Sunday 30th July 2017

Another excellent day at Wykeham Raptor View Point where 3 Honey Buzzards (2 males and a female) were seen this morning with birds on view virtually all the time and much wing clapping being observed. Also in this area a Hobby and 3+ Goshawks were noted.

Up at Ravenscar a Marsh Harrier was seen flying north at 11.15, two adult Mediterranean Gulls were around the Holbeck car park and at Harwood Dale Lake this afternoon a nice find in the form of an eclipse male Garganey in the company of 20+ Mandarins and a few Teal.

Garganey - Harwood Dale Lake - John Harwood

Saturday 29th July 2017

Unfortunately there was no sign of the reported Golden Orioles at Holbeck today but there were a minimum of 7 Mediterranean Gulls in the area, 5 adults and 2 2cy birds, and a ♂ Common Scoter was close offshore there as well. Just along the coast in Cornelian Ravine prize of the day went to a juvenile Green Woodpecker which is a very rare bird in our area away from traditional sites and particularly along the coastal strip away from Ravenscar, and in Cornelian Bay we had a Common Scoter and a Whimbrel.

At Wykeham Raptor View Point the Honey Buzzards didn’t disappoint and two put on a good display with much wing clapping for over an hour this morning. Also today a Hobby was seen a couple of times and there were at least three Goshawks seen as well.

At other locations we had yesterday’s summer plumaged Knot was seen on the harbour wall at 11.00, a Cuckoo flew around the Castle Headland before disappearing off inland (only the second record for the site in recent times) at 11.25, 2 Dunlin and 2 Common Sandpipers were at Wykeham South Lake this morning, also this morning a Green Sandpiper and 3 Teal at Potter Brompton Carr and at Harwood Dale Lake a Black-tailed Godwit, 11+ Mandarins and 7 Teal.

Knot - Scarborough Harbour - Andy Hall

Mediterranean Gulls - Holbeck - Steve Wignill

Friday 28th July 2017

Good to see that visitors to the Wykeham Raptor View Point are still being successful in getting views of the Honey Buzzards in the area with 3 birds being reported today.

The only other report today came from North Bay where a summer plumage Knot was located around lunchtime. 

Late news in this evening concerned a report of a pair of Golden Orioles seen at Holbeck during the morning which flew into the bushes on the cliff. Let’s hope they are still around for everyone to see tomorrow.
 

Honey Buzzard - Wykeham Raptor View Point - Dave Mansell

Honey Buzzard - Wykeham Raptor View Point - Dave Mansell

Knot - North Bay - Andy Hall

Thursday 27th July 2017

At Potter Brompton Carr this morning a juvenile Greenshank was present for just 5 minutes before flying off west, an adult female Marsh Harrier, a Green Sandpiper, a juvenile Dunlin and a Yellow Wagtail.

At Holbeck today four different adult Mediterranean Gulls and also a 2cy and below in South Bay there was a second 2cy bird so six in total today. Also reported today were two Hobbys, one from the Wykeham Raptor View Point in the early afternoon and then late in the day another was seen at Crosscliff in Dalby Forest. Another Marsh Harrier, a cream crown, was seen just north of the Downe Arms in Wykeham at 14.10 as it headed south.

Different head patterns of adult Mediterranean Gulls - Holbeck - Tony Clarke

Wednesday 26th July 2017

At Long Nab today the passage south included 2 Teal, 43 Oystercatcher, 5 Black-tailed Godwit, 2 Whimbrel, 8 Curlew, 46 Redshank, 34 Turnstone, 361 Knot (a record count for Long Nab, the previous best being 174 on 5^th August 2013), 9 Sanderling, 14 Dunlin, a Ruff, 10 Puffins and 4 Swifts. Moving north we had 148 Common Scoter, 3 Manx Shearwater, a Shag, an Oystercatcher, 2 Curlew, 110 Sandwich Terns, a Common Tern, a Great Skua and 2 Puffins. From Marine Drive this evening a few more Knot, Oystercatcher, Whimbrel, an Arctic Skua and a juvenile Common Gull all heading south.

A Red Kite was seen over Scalby Mills this evening and a little later over Holbeck, 6 Mediterranean Gulls were in the South Bay area below Holbeck (3 adults, 2 2^nd summers and a 2cy) and a Green Sandpiper was on Johnson’s Marsh.

Red Kite - Scalby Mills - Andy Hall

Mediterranean Gull - South Bay/Holbeck - Andy Hall

Tuesday 25th July 2017

At Long Nab this morning from 06.25 to 11.25 the following were all recorded going north 28 Teal, 2 Tufted Duck, 272 Common Scoter, a Red-throated Diver, 70 Fulmars, a Sooty Shearwater (the first of the year), 71 Manx Shearwaters, a Bar-tailed Godwit, 3 Whimbrel, 5 Curlew, 2 Redshank, 4 Dunlin, 66 Sandwich Terns, 31 Common Terns, 4 Arctic Terns, 3 Great Skuas, an Arctic Skua and 20 Puffins. While birds moving south included 5 Common Scoter, 2 Red-throated Divers, 4 Oystercatchers, 3 Sandwich Terns, a Great Skua, an Arctic Skua and a Puffin.

Apart from that the pale male Honey Buzzard was seen seven times between 09.45 and 18.45 at Wykeham Raptor View Point with a lot of wing clapping involved. In Jackson’s Bay the wader count was a Dunlin, 9 Redshank and 14 Turnstones and there was a Dipper just upstream from the footbridge at Scalby Mills.

Monday 24th July 2017

Not much news today but that is hardly a surprise considering the bad weather. Those intrepid observers at Long Nab tried their best but could only manage 37 Common Scoter and 2 Sandwich Terns all going north.

 

juvenile Sparrowhawk - Crossgates - Mick Francis

Sunday 23rd July 2017

Today’s seawatching at Long Nab between 06.20 and 09.45 produced 64 Common Scoter (21 S, 43 N), 2 Red-throated Divers (S), 25 Manx Shearwaters (23 S, 2 N), a Balearic Shearwater (S at 06.52 and past Filey 23 minutes later), 7 Sandwich Terns (5 S, 2 N), a Great Skua (S), an Arctic Skua (N) and there was a female Eider on the sea.

The regular pale male Honey Buzzard was seen at Wykeham Raptor View Point at 11.10, there was a Dunlin and a Teal at Potter Brompton Carr and a Whimbrel flew over Crossgates.

Saturday 22nd July 2017

Off Long Nab from 06.50 – 11.45 and then 17.20 – 18.20 a Mallard (S), a Teal (S), 5 Tufted Duck (4 S, 1 N), 134 Common Scoter (N), 50 Fulmar (45 S, 5 N), 39 Manx Shearwater (S), 22 Oystercatcher (S), 13 Whimbrel (S), 14 Curlew (13 S, 1 N), a Turnstone (S), 52 Knot (S), a Dunlin (S), 48 Sandwich Terns (11 S, 37 N) and 2 Common Terns (N). Off Marine Drive between 10.00 and 11.00 4 Manx Shearwaters and two single Whimbrels went south and 33 Common Scoters went north.

The only other news today concerned an adult Mediterranean Gull at Holbeck.

Friday 21st July 2017

The big surprise of the day and the rarest bird nationally for the year so far was a reported  Black Stork that flew southwest at Wykeham Raptor View Point at 15.10, also here a single Honey Buzzard was reported during the morning.

Long Nab was rather quiet this morning with the highlights including 2 Manx Shearwater (S), 5 Sandwich Terns (N), 2 Great Skuas (S), 2 Puffins (S) and 85 Swifts (S).

Waders were quite prominent today with Jackson’s Bay playing host to a Whimbrel, a Dunlin, 16 Redshank and 25 Turnstones; there was a Dunlin on the sea defences at Holbeck and going south off Marine Drive this evening 3 Whimbrel, 2 Curlew, a Turnstone, 11 Knot, 5 Sanderling and 2 Dunlin. Also off Marine Drive this evening were a Tufted Duck (S), 10 Fulmars (S), 8 Manx Shearwater (6 S, 2 N), 6 Sandwich Tern 1 S, 5 N) and 2 Common Tern (S).

Dunlin - Holbeck - Steve Wignill

Thursday 20th July 2017

Today’s highlights included a Green Sandpiper at Rudda Road flash, Staintondale which departed to the south at 15.00; a single adult Mediterranean Gull at Holbeck: 8 Sandwich Terns at Scalby Mills and 5 Teal and 19 Mandarins at Harwood Dale Lake.

Negative news today on the Quail near Givendale but the family party of Yellow Wagtails was still present and there were 24 Tree Sparrows in the area.

Wednesday 19th July 2017

Six and a quarter hours of seawatching from 07.05 – 11.40 and then 18.45 – 20.30 produced the following totals for the day 3 Shelduck (S), a Teal (S), 203 Common Scoter (4 S, 199 N), 2 Red-throated Divers (1 S, 1 N), 96 Fulmars (72 S, 24 N including a ‘Blue’ Fulmar at 07.41), 117 Manx Shearwaters (100 S, 17 N), 89 Oystercatchers (81 S, 8 N), 6 Whimbrel (S), a Curlew (S), 18 Redshank (17 S, 1 N), 2 Knot (S), a Sanderling (S), 11 Dunlin (S), 2 Mediterranean Gulls (juvenile S, adult N), 44 Common Gulls (43 S, 1 N), 133 Sandwich Terns (13 S, 120 N), a Common Tern (N), a Great Skua (N), 12 Arctic Skuas (9 S, 3 N of which 2 pale morph, 2 intermediate morph and 2 dark morph), 8 Puffins (4 S, 4 N) and a juvenile Peregrine (S).

At Malton Cote a Quail was heard calling and there was also a family group of Yellow Wagtails and a Corn Bunting in the same area; Scalby Mills held 35 Sandwich Terns and 2 Common Terns, one of which was a juvenile and this evening in Peasholm Park there was a Kingfisher and remarkably a group of 7 Common Sandpipers.

Tuesday 18th July 2017

At Potter Brompton Carr this morning a Black-tailed Godwit and 7 Teal and at Scalby Mills this afternoon there were 11 Greater Black-backed Gulls including a recently fledged bird maybe from Wetherspoons, a Common Gull, 19 Redshank, 16 Turnstone and 2 Dunlin plus 3 Whimbrel, 12 Dunlin, 4 Sanderling and a Common Tern all flew south while 31 Common Scoter flew north.

 

Monday 17th July 2017

Three different Honey Buzzards were seen today from the usual place, Wykeham Raptor View Point.

In Cornelian Bay we had 19 Dunlin and a Common Sandpiper; in South Bay there was a 2cy Mediterranean Gull; waders at Scalby Mills included 111 Redshank, 14 Dunlin, 8 Turnstones and a Ringed Plover and at Johnson’s Marsh there were 3 Little Grebes.

Finally today a Grasshopper Warbler was heard reeling at Taylor Way at 21.20 this evening.

Sunday 16th July 2017

A grand total of four different Honey Buzzards were seen this morning from Wykeham Raptor View Point, the maximum count so far this year.

Also late this morning there was a Great White Egret and a Little Egret at Wykeham South Lake and at Potter Brompton Carr today 3 Green Sandpipers, 2 Dunlin, 2 Lapwings, an Oystercatcher and a Kingfisher.

Saturday 15th July 2017

No news at all today.

Friday 14th July 2017

Two different ♂ Honey Buzzards were seen from the Wykeham Raptor View Point today; at Potter Brompton Carr we had a Teal, 2 Green Sandpiper and 2 Dunlin; at Holbeck there were 2 Mediterranean Gulls (an adult and a 2cy) and there was a Whimbrel at Crook Ness.

Ringing this evening at Crook Ness produced a single Storm Petrel caught with a couple of others seen around the nets.

Thursday 13th July 2017

The most frustrating bird today was a large Shearwater seen off Marine Drive at 08.40 flying south. Unfortunately the bird was picked up a little late and was only observed looking into the sun, the flight action and wing posture suggested Cory’s but it just wasn’t conclusive enough. Also moving on the sea off Long Nab some southbound waders including 2 Sanderling, 57 Dunlin, 8 Redshanks, 35 Oystercatchers and 4 Curlew (6 went north) plus 33 Common Scoter (15 S, 18 N), Red-throated Diver (2 N), Manx Shearwater (2 S, 10 N), Sandwich Tern (5 N), Common Tern (2 N), 9 Puffin (7 S, 2 N), Swift (14 S) and 2 Sand Martin (S).

At Potter Brompton Carr we had 3 Green Sandpipers, 2 Teal and a reeling Grasshopper Warbler; a ♂ Honey Buzzard was observed from Wykeham Raptor View Point at 11.55; there were 4 Mediterranean Gulls at Holbeck (3adults and a second calendar year bird) and 2 Whimbrel went south past Marine Drive.

male Honey Buzzard - Wykeham Raptor View Point - David Armitage

Wednesday 12th July 2017

Probably the biggest surprise of the day was a ♂ Scaup flying north off Marine Drive at 18.26 and quite close in. Also off Marine Drive today were 2 Common Scoter (S), 7 Manx Shearwaters (N), 12 Oystercatchers (N), 3 Arctic Skuas (2 dark morph and adult pale morph S) and 4 Puffins (3S, 1N). Whilst on the seawatching theme a 7 hour vigil from Long Nab produced an interesting number of species including 3 Teal (S), 82 Common Scoter (20 S, 62 N), 28 Fulmar (N), 16 Manx Shearwater (N), 18 Oystercatcher (S), 3 Curlew (S), a Redshank (S), 13 Sandwich Terns (9 S, 4 N), 2 Arctic Terns (adults N), 2 Great Skuas (N), 2 Arctic Skuas (intermediate morph N, dark morph S), 9 Puffin (N) and an immature Hobby (N).

Also today a juvenile Yellow-legged Gull was in Jackson’s Bay early morning; 13 Herons and a Little Grebe were on Johnson’s Marsh and a 2cy Mediterranean Gull was in South Bay.

Tuesday 11th July 2017

Today was a day of odd birds in widespread places, there was a Green Sandpiper at Potter Brompton Carr, a Mediterranean Gull at Holbeck, an Arctic Skua off Marine Drive, 2 Little Grebes on Johnson’s Marsh and an Osprey hanging around Ellerburn Trout Farm to at least 21.00. Also a Sandwich Tern and 9 Redshanks at Scalby Mills and finally a Little Egret, 2 Egyptian Geese and a Little Grebe at Wykeham South Lake.

 

Monday 10th July 2017

The now famous Honey Buzzard was seen again at Wykeham Raptor View Point at 13.35, so that’s now five consecutive days with sightings.

Long Nab between 05.50 and 13.10 produced a Teal, 363 Common Scoter, a Red-throated Diver, 2 Little Egrets, a Whimbrel, 7 Curlew, 3 adult Little Gulls, an adult Mediterranean Gull, a juvenile Yellow-legged Gull at 08.07, 3 Lesser Black-backed Gulls, 15 Sandwich Terns, 3 Common Terns and a Siskin all went north and going south were a Common Scoter, 5 Manx Shearwaters, a Ringed Plover, a Whimbrel, 3 Curlew, a Lesser Black-backed Gull, a Puffin, 943 Swifts, 20 Sand Martins and a Yellow Wagtail. Also the Corn Bunting was still present on its usual favourite wires.

Elsewhere reports included 5 Common Scoter in South Bay; 3 Little Grebes on Johnson’s Marsh; 3 Teal and 16 Mandarins on Harwood Dale Lake and 3 adult Mediterranean Gulls at Holbeck with 2 on the nearby school playing fields soon after.

Sunday 9th July 2017

The highlight for many was the pelagic trip out of Scarborough Harbour although we didn’t have any surprises it is always nice to be on the sea getting some nice close views of sea birds in their element. The species seen included Herring, Great and Lesser Black-backed and Black-headed Gulls, Kittiwake, Common Tern, Razorbill, Guillemot, Puffin, Fulmar, Cormorant, Kestrel, Peregrine and a Red Admiral butterfly!!!

On the mainland there was an early morning sighting of an Osprey with a trout at approximately 06.30 at Sutherbuff Rigg, Dalby Forest then it or another went south at Long Nab at 15.15 and was seen finally today flying around Wykeham Lakes at 20.06.

A ♂ Honey Buzzard was seen briefly at 13.35 at Wykeham Raptor View Point along with 6 Common Buzzards and 2 Goshawks during the early afternoon, the fourth consecutive day with records of this species. Also today 9 Mandarins at Harwood Dale Lake and 295 Swifts flew south at Long Nab.

IMPORTANT NOTICE

It has been brought to our attention that people have been walking around Wykeham South Lake gaining access from the viewpoint. Birdwatchers are being blamed for these intrusions on private property with the threat that the screen will be removed. If anyone sees anything in relation to this matter then please let us know by contacting me on bluechaffinch@btopenworld.com or by contacting Nick Addey.

(clockwise) Razorbill, Guillemot, Puffin, Fulmar - Pelagic Trip - Chris Bell

Saturday 8th July 2017

The male and female Honey Buzzards were performing again at Wykeham Raptor View Point today with multiple sightings during the morning. This year has been much better than 2016 for the number of sightings in the area and another period of three successive days with reported sightings. For Honey Buzzards in Yorkshire this is definitely the place to be. Also from the same location we have reports of a Hobby at 11.30 and of an Osprey flying east at 14.30.

Also today we had 3 Turtle Doves in Dalby Forest; a ♂ Pochard and 15 Mandarins on Harwood Dale Lake; a Whimbrel and 21 Curlew at Cornelian Bay; a Little Grebe on Johnson’s Marsh; a Bar-tailed Godwit, 26 Oystercatchers and 2 Redshank in Jackson’s Bay and at Scalby Nab 55 Black-headed Gulls including 2 juveniles and 2 Common Gulls.

Friday 7th July 2017

2 Honey Buzzards were seen again at the Wykeham Raptor View Point this morning and this afternoon there was an adult breeding plumage Mediterranean Gull at Holbeck.

Thursday 6th July 2017

The Wykeham Raptor View Point Honey Buzzards were seen again today with two birds at 13.25 and elsewhere there were 2 Little Grebes on Johnson’s Marsh.

Seawatching this morning from Marine Drive was quite productive with 2252 Common Scoter (2236 N, 16 S), 76 Redshank (S), 173 Dunlin (S), 23 Teal (14 N, 9 S),  a Tufted Duck (S), a Common Tern (S), a Whimbrel (S), a Bar-tailed Godwit (S), 9 Curlew (S) and 4 Red-throated Divers (N).

Wednesday 5th July 2017

The only news today came from Marine Drive where 225 Common Scoter went north, 110 in the morning, there were also 2 Arctic Skuas (an adult pale morph that was lingering and a dark morph going south) and a Common Tern went north.

Tuesday 4th July 2017

An early visit to the Marine Drive shelter from 04.30 to 06.30 produced 3 Red-throated Divers (north), 6 Manx Shearwaters (5 south, 1 north), 4 Common Scoter (1 south, 3 north), 2 Dunlin (south), Bar-tailed Godwit (north), 2 Black-headed Gull (north), 2 Arctic Terns (south), 9 Puffins (8 south, 1 north) and 4000 Guillemots/Razorbills (south) also just round the corner in South Bay there were 7 Common Scoter.

A Ruff almost landed in the Scarborough area but decided against it and flew off southwest at Potter Brompton Carr; the Little Egret remained at Wykeham South Lake; the Little Grebe was still present on Johnson’s Marsh; there were 5 Mandarins, 3 Teal and the Greenshank at Harwood Dale Lake.

This evening a full breeding plumage adult Mediterranean Gull was at Scalby Mills where there were also a couple of Turnstones and off Marine Drive 35 Knot went south as did 26 Manx Shearwaters with 7 going north.

Monday 3rd July 2017

Another period of three consecutive days with records of Honey Buzzard from Wykeham Raptor View Point with today’s bird being the pale male reported around 13.30.

Today’s visit to Harwood Dale Lake gave us an increase to 20 Tufted Ducks, 3 Pochard, 5 Teal, 14 Mandarins including 9 young birds, 50 Lapwings of which 13 were young birds and a single Greenshank. There was a Little Egret at Wykeham South Lake and a group of 6 Whimbrel flew south over Knipe Point Drive at 08.45.

Sunday 2nd July 2017

Honey Buzzard was again the main talking point of the day with sightings of the pale male at 08.05 from the Wykeham Raptor View Point and again the same bird at the same location at 10.25.

At Harwood Dale Lake today there were 14 Tufted Ducks, 3 Pochard, 5 Mandarins and 33 Lapwings including 12 young birds; a Whimbrel went northwest at Long Nab and there was a Little Grebe on Johnson’s Marsh.

Saturday 1st July 2017

This was a good start to the month with multiple sightings of Honey Buzzards from around Wykeham Forest and particularly from Wykeham Raptor View Point where a male and female were seen at 10.20 other sightings were at 13.30 (the pale male), 14.25 (dark male and female), 15.45 (pale male) and 16.15 (distant bird); other sightings today came from Highwood Brow and Crosscliffe.

A morning seawatching session at Long Nab between 04.40 and 11.00 produced 20 species with over 6000 individuals with the highlights including 4 Teal (north), a male Eider (south), 77 Common Scoter (north) 2 Red-throated Divers (1 north, 1 south), 19 Manx Shearwaters (north), Little Egret (south), 19 Curlew (north), 17 Black-headed Gull (north), 7 Sandwich Terns (5 south, 2 north) 2 Common Terns (south), 3 Great Skuas (1 south, 2 north), 5100 Guillemots/Razorbills (south) and 22 Puffins (10 south, 12 north). 

Friday 30th June 2017

At Potter Brompton Carr we had a Green Sandpiper, 2 Teal and 2 Egyptian Geese whilst off Marine Drive this evening 3 Manx Shearwaters (north), 11 Oystercatchers (9 south, 2 north), 5 Curlew (3 south, 2 north), an Arctic Skua (south) and a Puffin (north).

Thursday 29th June 2017

The third consecutive evening seawatch from the Marine Drive shelter produced 81 Common Scoter (23 south, 58 north), 3 Manx Shearwater (north), 10 Curlew (south), 10 Sandwich Terns (6 south, 4 north), 2 Arctic Skuas (1 north, 1 south) and 17 Puffin (5 south, 12 north).

Also today a Honey Buzzard was reported at Wykeham Raptor View Point.

Wednesday 28th June 2017

Another evening seawatch from Marine Drive gave rise to 163 Common Scoter moving south and 5 Manx Shearwaters, a Curlew, a Puffin and a Swift all heading north.

 

Tuesday 27th June 2017

A brief period of seawatching from Marine Drive this evening produced 3 Teal, a Manx Shearwater and a Curlew all going south and a summer plumage Red-throated Diver heading north. There were a couple of Guillemot chicks offshore and an adult was seen coming off the cliffs just a short distance from the shelter.

Monday 26th June 2017

The male Honey Buzzard was seen again at the Wykeham Raptor View Point at 10.25 this morning, this is the third successive day that this bird has been seen and it looks as though it is becoming almost reliable at this location.

The only other news was a high count of 18 Herons on Johnson’s Marsh today.

Sunday 25th June 2017

The only news today concerned the male Honey Buzzard which was seen displaying from the Wykeham Raptor View Point at 10.15 this morning.

Saturday 24th June 2017

A Honey Buzzard was seen in Wykeham Forest today, a Red Kite went south over the same location at 11.45 and then it or another appeared over Harwood Dale going northeast at 12.20.

There were 11 Manx Shearwaters and 25 Puffins past Long Nab in a rather quiet 2 hour seawatch this morning.

Friday 23rd June 2017

Of interest a Woodcock flew over Rick Astley whilst performing at Adderstone Field in Dalby Forest.