Flamborough and Bempton birds and friends

Spent a highly enjoyable long weekend at Flamborough and surroundings. I went up there with my family, and we enjoyed a perfect combination of great friends, good birding and beautiful scenery. On a dull Sunday morning I went out with Martin and my elder son Uri to check out an Icky that had been found by Mark Thomas earlier on near Buckton. We joined Mark and by the time we got there the icky had gone quiet and didn't show, but we had a nice stroll around and I enjoyed birding with Martin and Mark. The only bird of note was an acredula-type Willow Warbler, that chose Mark's ringing site to forage in. Mark trapped it later on - image of it is here (on Twitter).

Sunday afternoon was slightly sunnier and warmer, and there were few more birds on the move. While having tea in Martin's garden with Mark and Amity, a European Bee-eater the radios went off when flew over and was hawking insects with hirundines for a few minutes before heading off south (towards real sun...). All the locals were chuffed off course, and I was  quite amused. Almost ran to get my camera out of the car but gave that idea up. Well, despite having tens over my house in Israel every evening between April and October, I still enjoyed watching this UK rarity and I could relate to the enthusiasm shown by the natives. And then a Turtle Dove flew past...

Monday morning started with a short seawatch off Flamborough with Martin and Brett. Tons of local breeding seabirds on the sea made spotting something interesting more challenging. However we had one semi-decent Pomarine Skua, a few Common Scoters and that's it really.

Then I went with my family to RSPB Bempton Cliffs. I had wanted to visit this reserve for a long time, and at last got the chance. We had a great time there. Luckily we got there early enough before the bank-holiday masses arrived. The number of birds was breathtaking; I really love sites that provide multi-sensual experiences - view, sound and smell. Never-ending chaos of birds coming and going, screaming, quarreling, pooping and puking, nest-building and mating. Tens of thousands of birds feeding out on sea just off the cliffs.  

Photography-wise the conditions were not ideal. Light was shit, and I had Libby on my back in a kid carrier, but I cannot complain. And now for some birds:

I enjoyed most the Fulmars - the only tubenose breeding there. Not in huge numbers but very cool birds, and I had great views of them. 

Northern Fulmar

Auk numbers were incredible. I assume that some decades ago they were even higher but nevertheless this is very impressive. Not too many Puffins around and not the perfect views I had wanted, but hey, they are stunning and hilarious birds.

 Atlantic Puffin

Razorbills are great fun too. Sadly the closest one to the viewing platforms had a bad eye:

I found photographing flying auks very challenging - need to improve these in the future:

A few semi-bridled Guillemots among the masses:

Please don't poop on me!

argenteus Herring Gull - pretty bird

I like Kittiwakes because they are scarce in Israel, and because they are such neat little gulls:

Black-legged Kittiwake

A few first-summers around the colony, and some immatures as well, like this 3cy(?):

Is this a 4cy? Still some black on PC:

Gannets are very impressive birds both from long- and short-distances: 

I am no expert in ageing gannets - is this 3cy? 

4cy? 

5cy?

Lots of gannets

Lots of auks

As always when I visit RSPB reserves I am impressed by how well-organized they are. When we headed out Bempton Cliffs it was getting very busy but because of the very intelligent layout of trails, viewing platforms and information centers it never felt crowded. The clifftop section of the reserve is beautiful now and there were lots of breeding birds in the meadows. If I am not mistaken the pink flowering carpets are of Red Campion (Silene dioica).

Pied Wagtail

Thanks so much to our old and new friends at Flamborough, Buckton and Filey - you are all great! What a special place to live in. I find it amazing how friendship transitions from Facebook to 3D friendship often work like magic - I am so lucky that I have a bunch of new friends now.

Slow on the ground, massive on the screen

Before my talk at the Norfolk Bird & Wildlife Fair I had time for some birding with Quentin. With low expectations we headed off early. Started off at Stiffkey campsite. Not a true migrant on site. Some breeding Blackcaps and Chiffchaffs, local Swallows and House Martins and that's it. This handsome Barn Owl displayed diurnal hunting attempts for a while - pity the light was crap:

Still several hundred Brents on the saltmarsh:

Mistle Thrush

Then we continued to Stiffkey Fen. Pretty quiet there as well. One islandica Blackwit among the nominates, one fine Mediterranean Gull and some Avocets where all the site could supply. At Cley the situation was not much better sadly. We had time only for the near hides - 3 Little Ringed Plovers, 2 Common Sands, some more Avocets, pretty grim.

Avocet

Then we headed over to Mannington Hall. I really enjoyed the Fair. very well organized, the grounds are beautiful, and lots of people came which is good. Good to meet some Rutland Birdfair regulars, including the Wader Quest team. There were reports of Lesser Spotted Woodpecker and Firecrest near the lecture marquee but I didn't see them. Anyway, in my presentation migration was at its best:

Tomorrow it's expected to be even busier with the Big Guns coming to talk - hope to see more familiar faces tomorrow.

The best migration in the world - in Norfolk?!?!

This weekend I will be taking part in the second Norfolk Bird & Wildlife Fair at Mannington Hall. I will give two presentations, one on Saturday and another on Sunday, with migration tales and a few more images like these. So if you're around, please come and say hello!

European Bee-eaters

European Honey Buzzard 

White-winged Terns 

Purple Herons 

Steppe Buzzards, Steppe Eagle and Lesser Spotted Eagle

Caspian Plover and Sand Martin 

Almost perfect Scilly twitch

On Friday night I embarked on my first ever mega-island-twitch. Together with Nick, James and Dave we went for the Great Blue Heron that has been present now for about two weeks on the Isles of Scilly, the 2nd ever in the UK. For me it was also my first opportunity to visit these famous islands, so obviously I was very excited about this trip. We left Norwich before midnight and at first light we were parked at the Marazion Marsh carpark to recuperate a bit after the long drive. The others tried to catch a few minutes of sleep and I tried to see if the Pacific Diver that had wintered there was still present. It was not, but then I saw a Great White Egret roosting in the woods behind the reserve, so I had to wake the guys up. Common bird in Israel, but still pretty good in the UK and not bad as a first bird of the day. The egret soon left the roost and disappeared into the marsh.

Then we headed into Penzance for breakfast. 12 Purple Sandpipers were still present by the swimming pool:

Purple Sandpiper and Turnstone

All morning flights were fully booked so we took the Scillonian. As we were boarding the boat we got news about a Hudsonian Godwit in Somerset, not too far away. Immediately we started calculating how to combine a sweet little detour on the way back with our plans to head back home as quickly as possible. Not easy.

Quite a few seabirds were seen along the passage until we sailed past Land's End: several good rafts of Manx Shearwater, quite many auks (Guillemots, Puffins and Razorbills), and one Fulmar.

Manx Shearwaters

When we sailed into St. Mary's harbour we had distant views of a Long-tailed Duck:

Quickly we caught a speedboat to Bryher, for the main dish. The Great Blue Heron was quickly spotted as it flew in to Big Pool and showed well to the medium crowd that came on the Scillonian. At first the weather was poor, and the bird looked quite miserable too:

Great Blue Heron

Then the rain got lighter and the bird walked around a bit and tried to fish. What a cool bird! Forgot how massive they are compared to Grey Herons.

  

After we were satisfied with our views, as much as possible in these awful weather conditions, we went into the village to celebrate with a beautiful Lemon Drizzle at the Vine Cafe. On the way up stopped for a panoramic view of the heron and its surroundings - see it down at the bottom?

We spent the next few hours birding Bryher, as it felt that there were some fesh migrants in, possibly knocked down by the foul weather. As an Israeli I had to work hard on myself to get excited by the few migrants around, but the locals were quite choughed with our good fortunes: we had two Wrynecks, one Golden Oriole, 8 Tree Pipits, 3 Whitethroats, several Willow Warblers and three Wheatears. In addition, I had a probable Sibe Chiffchaff below Samson Hill. I had too brief views but it looked good. Unfortunately we had to run for the boat back to St. Mary's so I couldn't nail it. Too bad.

Wryneck

During the walk back to the Key where the boat waited for us the sun came out and it became quite beautiful. I desperately scoped Big Pool of Tresco hoping to see the Black Duck but failed to string any ducks there.

Shag

We had an hour to kill before the Scillonian took us back to the mainland, so we birded the Garrison that was completely devoid of migrants. Peculiar to see these black rabbits all over the place there:

Good to see House Sparrows and Song Thrushes are doing very good on Scilly:

2cy Song Thrush - note moult limit in GC

We got into Penzance close to midnight and were too knackered to go anywhere. We found accommodation nearby and decided to hit Shapwick Heath early in the morning despite the fact that the Hudsonian Godwit had taken off with a flock of blackwits yesterday afternoon. Unfortunately the bird did not return this morning. Really classic. All blackwits return, only the one bird of interest does not. 

Icelandic Black-tailed Godwits - sadly all with neat white underwings

We heard there some heartbreaking stories about birders who came from NE Scotland to miss the bird by an hour etc., so our situation was not that tragic. We were all disappointed by not seeing the bird we wanted, however I enjoyed the superb reserve. During the short time we were there we had 2-3 booming Bitterns, Wood Sand, Garden and Willow Warblers, one Cuckoo and generally pretty birdy there. The drive back home was uneventful.

Despite the slightly sour flavour that ended our trip for not seeing the Hudwit, still it was a mega experience. I really enjoyed the Scillies - very unique and beautiful (when the sun came out). Of course our main target, the heron, was great indeed, and we added some more quality birds.

Huge thanks to my brothers in arms - Nick, James and Dave.