Perseverance pays off.

The day after the Rosy Starling (14^th August), I was up in Hundale, Long Nab early doors with Chris for a mornings netting.
Not too surprisingly it was quiet, a few locally bred warblers and a fine juvenile male Sparrowhawk were the highlights.
Movement over the sea (and to a lesser extent over land) was much more interesting, unfortunately much was missed while out on net rounds or processing the catch, however in between we managed to amass a fairly respectable number of species, highlights were a juvenile Marsh Harrier, five Eider, three Pintail, six Ringed Plover, one Knot, 56 Dunlin, an adult Curlew Sandpiper, 99 Redshank, 12 Black-tailed Godwit, an Arctic Skua and eight Flava.

Sparrowhawk.

Several quiet days followed, until 23^rd when things picked up, a morning session off Marine Drive was very entertaining with an adult Pomarine Skua and a nice close Balearic Shearwater making up for the first light start. The supporting cast of 99 Fulmar, 288 Teal, 101 Common Scoter, nine Sanderling, eight Arctic Skua, 3 Bonxie and 53 Common Tern kept interest high throughout.
Later that morning, up at Long Nab several more Arctic Skua were logged while Teal were still trickling by with two Tufted Duck in with them and a long awaited PWC tick in the form of a Greenshank north along the cliffs.
With the southeast wind I had wanted to check Cromer Point pond in the hope of finding an Aquatic Warbler, a choice I would ultimately regret!
I did kick a Sedge Warbler out the rank grasses by the pond, however shortly after the heavens opened and dropped the heaviest rain I have definitely ever been caught in, by some margin!
Within a minute I was soaked to the skin (four layers including a rain coat!), I tried to take shelter up against the wall of the sewage works but this provided no rest bite from the wall of water, shortly after realising I physically couldn’t get any wetter I focused my attention solely on protecting optics and camera, an exercise ultimately futile as my camera packed in!

I spent a few days rather fuming about my camera however it did dry enough and luckily began to work the day before our final Scarborough Birders pelagic of 2017.
So, early on the 27^th August I found myself down in the Harbour and boarded the Queensferry with 23 others. In the past these trips haven’t really produced anything too interesting, however today, on I think our 7^th trip, we made up for that with some nice close encounters of species usually seen at range from Long Nab.
Highlights were four Arctic Skua, one of which put on a great show harrying Kittiwakes and Common Terns just by the boat, a couple of Bonxies, three Manx Shearwater, including a close feeding bird, many Common Terns and Fulmars streaming north and a fine Balearic Shearwater, that put on a nice show before flying off south.
A short fishing trip was also enjoyed by many with plenty of Mackerel and Whiting caught, I couldn’t resist a quick go and bagged a few Mackerel myself!

A nice crisp looking young Great Black-backed Gull.

Fulmar.

Fulmar.

Manx Shearwater.

Arctic Skua hammering a juvenile Kittiwake.

Adult Common Tern.

Juvenile Common Tern.

Balearic Shearwater.

Balearic Shearwater with a backdrop of Castle Hill and the Harbour.

This Red Kite (and 2 Common Buzzard) was a bonus heading south over the Harbour after the trip.

Success!

Pink Stink

The end of July – beginning of August has been rather routine, an increase in Skuas, the first Sooty Shearwaters of the year and waders moving in fairly good numbers, 361 Knot south on the 26^th (smashing the previous Scarborough record by over 150!!) was brilliant, with a supporting cast of 9 other species, including five Black-tailed Godwit and even a Ruff, noteworthy for Long Nab.

Bonxies passing Long Nab.

Common Scoter past Long Nab.

Hirundines have started to leave south, particularly Sand Martin with 93 through Long Nab on the 31^st, with two Storm Petrel trapped at Crook Ness that night during the last session of the year.
Predictably the bulk of the Swifts have moved out during the first few days of August, however, 63 over the house on the 8^th was a nice late summer sight, which kept me busy for an hour or so checking through them thoroughly.

Yellow Wagtail at Long Nab, several starting to move around now.

Some interesting winds looked promising for an early Autumn sea-watch for the 8^th but unfortunately it never amounted to much, the ‘highlight’ being a large Shearwater (a Cory’s no doubt) that went north past Long Nab on the 10^th, but it was unfortunately very distant and came through during very glary conditions.

It was however a Rosy Starling that stole the show and kicked off the autumn in style, with news first released on the 13^th (although it had evidently been present for several days previous) I was ‘disturbed’ as I made myself comfy in the Pub in the hope of watching some football, however I was very quickly on site and was rather happy to add this stunner to my Scarborough list, now at 256 in five years!

Several shots of the Rosy Starling.