After
arriving in Aberdeen early on 2nd October we didn’t hesitate on
hitting the road and heading back to Scarborough (a stop in Anstruther would have
been on the cards had the Brünnich’s not done the expected and snuffed it!).
With a few days off yet I was looking forward to getting back in the field in
Scarborough, and with a promising looking forecast I was thoroughly looking
forward to it.
Typically Shetland stepped up a gear whilst we were huddled in a car heading south, a Red-flanked Bluetail found on the Skerries was a blow but was to be expected. Next year!
Monday 3rd I took it easy, with the forecast east-southeast not due to swing in until the afternoon, I thought I would take a stroll starting off behind the sea life centre, instantly a Yellow-browed Warbler was picked up in the trees there, a few Song Thrush dropping in, a Blackcap in the Elders and a Brambling were all welcome and made for an encouraging start.
Heading north towards trough Gully several more Song Thrush were noted as were a couple of Goldcrest and Robin. Trough Gully itself produced a rather standard looking Lesser Whitethroat and another Yellow-browed Warbler and a Brambling.
With a couple of Yellow-broweds under the belt already, and hearing of a few other new birds elsewhere in Scarborough I headed back south and made an effort to dig out as many as possible.
A total of 13 was my final tally with further birds in the Open Air Theatre (2), on Marvels (1), in Peasholm Park (2), on Castle Hill (5) and in a random tree in town (1)!
Early
Tuesday morning I was up at Hundale with Chris and by 06.50 we had 5 nets up
and running. It was rather slow going the first few ours but eventually the
number of birds coming in off the sea increased (although it was still
generally slow) and in turn the number of birds in the nets increased.Typically Shetland stepped up a gear whilst we were huddled in a car heading south, a Red-flanked Bluetail found on the Skerries was a blow but was to be expected. Next year!
Monday 3rd I took it easy, with the forecast east-southeast not due to swing in until the afternoon, I thought I would take a stroll starting off behind the sea life centre, instantly a Yellow-browed Warbler was picked up in the trees there, a few Song Thrush dropping in, a Blackcap in the Elders and a Brambling were all welcome and made for an encouraging start.
Heading north towards trough Gully several more Song Thrush were noted as were a couple of Goldcrest and Robin. Trough Gully itself produced a rather standard looking Lesser Whitethroat and another Yellow-browed Warbler and a Brambling.
With a couple of Yellow-broweds under the belt already, and hearing of a few other new birds elsewhere in Scarborough I headed back south and made an effort to dig out as many as possible.
A total of 13 was my final tally with further birds in the Open Air Theatre (2), on Marvels (1), in Peasholm Park (2), on Castle Hill (5) and in a random tree in town (1)!
Among the usual trivia there were a few interesting things trapped, a rather unusual looking Willow Warbler, a few Song Thrush, Redwing, Goldcrest and 2 Yellow-browed Warbler.
The last hour or so of the session things slowed although of the last 10 birds trapped 8 were Robins with most having fat scores of 0 and muscle scores of <1, clearly a fair few were arriving.
Also noted coming in off the sea, besides the regular Song Thrushes and Redwings (most of which were too high to even see) were a Yellow-browed Warbler, 2 Goldcrest and 2 Snipe while additional bits noted in the area were 1 Jack Snipe, 1 Short-eared Owl, 40 Song Thrush, 20 Redwing, 30 Robin, 1 Blackcap, 2 Chiffchaff, 4 Yellow-browed Warbler, 25 Goldcrest and 7 Lapland Bunting.
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| Song Thrush |
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| Song Thrush |
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| Redwing |
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| Redwing |
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| Yellow-browed Warbler #1 |
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| Yellow-browed Warbler #2. These maybe reaching Britain now in vast numbers but the day you stop enjoying seeing or hearing these is the day you should look at yourself in the mirror, and despite the fact we had trapped on an hour or two before we couldn't just release it without a quick picture. |
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