Today, Team Dirty Habicht (L to R: Dunc Poyser, Rich Baines, Gansey Girl, Me, Mark Hawkes) hit the East Yorkshire coast. Again, the conditions didn't look great for a fall of migrants, just great for sunbathing and beer gardens, which perhaps explained our rather sluggish start.
Bridlington Harbour was our first stop for a bit of filthy twitching and parcel posting. The first-winter Grey Phalarope was found pecking around in the muck floating in the corner of the harbour, a stunning little Arctic waif, with fabulous lobed toes, like a tiny Coot. The phalarope, a first winter, was very confiding, busily doing its thing without any concern for its admirers. Boots full, we recruited a passing tourist to take our photo with the Gansey Girl -above.
On to the Cape, and we opted to walk the south cliffs from South Landing to Old Fall. This had nothing to do with the fact that the Red-flanked Bluetail in Booted Gulley had been refound! A bird called a couple of times as we got out of the car at Flamborough; surely a Lapland Bunting, but with sleepy ears, we had to let it go...A Yellow-browed Warbler was a safer ID, calling as we headed off towards the clifftop.
Returning birders suggested Booted Gulley was a scrum of angry, fighting twitchers; we'd soon sort it out! Anyway, it was totally the opposite, with quiet, considerate birders helping each other to get views of this little Siberian skulker, flicking about under the bushes. I fortuitously stood next to a lad with a themal imager, and he gave a quiet commentary of the bird's movements, which allowed me to get excellent views. It's always a good day when you see a Bluetail!
...
On we went, along the clifftop. A bunting launched out of the stubble at close range, calling. A Lapland Bunting, which helpfully circled round and landed ten metres away in the stubble. After a brief scurry, it decided our company wasn't what it was after, and it flew off and landed in the next field west. Well, be like that, if you must! Two Dunlins flew past, which was just as unexpected in a stubble field, if not quite as rare.
Next up, Old Fall, where a spanking Pied Flycatcher eyed us from the sheltered lower branches of a Sycamore, while Goldcrests defied the bluster, gleaning unseen aphids from the decaying leaves, high in the canopy. In the hedge, we found a beautiful, gleaming, pale Chiffchaff that had Siberian etched into every feather, though perhaps too pale? It performed beautifully, hovering about, showing off silky white underparts and occasionally giving us a rather monosyllabic, flat call.
Time was pressing but we had time to check out one of the Red-breasted Flycatchers, which had lingered at Holmes Gut. It showed well, briefly, but was mostly - and sensibly - keeping low down and out of the breeze. The Icky seemed to have done a bunk and there were few other migrants noted, apart from two Bramblings, so we legged it over to Bempton, so that Dunc and Mark could see the Isabelline Shrike.
Having learned from the previous day's tricky viewing, we scoped from the path just next to the visitor centre, over the heads of the disconsolate twitchers and toggers gathered by the shrike's favoured hedge. The pale form of the shrike was easy to see from our vantage point, albeit at about three miles' range, and we watched it scanning for passing insects (at least that's what it might have been doing). The crowd remained oblivious, being unable to see the bird in the lee of the wind on the opposite side of the hedge, so even though our views were distant today, at least we'd seen it.
We headed home and hit Leeds O2 Academy for a sparkling set by Miki Berenyi (formerly of Lush) and then the legendary Leeds band, The Wedding Present. Much middle-aged breathless pogoing took place, as the band played the classic album Bizarro, including anthems Brassnceck and Kennedy and we relived our long forgotten teen years. A fine end to a fabulous first three days in Sniper's Alley, with great company and great birding.
No comments:
Post a Comment