The 20th July was a pretty good, if rather long, day in the field with a very autumnal feel to proceedings.
With the warm nights I haven’t been sleeping too well and after finishing work at around 01.00 followed by a couple of hours of broken sleep I set out early and was in North Bay counting north bound Black-headed Gulls by 04.45!
The light was poor but once I had positioned myself on Scalby Nab I was rewarded for my early start almost instantly with 2 Avocet heading south, a species I had all but written off this year, it’s only the 3rd autumn record, the last being 3 I had south off Marine Drive on 24th July 2014! Those birds were quickly located at Filey Dams while these two arrived at Thornwick pool at Flamborough later in the morning.
With the warm nights I haven’t been sleeping too well and after finishing work at around 01.00 followed by a couple of hours of broken sleep I set out early and was in North Bay counting north bound Black-headed Gulls by 04.45!
The light was poor but once I had positioned myself on Scalby Nab I was rewarded for my early start almost instantly with 2 Avocet heading south, a species I had all but written off this year, it’s only the 3rd autumn record, the last being 3 I had south off Marine Drive on 24th July 2014! Those birds were quickly located at Filey Dams while these two arrived at Thornwick pool at Flamborough later in the morning.
By 06.00 I had made it as far as Long Nab and joined Chris. My walk north produced 4 juvenile Stonechat, a fifth was on the wires behind the hut!
The rest of that morning was very entertaining with wildfowl and waders moving, at times in decent numbers. 20 Manx Shearwater were logged but rather unexpected were the first 2 Sooty Shearwater of the year, both heading south.
Wildfowl totals for the day were 1 Wigeon south, 2 Mallard north, 47 Teal south 19 north, 1 drake Pochard north, 3 Tufted Duck south, 83 Common Scoter south 506 north.
While southbound wader totals were 3 Black-tailed Godwit, 3 Whimbrel, 4 Curlew, 26 Redshank, 2 Turnstone, 69 Knot, 22 Sanderling and 57 Dunlin.
A single adult Mediterranean Gull passed north while 131 Swift, 29 Sand Martin and 2 Flava passed south.
A few slower days since have produced small numbers of the waders mentioned above, that was until a short watch from Marine Drive during the evening of the 24th over high tide.
Passing south there were 23 Oystercatcher, 7 Black-tailed Godwit, 7 Whimbrel, 3 Redshank, 5 Turnstone, 30 Knot, 33 Sanderling, 153 Dunlin and the highlight – an adult Curlew Sandpiper at 19.21.
Only my 4th personal Curlew Sand in the Scarborough District, all of which have been seen passing by offshore, three of which have been of Marine Drive! Viewing passage waders from here offers the best views with birds pretty much at eye level and often much closer than they are off Long Nab.
The rest of that morning was very entertaining with wildfowl and waders moving, at times in decent numbers. 20 Manx Shearwater were logged but rather unexpected were the first 2 Sooty Shearwater of the year, both heading south.
Wildfowl totals for the day were 1 Wigeon south, 2 Mallard north, 47 Teal south 19 north, 1 drake Pochard north, 3 Tufted Duck south, 83 Common Scoter south 506 north.
While southbound wader totals were 3 Black-tailed Godwit, 3 Whimbrel, 4 Curlew, 26 Redshank, 2 Turnstone, 69 Knot, 22 Sanderling and 57 Dunlin.
A single adult Mediterranean Gull passed north while 131 Swift, 29 Sand Martin and 2 Flava passed south.
A few slower days since have produced small numbers of the waders mentioned above, that was until a short watch from Marine Drive during the evening of the 24th over high tide.
Passing south there were 23 Oystercatcher, 7 Black-tailed Godwit, 7 Whimbrel, 3 Redshank, 5 Turnstone, 30 Knot, 33 Sanderling, 153 Dunlin and the highlight – an adult Curlew Sandpiper at 19.21.
Only my 4th personal Curlew Sand in the Scarborough District, all of which have been seen passing by offshore, three of which have been of Marine Drive! Viewing passage waders from here offers the best views with birds pretty much at eye level and often much closer than they are off Long Nab.
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| Black-headed Gull heading south along Marine Drive |
This week also saw my juvenile Great
Black-backed Gulls fledging, only the 3rd Yorkshire breeding
record for this species, all of which have occurred in Scarborough with this
same pair successfully fledging one from my Flat last year. At least I can now
safely leave my home without dodging the brute of a male protecting his juvs!
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| One of the two juvenile Great Black-backs a few days before fledging |
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