med Gulls and some Common Terns on the beach, North Gare, dark clouds looming, I high tailed it to Saltholme and sat out the shower in the Phil Stead Hide then when it had passed I went for a quick look at the redhead Smew on the main lake finishing off with what is possibly my sixth Great White Egret of the year on the East Pool, certainly the closest one though.

Med Gulls at Newburn Bridge

and Common Terns

Black Tailed Godwit at Phil Stead hide

and Curlew

redhead Smew Saltholme main lake

Herons and Egrets on the East Pool

closest I've ever got to one of these

Another Sunshine Holiday

Another sunshine Holiday with the Mrs last week this time to Salou on the Costa Daurada, Spain, very little around the resort just the usual Pigeons and Doves, House Sparrows with the occasional Serins, Blackbirds, Great Tits and Monk Parakeets, Spotless Starlings were very much in evidence though as were Magpies which I thought unusual, I have generally only see one or two if that around the Med on previous Holidays, nothing much doing on the sea neither just a handful of Yellow Legged Gulls and Sandwich Terns, most noteworthy though was a steady passage of Hirundines throughout the week. I had half a day out birding as usual and had a look around some scrub adjacent to the Port Aventura Golf Course, again pretty quiet birdwise but I added Buzzard, Kestrel, Hoopoe, Redstart, Sardinian Warbler and Goldfinch to the list, highlight of the afternoon being an impressive flock of 45-50 Alpine Swifts moving through, a good few Butterflies around as well including some smart Swallowtails, Long Tailed Blues and Clouded Yellows plus a Fritillary Sp which unfortunately just kept on going also a few Red Veined and Yellow Winged Darters about, on the subject of Dragonflies an interesting one was seen when we paid a visit to Tarragona , a colonizer from North Africa an Orange-winged Dropwing was by an ornamental pool there.

Habitat shot with Port Aventura in the background

quite a few Swallowtails bombing around

and Long Tailed Blues

Red Veined Darters

the Yellow Winged proved camera shy then I thought I'd bagged one

but it turned out to be a rather Yellow (Red) Veined Darter

Orange-winged Dropwing in Tarragona

Sandwich Tern on a bouy

Watching the Sea

Seawatching was the order of the day today, I decided to give Long Nab, Burniston a try this morning, it was a bit slow though but on saying that I still managed several sightings of Manx and Sooty Shearwaters, a good few Arctic Skua’s and a single Bonxie, there were also a few Ducks, a single Brent Goose and plenty of Red Throated Divers on the move. I went off to Flamborough in the afternoon and after a brief spell at Thornwick Pools which apart from a Mediterranean Gull flying over didn’t hold anything out of the ordinary, I did a late afternoon watch off the Head, much the same as this morning though, no goodies on offer today.

a nice day with blue skies for most of it

with some nice light reflecting back up off the surf

got past me

Sparrowhawk over Thornwick Pools

returning Wigeon

plus single Redshank

quite a lot of Linnets about, often perching on the wires

a small number of Curlews passed the Head late afternoon