And so it begins...

The first week of July for me has been rather enjoyable with bits of interest passing through on every visit to Long Nab, however it was often lacking that little bit, volume of birds mainly, waders were moving but with only ones and twos added to the notebook each hour it was often painfully slow.
With a few more bits moving through during Nick’s watch on the evening of the 9^th I met up with him at 06.15 on the 10^th and began another Long Nab watch.

And okay so nothing was moving in huge numbers, not that I expected them to be but it felt that little bit better, it felt like we were getting closer to those good days.
Some of the highlights were a Little Egret north, an Oystercatcher, 48 Whimbrel, 2 Curlew and a Greenshank, and a juvenile Cuckoo south.
But the main feature was Swifts and Sand Martins heading south, with 920 of the former and 498 of the latter, that being the 2^nd largest Sand Martin movement through Long Nab.

Cuckoo - Long Nab

Although rather slow at times the 11^th proved to be a much better day. On my arrival at Crook Ness at 05.50 Swifts were moving south in good numbers, within 15 minutes I had clicked over 350 but a small shower arriving in from the southwest killed it off, very few were added thereafter, my final total was 390.
Sand Martins were still on the move in good numbers with a further 177 heading south.

With little action going on behind the hut inland it meant I could focus on the sea. Throughout the full watch a rather respectable list was amassed, but don’t be fooled, there were some very slow periods.
The first July record of Pale-bellied Brent Goose for Scarborough was of a single flying south, it was later seen past Flamborough and was surely the same bird seen arriving in at Beacon Ponds at Spurn during the evening.
Two adult Mediterranean Gulls flew north throughout the day, the first at 06.09 and the other at 08.38. A fine adult Little Gull flew south rather close in, a Red-breasted Merganser flew north and what was possibly the Little Egret seen heading north yesterday flew south today.
A single Common Tern passed south, an Arctic Tern flew north, as did a pale morph Arctic Skua.

Little Gull - Long Nab

Other interest was provided by waders, Redshank were the most numerous with 33 south, also recorded were 1 Oystercatcher, 2 Whimbrel, 3 Curlew, 2 Dunlin, 7 Knot and a Turnstone.

A slow watch on a day I expected action was a little frustrating, although in the 8 hours I persevered I did log a few bits of interest, most noteworthy of all was a flock of 7 Little Egret that flew north just under a mile offshore, a new day record count for Long Nab following 5 I had fly north there on 14^th July last year, a year and a day earlier!
Also worthy of mention was a Velvet Scoter that flew north as well as 113 Common Scoter and 7 Teal, 22 Cormorant and a Great Skua which did the same.
Waders on the move included 3 Curlew north, 5 Whimbrel north, 2 south and 3 Oystercatcher south. Inland 64 Swift and 87 Sand Martin moved south.
My walk home produced a fine juvenile Dunlin in North Bay.

Little Egrets - Long Nab

Sand Martin - Long Nab

Dunlin - North Bay

Late June/early July

The end of June was fairly quiet, hints of Swift passage and wader movement began to creep in with a few more rather autumnal feels to days at Long Nab.

Wednesday 22^nd produced 98 Swift south, 6 Curlew in off and south, an Arctic Tern north and Common Scoter numbers were 81 north and 39 south.
The Sedge Warbler was still holding territory in Crook Ness.

Offshore on the 29^th - Common Scoter were passing by in rather decent numbers, 392 north and 52 south, other wildfowl on the move included 12 Wigeon north and 3 Teal north plus 7 south.
Curlew were on the move with 40 south 9 north, the southbound birds brought with them the first 5 Whimbrel of the autumn too.

Highlight of the day though was a Little Tern that flew north close inshore at 10.10hrs, not a particularly easy bird to catch up with in Scarborough with on average only 1 – 2 records a year. It is unsurprisingly the first of 2016 in and takes the Scarborough District year list on to a healthy 204.
Ten summer plumaged Black-headed Gull flew north offshore with a further 6 feeding out in Burniston Bay.

Inland Swifts were steadily moving south with 252 logged. A single House Martin and 3 Swallow also passed south.
The first Corn Bunting for the Nab of the year was calling away on the wires behind the hut briefly before moving off south.

I was again at Long Nab on 6^th, 7^th and 8^th of July with all days providing plenty of interest.
The 6^th saw a few duck on the move north, a Gadwall, 4 Teal and 64 Common Scoter while wader interest was provided by 3 Oystercatcher south, a Bar-tailed Godwit north, 13 Whimbrel south and 7 Curlew south 31 north. A trickle of Black-headed Gulls coming in from the east and heading north numbered 54 by the time I left, 4 Arctic Tern and an Arctic Skua headed north.
Inland things were pretty quiet, heading south were 4 Swift, a Sand Martin, 3 Swallow, a Flava and 2 Grey Wagtail.

The 7^th was an improvement. An early surprise was a fine male Whinchat with 2 accompanying juveniles that moved south along the cliff top. Swifts were the main feature with 994 logged during my time there, the movement just stopped at around midday, frustrating that the 1000 mark was just out or reach. Sand Martins were also moving through in steady numbers with 66 south.
Offshore things were a little quieter, 9 Whimbrel and 6 Curlew flew south and 16 Teal and a Common Tern headed north. Highlight was the first returning Mediterranean Gull of the autumn, a fine adult summer that came in and flew north.

Swifts were moving but in fewer numbers on the 8^th with only 447 however Sand Martins were still steady with 82 through.
Waders consisted 3 Whimbrel, 4 Oystercatcher, and singles of Dunlin and Ringed Plover south.
Even more surprising than the Whinchats yesterday was a Willow Tit that just appeared in the grass by the hut, hung around for a minute or two, and then moved off south along the cliffs. Only the fourth record of Willow Tit for Long Nab following the bird we trapped in early spring this year and two trapped in the autumn of 2013, all of which were only ever seen in the ringing plantation!

Whinchats by the hut

Swifts passing through

Swift passing the hut

Willow Tit

Willow Tit