Opted for the northside of Flamborough Head this morning. Holmes Gut kept me occupied for a good hour, though I only pulled out two female Blackcaps, four Bramblings and a bunch of 'crests, thrushes and Blackbirds. A loud caterwauling overhead had me looking skyward at two sparring Peregrines very high in the sky. They seemed to be immatures; presumably siblings from one of the local pairs. A single Snipe and Lapwing came 'in off' sneaking under the pre-occupied falcons.
Next up, I headed round the clifftop to North Marsh where I knew there was a field planted with a 'wild bird crop' (plants left to overwinter providing food for seed-eating birds) which I assumed would be pulling in finches. Sure enough, a big flock of Linnets with a few Greenfinches and Reed Buntings were feeding there and regularly flying up to the top of the bushes. I looked hard for a Twite or a Little Bunting but failed; a solitary Brambling was the best I could do. A Sparrowhawk caused panic, seemingly coming in off the sea and rapidly heading inland across the fields, scattering flocks of feeding Redwings and Fieldfares which had been until that point, unseen in the grasslands beyond North Marsh. Ten minutes later and the Linnets erupted again, I turned and this time was amazed to see an owl, no more than twenty metres away, coming in low over the field, having just arrived from its sea crossing. It paid me no heed until it landed in the scrub next to the hide and glared back at me with fiery eyes. I stayed very still and as I was by now 50 metres away, it quickly settled down and had a little preen. If I moved, however, it rotated its head and fixed me with bright orange disdain. After watching this gorgeous Scandinavian for a bit, I switched my attention back to the finch flock. A few thrushes were dropping in too, so I decided it was time to go round to the southside.
Nearby, one of the local Tawny Owls was enjoying a little sunshine on a log, much to the consternation of the local Robins and Blackbirds who scolded it mercilessly.
With news from the outer head of 'crests arriving from the sea, I headed east and did the Old Fall Loop. Two more YBWs took my day's tally to six and an interesting Chiffchaff posed briefly in the hedge. It's call and general appearance looked ok for Siberian, but the lores weren't especially pale and it just didn't feel quite right, being quite sullied underneath. Plenty of Blackbirds, together with a few tired Redwings were feeding along the path and several Goldcrests were moving along the hedge having just arrived. I headed round to the lighthouse grasslands where I stomped around in the brambly grassland for half an hour failing to flush anything rarer than a pair of Stonechats which watched my progress from the top of the tallest briars.
News came through of a Firecrest, Black Redstart, Twite and, late on, a Red-backed Shrike on the northside. A little bit frustrating, having stomped round there earlier, but I couldn't grumble with a stonking Long-eared Owl, half a dozen sprites and a horde of common migrants. I heard later that the LEO had been flushed by birders. I hope this was accidental and not because they were trying to get too close for a photo. Certainly the one published on the Flamborough Bird Obs website shows the bird in classic anxiety pose, very different to its relaxed demeanor when I was watching it. This bird had just flown 450 miles across the open sea, so it is a shame if birders didn't give it the respect it deserved, just for a photo.
So that was the end of my birding as part of Flamborough MigWeek. It has been a great festival of migration good numbers of common migrants arriving from Scandinavia and it was a privilege to play a small part in helping some new and less experienced birders enjoy this spectacle. It has been a bit quiet on the rarity front, but there were plenty of interesting birds to keep things ticking over. It goes westerly next week, but hopefully the winds will switch round to easterly before the month is out.
A big thank you to the Flamborough Bird Observatory Committee for organising MigWeek and to the volunteers and birders who made it so special. Looking forward to next year!
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