Yorkshire Coast sojourn

Headed off to Scarborough Harbour first thing to year tick the Black Necked Grebes, no sign of any at first just a couple of Shags, they are looking quite smart at the moment though, almost given up on the Grebes when one suddenly popped up behind a boat then did the usual posing, also with it being high tide there was a good roost of around 60 Purple Sandpipers on the outer Harbour wall. Next up was Filey reacquainting myself with the Holbeck Mediterranean Gulls on the way, five present this morning, as I arrived at Filey I bumped into one of the locals who informed me the Surf Scoter was still present, with it being high tide I headed off down Carr Naze hoping it would be closer in but all I found were a couple of Great Northern Divers although they were quite splendid, a couple of Scoter right off the end of the Brig were too far to positively ID but I was more inclined to think they were Common. I carried on along the coast stopping off at Flamborough, North Landing next for another try for the Richard’s Pipits, they had been relocated in the first field last Friday and what’s more there was now three, success this time it was a lovely sunny day and they performed well even coming reasonably close at one point, the path around the field was right quagmire though, I relocated to Thornwick Bay for lunch and was rewarded with a Barn Owl out hunting but no hoped for Stonechat, it’s usually a good area for them. I had planned to finish off at Hornsea Mere and with time pressing I made my way there calling in at Kirkholme Point first, I approached a group of birders already present and was asking if they had seen any of the notable species when a White Winger flew past, it was a really smart adult Iceland Gull that had joined the melee of other Gulls attending a nearby Duck feeding session or so I thought, but after studying my photos later plus a bit of feedback from other birders it turned out to be a third winter Kumlien's, so that was a bit of a bonus but as for the other stuff a load of fishermen had gone out in boats and pushed everything down to the far end, a quick scan from the point found a distant Little Gull flying about but I decided I would probably fare better on the South side, I moved round there and walked out to the second field and eventually as the fishermen started going back in the Wildfowl moved back out although the only notable I managed to find was the Red Necked Grebe.

On reflection (pardon the pun) they're a bit distracting this time

some of the roosting Purple Sandpipers plus a Redshank

came to see if I was going to feed him

I did so some others came down

Flamborough Richard's Pipit

x2 I never managed the three of them together

chatting to some birders at Hornsea Mere when this flew past

I thought it was an adult Iceland at first but I think its actually a third winter Kumlien's

Northern Whites

Out with Mark and Paz today and it was up into Northumberland this morning, the main target being the long staying Long Billed Dowitcher at Cresswell Ponds, unfortunately there was no sign of it there this morning nor at nearby Hemscott Hill another of its favoured haunts, mid morning we headed up the road to East Chevington for a Slavonian Grebe and a female Scaup then Druridge Bay CP for a reported Iceland Gull, didn’t see that though, as we returned we took a quick look at a lake close to Widdrington where there had been Great Northern Diver, again we failed to find that but a drake Scaup and Red Breasted Merganser were nice. Before departing for Teesside we had one last scan at Hemscott Hill for the Dowitcher, a Bar Tailed Godwit got the pulses racing but still no joy, we got a nice bonus when seven Tundra Bean Geese dropped into the field behind though, one last port of call as we headed South was the Queen Elizabeth 2 CP where we finally caught up with an Iceland Gull. Back in Teesside we headed for Hartlepool where we connected with three Snow Buntings near the de Brus tunnel and three Shore Larks on waste ground South of the Cemeteries, then it was on to Jackson’s Landing where an imm Glaucous Gull was showing really well, a brief visit to Ward Jackson Park for the Parakeets was followed by a stop at Newburn Bridge, no sign of the Med Gull but there was small selection of Waders on the rocks, we ended the day around the Seaton Common/Snook area, no Owls or Twite to be had but there was a good selection of Gulls and Waders on the high tide roost which were all put to flight when a Peregrine shot through. Annoyingly the Dowitcher was seen in the afternoon but as always there's a limit to how much time you put in for one bird especially when there's other stuff to go for.

this drake Goldeneye was quite close at QE2 CP

but it didn't overshadow the star bird

even though there were a few bikers bombing around the Snow Bunts were quite approachable
the Shore Lark however were quite skittish

Glaucous showed well at Jackson's Landing although it was reluctant to leave the water this afternoon

snacking in the Park

First birdwatch of the year

So after two days doing the shopping thing with the better half I got chance for my first birdwatch of the year today and the weather forecast wasn’t good, I had a plan though, start at Filey for the Surf Scoter then head to Flamborough for the Richard’s Pipits collecting the White Fronted Geese at Buckton on the way, all hopefully before the rain started, I had the bonus of a Barn Owl sat on a fence post near Muston on the way there, I arrived at a very grey Filey and looked out over a very rough Bay, a quick scan revealed only a handful of Shags in the calmer water alongside the Brig so I ventured on to Carr Naze where some birders were looking from, I was informed by a returning birder the Scoter was still present but was last seen drifting further out and sure enough after a scan a bit further out it was soon located. Nothing much else in the Bay, I had just missed some Little Gulls, so I was soon on my way, the White Fronts were pretty straight forward, they were just stood in the middle of the field West of Buckton Hall, at Flamborough I parked up at North Landing and took the coastal path out towards North Marsh meeting a couple of local birders coming back who informed me the Richard’s Pipits were still there but in long grass in the field just beyond the flash, I got out there and was soon joined by several other birders but despite putting in a fair amount of time and eventually walking the field we only saw Rock and Meadow Pipits, on the bonus front though a Woodcock flew over being chased by a Peregrine with another flushed when we walked the field and a Pink Footed Goose was flying around with the Greylags. Eventually gave up and went back to the car for some lunch by which time it had started to rain, dropped down to South Landing where there were lots more Rock Pipits and a few common Waders on the beach but the weather worsened so I headed inland and spent the last hour picking up a few more year ticks at North Cave Wetlands.

Three birds today