Storm-blown

Storm Babet is pounding the east coast, and there is strong easterly winds and rain in York, so I thought it would be worthwhile checking a couple of local patches of water to see if anything had blown in. Two first-winter Arctic Terns on Dringhouses Pond got my pulse racing, but despite the good start I failed to find anything else. Jack had a Kittiwake down at Hemingbrough, and there are apparently a lot of seabirds in the Humber, so it will be worth checking round again early tomorrow.

Viewing at Dringhouses Pond is very difficult, with these pics taken through the bars of the entrance gate. The terns were spending most of the time at the south end of the pond out of the wind, only occasionally venturing up to the viewable end. 

There are only two previous autumn records of Arctic Tern in the York area, with the previous latest record being 17th October, which this surpasses.