January update

Now that the first 24 – 48 hour tick fest is over I’ve been working a little harder to squeeze out every PWC tick available, and although things have obviously slowed I’ve added about 20 or so since, leaving me on a respectable 82 as of the close of play on the 14^th. Of course there are some easy ones left, Sparrowhawk and Collared Dove are the first two that spring to mind.

I’ve managed seven days in the field since the 4^th, most of which have been slow sea watches at Long Nab.
There have of course been the odd highlight, best of which was a 1^st winter Iceland Gull south there at 08.54hrs on the 4^th.
A 1^st winter Glaucous Gull flew south there at 09.20hrs on the 10^th, presumably the bird that’s been hanging around at Scalby Mills, which I watched from the comfort of the Pub there on the 4^th.
A couple of drake Eider south on the 10^th were also rather welcome.

Predawn start at Long Nab on the 4th, looking south to Castle Hill.

Castle Hill with an incoming wintry shower on the 4th.

One of two Great Northern Divers in the Harbour.

Other additions have included Snipe, two have been present regularly, one at Long Nab and one at Cromer Point and a couple of Lapwing at Scalby Mills on the 10^th.

The rest have been standard run of the mill species, Skylark, Reed Bunting, Stock Dove etc.
I obviously had a rough target of species I intended to pick up by the end of January, so on the 12^th adding 4 PWC tick, three of which I wasn’t ‘expecting’ was very welcome indeed.

After finally nailing Buzzard, three distantly over Cloughton, I bumped into a Chiffchaff on my walk south, in the Style Scrub – which eventually moved to Trough Gully. Also there was a Grey Plover and 2 Dunlin in Jackson’s Bay.

Looking north at Long Nab on the 12th.

Still, all in all the birding had been pretty typical for January, although things definitely changed.

The 13^th saw some intense northwesterly winds hit us bringing with it some big seas and some serious tidal surges causing plenty of damage along the seafronts of North and South Bays.
This severe weather forced plenty of white wingers south as evident by the reports during the afternoon and evening of the 13^th.
It wasn’t until the 14^th that the number of white wingers about became evident. And the 14^th is a true contender for my best winters day birding in Scarborough.

Seventeen begins well...

Working in the Pub trade, often finishing late at night/early morning a pint of beer or two after is often hard to refuse, neither for me nor the alcoholics I work with.
Well as you can imagine NYE is a night that doesn’t see anyone heading home early.
I finished at 6pm on the final day of 2016 and took the opportunity to head home and relax for a bit rather that hitting the pubs immediately, although some football soon changed that idea.
The New Year always presents me with a problem, NYE celebrations are usually enjoyable and with New Year’s Day also being my birthday (strangely shared with not one but two work colleagues!) I often find myself waking up feeling less than 100%.  This year though, due to many reasons, I was determined to change that, and I did!

Up and out of bed by 08.10hrs I was eager to get out.
From home it takes a little over 15 minutes to reach the Harbour and the beginning of my PWC boundary.
The first patch year tick wasn’t special. Turnstone, Herring Gull or something of the like.
Black-necked Grebe was my fifth addition, after avoiding a rather serious looking Police ‘incident’ on the middle pier!

Joined by Steve shortly after we spent the following hour and a half scanning the incredibly rough South Bay (with a warm up tea break in between) which proved productive.
The rough seas made it rather hard work but with persistence we picked out 3 Guillemot, 2 Razorbill, 3 Common Scoter, 1 Velvet Scoter, 2 Long-tailed Duck, 2 Red-throated Diver, 1 adult Mediterranean Gull and the Great Northern Diver that eventually made its way into the Harbour.

A tough walk north into the brisk wind with occasional hail showers followed as we made our way round Marine Drive, 3 Common Scoter flew south off there.

Reaching Scalby Mills very few Gulls were present and a few scans revealed nothing of any note.
The Open Air Theatre, sheltered from the chilly northerly winds and regular hail showers was our next destination.
Always good value, particularly at the beginning of a year list attempt as its always active, today was no different with Bullfinch, Marsh Tit and Goldcrest highlights among the passerines present.
At least 1 Water Rail showed behind the stage there after only a 5 minute wait.

Back at Scalby Mills the number of Gulls hadn’t increased really but clearly there had been a turn over as seconds into a quick scan a fine 1^st winter Glaucous Gull was picked out!
Found yesterday by Chris off Marine Drive I had obviously hoped to relocate but never expected as much, definitely a bonus.

A celebratory pint (for both a decent mornings birding and my birthday) in the Old Scalby Mills followed before my day in the field pretty much ended. A quick walk around Peasholm Park produced the expected, 2 Mute Swan and a Kingfisher being the highlights.

Black-necked Grebe - one of my first species of 2017 and showing 

Great Northern Diver entering the Harbour during one of the many hail showers that moved through during the day.

Glaucous Gull - a distant record shot.

Tufted Duck on Peasholm lake.

The 2^nd soon came around and a few more species were picked up.
Not an early start but in North Bay a few Gannet were heading south at distance while the two Castle Cliff Peregrines cruised around.
The seas were still pretty rough, I only picked out 2 Common Scoter and a Red-throated Diver in North Bay.
Further round North Bay where the sea defence rocks finish both the male Stonechat and female Black Redstart were preforming nicely, a search in yesterday’s strong winds proved fruitless.
Scalby Mills was again quiet although a Ringed Plover was a PWC addition.
Gull numbers were still very low but the 1^st winter Glaucous Gull eventually appeared again and showed fairly well in the evening sun.
Before dark another check of Peasholm proved quiet again although I added a few common species to my PWC list, the likes of Long-tailed Tit and Treecreeper etc.

Distant male Stonechat in North Bay.

A slightly better shot of the Stonechat.

Black Redstart in North Bay.

A phone-scoped effort of the Glaucous Gull