End of Pelagic Season

Yesterday, I led my last two Yorkshire Coast Nature pelagics off Staithes, North Yorkshire, with skipper Sean Baxter. This is my eighth season guiding these tours for YCN and whilst perhaps not quite as spectacular as last year, was still very enjoyable. 

Starting in mid-July, breeding seabirds were much in evidence, with local Razorbills and Kittiwakes busy feeding young on shoaling Sandeels, whilst good numbers of Puffins, Guillemots and Gannets were drifting up from Filey and Flamborough Head to the south, to gather the bounty. On the 11th July, the most surprising thing was the large influx of Small White butterflies, which seemed to be continually passing by, heading into the coast from the sea. This was part of a collossal national influx from the continent, presumably driven by hot, dry weather. Small numbers of Manx Shearwaters, Arctic and Great Skuas were seen on the July trips, with a sprinkling of passage waders heading south over the sea. Calm seas led to sightings of Harbour Porpoises, but it seemed the Minke Whales had headed further south and my first two were seen from a seawatching session at Flamborough Head on 2nd August. 

 Sooty Shearwater

I then had a gap of a few weeks, before hitting the sea again in late August. Sure enough, the Minkes had arrived and we saw 14 on what turned out to be a fantastic trip on the 24th. This trip ran a few days after a brisk northerly pushed a lot of seabirds into the North Sea, and I logged over 200 Sooty Shearwaters that day, many sitting becalmed in rafts of 20-30. As if this wasn't spectacular enough, among these I found a stunning Great Shearwater, which lingered for at least three days, as I found it in the same spot on the 28th. A Pomarine Skua and a Blue Fulmar were additional highlights on this day, and I started to see juvenile Caspian Gulls among the local Herrings as they arrived from the continent post-breeding. A day or so later, the wind got up again, and the shearwaters all left, presumably heading back out into the North Atlantic. By now, the breeding seabirds had fledged their chicks, and gangs of Razorbill and Guillemot fathers were much in evidence, with downy chicks in tow. These chicks jump off the cliffs before they can fend for themselves, quite unlike the Pufflings that were around, which had been fed for much longer, before being abandoned by their parents and left to their own devices. It seemed to have been a good breeding season, with lots of young auks, Kittiwakes and terns around.

Great Shearwater 

Mid-September yielded prolonged views of some of the resident Bottlenose Dolphins, which had evaded me until then, but they certainly made up for their absence! Minke Whale numbers dropped off quickly, although on my last trip on 27th, we found seven to the south of Robin Hood's Bay. By now, breeding seabirds had departed and the Kittiwake colony by Staithes Harbour was silent once again. Red-throated Divers were conspicuous, and a few exciting species included Barnacle Geese heading south, a nice feeding flock of ten Little Gulls, plus Merlin and Redwing coming in over the sea. Caspian Gulls had increased, with at least five juveniles approaching the boat very closely, providing exceptional views. 

 

 

 

 Caspian Gulls

Another season comes to a close and it has been such a privilege to have been out guiding for YCN again. The clients have been brilliant, enduring occasional rough seas and periods of little activity in good spirits. It has been great to share the fantastic marine wildlife of this part of the North Sea with so many of them, together with Sean our skipper and my fellow guides at YCN and boss Rich. It felt appropriate that the best bird of the season, a Fea's-type Petrel showed up on one of Rich's trips. It was always going to happen, and a great reward for all the effort Rich has put in over ten plus years to manage and run these pelagics. I hope to be there for the next Pterodroma - I live in hope! 

Barnacle Geese. Netherlands-bound.

If you wish to book on one of next year's tours, check out the Yorkshire Coast Nature website. I have a few weeks break, and then my Winter Wetlands Tours start, where I will be showing people the avian spectacles of the Lower Derwent Valley. Hopefully, I will see you there!
 

Pec Sand Hat Trick

With strong southwesterlies dominating, the east coast wasn't going to be worth a visit, so I stuck to my recent plan of trying to dig out Yank waders, by visiting Blacktoft Sands. It has been a good early autumn for Yanks and there had been a brief report of a Buff-breasted Sandpiper from there yesterday, so it had to be worth a look. Spring tides has put much more water on to the lagoons which had ben drying out, and duck numbers were up, with over 400 Teal on Reedling lagoon. I carefully checked through the loafing ducks, which paid off, when a Garganey suddenly stuck its head up. They've been scarce locally this year, so this was great to see. Half a dozen Spotted Redshanks, a few Ruff and Green Sandpipers were hanging out here too, along with a couple of Pochards, several Gadwall and Shoveler too. A nice start!

 

I pottered down to Ousefleet, which the friendly volunteer at the centre had told me also now contained water. A couple of birders were present and one shortly pointed out a ringtail Hen Harrier quartering the reedbed to the east. A little distant, but great to see; it has been around the last couple of weeks but this was the first time I'd seen it. The birders left after a bit, and I had the hide to myself. 

A few Ruff and a couple of Ringed Plovers were roosting on the muddy islands among stacks of Greylags. Out of nowhere, two waders flew past calling - I immediately recognised the call as Pectoral Sandpiper! Flippin' 'eck! They went over the hide and disappeared. 

As I was thinking how frustrating that was, they flew back in. One was a Snipe and the other a spanking juvenile Pec Sand - fantastic! I quickly phonescoped a couple of pics and put the news out on Birdguides to alert the other birders on site. 

 My first hurried pic of the Pec.

 I then settled down to watch this gorgeous bird. After looking like it could fly at any moment, it settled down and began feeding furtively along the edge of the island. Shortly, a Marsh Harrier came over and instead of flushing, the Pec squatted on the water's edge, relying on camouflage to avoid detection. With danger past, it flew to end of the island. Three birders then walked in and the Pec flew and I lost it - doh! I told the birders that I'd just had a Pec but I'd momentarily lost it. Their slightly incredulous tones soon evaporated when I refound it much closer. Cracking! 

The Pec showed well walking about on the island and then having a good bathe and preen. 25 minutes after it arrived, it suddenly flew off west calling and didn't reappear. 

 

So, a hat trick of Pecs so far in the last month, with two self-found and one twitched. Not bad at all. Now to find something rarer! I wandered back down to the east end, and added c20 Bearded Tits, a couple of Greenshanks, two more Spotted Redshanks and two Curlew Sandpipers to the list, with another, closer view of the Hen Harrier.  A pretty good few hours birding.

 Distant Hen Harrier - honest!

 Some videos of the Pec:

Back offshore

Two more YCN pelagics off Staithes yesterday and it could not have been more different from the shearwater-fest of two weeks ago. Not a single shearwater seen and only one Arctic Skua. Richard's Fea's-type Petrel didn't reappear and we struggled for the first four hours in rough seas. Fortunately, the Bottlenose Dolphins we'd seen off the harbour before we embarked reappeared heading south off Skinningrove, and we spent our last hour as the sun came out and the wind dropped (=calming seas) drifting with these spectacular animals. At least two adults were identifiable from the nicks and scratches on their dorsal fins - more on that later - and it was great to see a young yearling calf and another three or four year old. Their paler grey skin and smaller size was distinctive next to the gun-metal grey adults. Sean always does a good job of getting ahead of the dolphins, cutting the engine and just quietly drifting with the tide; the dolphins come leisurely past, eyeing us with interest and not at all perturbed by us as we whooped and cheered from All My Sons. 

 

  

A couple of fine juvenile Caspian Gulls accompanied us back to harbour, and on the second trip we bumped into the dolphins again. The sea had calmed by early evening, so we headed out to the two mile line, where most Minke action had been. Sure enough, we shortly found our only Minke Whale of the day, which seemed to be travelling and it soon vanished, but not before everyone got a look. Few birds were present, but Arctic and Common Terns passed by, briefly harried by a pale phase Arctic Skua, and I delighted in seeing seven Swifts over the sea, perhaps my last of the year. We headed back to Staithes in a glorious sunset, a glass of prosecco the only thing missing from another wonderful day offshore.

 

Calves compared with adults. Very cute!

 

Juvenile Caspian Gull

 

Four Swifts off Kettleness

 

Annual York Birding Trip to Flamborough

 I led the York Birding field trip to Flamborough Head today. 

19 of us York birders met at the Head this morning at 8am (though the count was a little higher according to Duncan!). A Wheatear perched on a chimney pot was a good start. We headed down to the fog station with a keen southeaster blowing, so we hid in the lee of the buildings. Several Red-throated Divers were flying about, among the commoner local seabirds, with 5 Arctic Skuas and 1 Manx Shearwater the pick of the seabirds. Several flocks of Teal flew south, along with two drake Pochards which are scarce over the sea here. Two Peregrines gave good close views hunting along the cliffs, and a number of Common, Arctic and Sandwich Terns passed by. Best of all - for some - was a small pod of Bottlenose Dolphins that moved slowly north offshore, allowing us all good views. A few Harbour Porpoises and Grey Seals were noted too. 

We then split into two groups, with Duncan taking one group anti-clockwise round the Old Fall loop, and Jono taking the other clockwise. The wind made birding difficult, but the sun was warm and there were a few migrants around. The best spot was in the Old Fall hedge just north of the plantation, where a fine male Redstart made sorties on to the path to catch an unwary insect, with two Pied Flycatchers and both Common and Lesser Whitethroats for company. 

 

  

A quick coffee break and we drove round to Thornwick as we had heard the exciting news of a Greenish Warbler having been discovered. We reconvened and grilled the copse by the Activity Barn, but despite good views of a trio of Pied Flycatchers, Willow Warbler, Chiffchaff and Goldcrests, we couldn't repeat our luck from last year and find the Greenish.

 

 

 

A relaxing walk down to Thornwick Pools revealed Reed Warbler and a few common ducks, before we headed back to the car park for lunch. Next up, Bempton Cliffs where we peered into the Dell, grilled Pallas's Patch and sheltered out of a brief downpour in the centre, looking for more migrants. A fine Spotted Flycatcher was zipping around; Duncan and me saw a brief Sedge Warbler looking proper rare, and a couple more Pied Flycatchers were along the nature trail. Despite reports of Whinchats all over the place, we couldn't locate any - they seemed to be avoiding us! 

Time was getting on, so we called it a day, and said our goodbyes in the overflow car park. An enjoyable day with a sprinkling of migrants, with Pied Flycatchers and Bottlenose Dolphins the highlights. 

 

A late brood of Swallow fledglings being fed by the parents by Bempton VC. Very sweet.