Friday 29 September 2017

Monday 25th September 2017

Well with winds finally in the east plus mist and drizzle the anticipation was high today and it didn’t take long before the first discovery of the day was reported from Crook Ness, an immature Common Rosefinch. The bird was found by Dave Mansell but had only been seen briefly on a couple of occasions before other observers arrived on site to help with the search. After a while it popped up again and was seen perched briefly by one observer and in flight by another, this was definitely a rather elusive individual until c12.30 when it showed well for a while feeding in the open. The bird was seen at least four times during the afternoon although the quality of the views left a lot to be desired at times. This is the eighth record for the Scarborough area with the last one being at Long Nab on 3rd September 2010. 

The first Yellow-browed Warbler of the autumn was found at a similar time to the Rosefinch on the opposite side of town in the small copse on South Cliff to the south of Holbeck Car Park. More of these autumn sprites were discovered soon after with three at Long Nab, two of which were trapped and ringed, another at Trough Gully (north of Scalby Lodge Pond) and an additional 2nd bird south of Holbeck near the Golf Course on South Cliff.

Also at Long Nab a Redstart and a Brambling; in the Scalby Lodge Pond area there were a Wheatear, 2 Whinchats, 12 Curlew and a Whimbrel; a Grasshopper Warbler was seen very well at Cloughton Wyke; 25 Wigeon graced Johnson’s Marsh and at Wykeham South Lake just 15 Wigeon and 2 Great Crested Grebes.

Common Rosefinch - Crook Ness - Dave Mansell
Yellow-browed Warbler - Long Nab - Chris Bradshaw
Common Rosefinch - Crook Ness - Chris Bell
Yellow-browed Warbler - Trough Gully - Terry Hobson



Sunday 24th September 2017

At least 10 Ruff were seen again in the field south of Seamer Tip pool but as with previous days they disappeared at times, most notably when I was there.

Two skeins of Pink-footed Geese, one of c50 and the other c70, went south over Wykeham Lakes at 10.00 this morning.

At Ravenscar there was a Wheatear, Whinchat, 2 Stonechats, a Lesser Whitethroat and 10 Chiffchaffs.

Ruff - near Seamer Tip Pool - Dave Mansell

Thursday 28 September 2017

Saturday 23rd September 2017

The 13 Ruff were still in the vicinity of Seamer Tip pool and the Wood Sandpiper was seen again briefly in exactly the same spot as yesterday.

On Johnson’s Marsh today 24 Wigeon, 7 Teal, a Little Grebe and a single Grey Heron and there was a Wheatear opposite the skateboard park on Royal Albert Drive.
 
Wheatear - Royal Albert Drive - Stuart Baines
Wood Sandpiper - Seamer Tip Pool - Dave Mansell

Friday 22nd September 2017


Today was a noteworthy day as we actually had a few unusual waders reported from our area, at last I hear you say well my comments are not repeatable in this blog as I was out of town today. All records came from the area around Seamer Tip pool and started with the report of a Wood Sandpiper seen briefly on the main pool, then in the fields to the south of here the same observer discovered 13 Ruff, a Green Sandpiper and a Common Sandpiper.

The only other report today was that of a flock of c80 Pink-footed Geese that flew inland over Valley Bridge at 08.45.

Ruff - Seamer Tip Pool - Dave Mansell
Wood Sandpiper = Seamer Tip Pool - Dave Mansell

Thursday 21st September 2017

At Long Nab today there was some sign of visible migration but only in small numbers 48 Swallows, 2 House Martins, 38 Meadow Pipit and 29 Linnets all moving south and at Potter Brompton Carr 2 Shoveler, 160+ Teal and 9 Wigeon.

Sunday 24 September 2017

Wednesday 20th September 2017

The only information received today concerned c160 Teal, 9 Wigeon, 2 Dunlin, 29 Snipe, a Golden Plover and 81 Lapwings at Potter Brompton Catt and South Cliff was being patrolled by at least 3 Mediterranean Gulls.

Tuesday 19th September 2017

A small amount of vismig today with 6 Swallows, a House Martin, 12 Meadow Pipits, 2 Chaffinches, 36 Linnets and 6 Goldfinches all moving south at Long Nab and also in the area 2 Lapland Buntings in the stubble field to the north of the Obs at 08.00, a Great Spotted Woodpecker, plus 14 Goldcrests and 16 Robins would indicate a small arrival of migrants.

At Scalby Lodge Pond there was a fairly late Swift associating with a group of 20+ Swallows and House Martins and at Ravenscar a flock of 227 Pink-footed Geese flew over at 13.45 plus 22 minutes later another 110 birds were logged.

Saturday 23 September 2017

Monday 18th September 2017

Not much moving off Long Nab today with just 12 Wigeon (N), 13 Pintail (N), a Teal (N), a Common Scoter (N) and 2 Swallows (S) being the highlights. Passerines present in the area included a Coal Tit, a Chiffchaff, 11 Goldcrests and 2 Mistle Thrushes.

At other locations in the area we had a juvenile Green Woodpecker on South Cliff; a female Merlin at Ravenscar; 2 Chiffchaffs at the start of Bent Rigg Lane and 48 Turnstones around the harbour.


Sunday 17th September 2017

Another day of seawatching at Long Nab produced the following counts of 2 Brent Geese (N), a Barnacle Goose (S), 247 Wigeon (5 S, 242 N), 4 Shoveler (N), 5 Pintail (N), 227 Teal (36 S, 191 N), a Scaup (N), a Velvet Scoter (N), 509 Common Scoter (7 S, 502 N), 91 Red-throated Divers (73 S, 18 N), 335 Fulmars (N), 27 Sooty Shearwaters (N), 71 Manx Shearwaters (1 S, 70 N), a Red-necked Grebe (N), 3 Curlew (N), 4 Dunlin (N), 2014 Kittiwakes (4 S, 2010 N), a juvenile Sabine’s Gull (N) at 09.38, a juvenile Little Gull (N), a 2cy Mediterranean Gull (N), 3 Sandwich Terns (2 S, 1 N), 6 Common Terns (N), 26 Arctic Terns (N), 21 ‘Comic’ Terns (N), 13 Great Skuas (2 S, 11 N), 58 Arctic Skuas (3 S, 55 N), 2 juvenile Long-tailed Skuas (N) one at 07.56 and the other at 10.07, 18 Swallows (N) and 2 House Martins (N).

Elsewhere, on South Cliff there were 2 Swifts, 4 Stonechats and a Wheatear; a couple of Stonechats by the Obs at Long Nab; a Dipper and 30 Sandwich Terns at Scalby Mills and finally 35 Goldcrests, a marked arrival, in the Hood Lane/Roger Trod area late this afternoon.


Saturday 16th September 2017

Today was another day when all the news collected came from those seawatching from Long Nab or Marine Drive.

At Long Nab today just over 10 hours of seawatching gave rise to the following counts 44 Brent Geese (4 S, 40 N), 131 Wigeon (N), 3 Pintail (N), 120 Teal (N), 6 Tufted Duck (N), 2 Scaup (N), 124 Common Scoter (4 S, 120 N), 27 Red-throated Divers (17 S, 10 N), 383 Fulmars (3 S, 380 N), 84 Sooty Shearwaters (N), 103 Manx Shearwaters (N), 98 Kittiwake (N), 9 Sandwich Tern (N), 2 Common Terns (N), 3 Arctic Terns (N), 22 Comic Terns (N), 44 Great Skuas (10 S, 34 N), 48 Arctic Skuas (39 S, 9 N), a juvenile Long-tailed Skua (N), 2 Puffin (1 N, 1 S), a Short-eared Owl came in off the sea at 17.05 and continued west and 8 Swallows (N) plus c50 Sandwich Terns in Burniston Bay.

From Marine Drive there were 10 Brent Geese (N), 44 Common Scoter (N), 4 Red-throated Divers (S), 2 Storm Petrel (N), 5 Sooty Shearwaters (N), 8 Manx Shearwater (N), a juvenile Yellow-legged Gull (N) moving slowly, 6 Sandwich Terns (N), Arctic Tern just off Marine Drive and on the sea defences, 8 Great Skuas (1 S, 7 N including a group of 5 together) and 2 Arctic Skuas (S).


Thursday 21 September 2017

Friday 15th September 2017

Seawatching was the order of the day today with people looking from both Long Nab and Marine Drive.

Sightings from Long Nab between 06.20 and 12.00 included 42 Wigeon (4 S, 38 N), a Shoveler (N), 30 Pintail (N), 67 Teal (2 S, 65 N), a Tufted Duck (N), an Eider (S), 71 Common Scoter (5 S, 66 N), 2 Goosander (N), 22 Red-throated Divers (14 S, 4 N), a Storm Petrel (N), 147 Fulmars (N), 24 Sooty Shearwaters (N), 41 Manx Shearwater (N), 2 Bar-tailed Godwits (N), a Curlew Sandpiper (N), 3 Sandwich Terns (N), an Arctic Tern (N), 15 Great Skua (10 S, 5 N), 3 Pomarine Skuas (S), 14 Arctic Skuas (10 S, 4 N), 5 Puffin (4 S, 1 N), 20 Swallows (S), 4 House Martins (S) and 6 Meadow Pipits (S).

At Marine Drive observers were present from 07.00 to 09.00, 11.00 to 11.40 and 16.30 to 19.15 and records included the following 6 Pink-footed Geese (S), 8 Wigeon (N), 3 Pintail (N), 4 Eider (S), 20 Common Scoter (4 S, 16 N), 6 Red-throated Diver (1 S, 5 N), 3 Sooty Shearwater (N), 11 Manx Shearwater (N), a Red-necked Grebe (N) at 18.36, 12 Common Tern (N), 6 Comic Terns (N), 4 Bonxie (N), 4 Arctic Skua (2 S, 2 N), a dark  juvenile Long-tailed Skua came up to Marine Drive sat on the sea at 08.30 and then went back into South Bay where it was seen again off The Spa 09.10,


Tuesday 19 September 2017

Thursday 14th September 2017

Seawatching this morning from 07.05 – 11.30 at Long Nab produced the following highlights 86 Wigeon (N), 6 Pintail (N), 124 Teal (N), 7 Common Scoter (N), 5 Red-throated Divers (4 S, 1 N), 2 Sooty Shearwaters (N), 3 Manx Shearwater (N), 4 Golden Plover (S), a Dunlin (N), 8 Arctic Tern (3 S, 5 N), 2 Great Skua (S), 5 Arctic Skuas (4 S, 1 N) and a Swift (S).

This evening from 17.00 to 19.00 at Marine Drive we had 27 Wigeon (N), 17 Teal (N), a Tufted Duck (S), a Scaup (N), 3 Eider (S), 3 Common Scoter (N), 2 Red-throated Divers (1 S, 1 N), 27 Fulmars (N), 10 Sooty Shearwaters (N), 26 Manx Shearwaters (N), 168 Kittiwake (N), 54 Sandwich Terns (19 S, 35 N), 13 Common Terns (N), an Arctic Tern (N), 4 Great Skua (1 S, 3 N), 7 Arctic Skua (% S, 2 N) and 2 Long-tailed Skuas, both were juveniles and both went north (the first at 17.55 and the second at 18.12).

At other coastal sites we had a juvenile Little Gull in Cornelian Bay with also a Pintail, 42 Wigeon, 5 Teal, a Common Tern and 20 Sandwich Terns; there were 2 Dippers at Scalby Mills and a Bar-tailed Godwit in front of the Spa in South Bay. In Falsgrave Park there was a Spotted Flycatcher and a little further afield 65 Pink-footed Geese were seen flying south over Thornton Le Dale at 11.10.

Bar-tailed Godwit - South Bay - Hayley Richardson

Wednesday 13th September 2017

At Potter Brompton Carr today a juvenile Marsh Harrier, 48 Common Snipe which is a good number for the area and 80+ Teal. On Johnson’s Marsh there were 15 Herons, a Wigeon and a Swift flew over; in the Cornelian Bay area there were 4 Wigeon, a Teal, 34 Sandwich Terns, 2 Common Terns and a Kingfisher; in Jackson’s Bay this evening the waders were flushed by a dog but 3 Bar-tailed Godwits and 9 Ringed Plover were counted; there were 4 Mediterranean Gulls in South Bay and finally today 2 Dippers performed well and at close range near the footbridge at Scalby Mills where there was also a Common Sandpiper.

Dipper - Scalby Mills - Stuart Baines
Common Sandpiper - Scalby Mills - Stuart Baines
Dipper - Scalby Mills - Stuart Baines

Saturday 16 September 2017

Tuesday 12th September 2017

Around Cornelian Bay today were 5 Teal, a Kingfisher, c100 House Martins and 3 Stonechats whilst in next bay along, South Bay, we had 12 Sandwich Terns and a Mediterranean Gull. There was a Dipper showing well on Scalby Beck by the Old Scalby Mills Pub and nearby in North Bay there was a Bar-tailed Godwit and 100+ Great Black-backed Gulls.

A brief seawatch from Marine Drive this evening between 18.05 and 19.05 produced 2 Teal (S), a Red-throated Diver (S), a Manx Shearwater (N), 30 Sandwich Terns (12 S, 18 N) and a single group of 9 Great Skuas (S).

Dipper - Scalby Mills - Chris Bell

Monday 11th September 2017

Potter Brompton Carr today held 110 Teal, 2 Wigeon, 3 Gadwall, 14 Snipe and a Swift and in South Bay 3 Mediterranean Gulls, 2 Common Terns and a Sandwich Tern.

Thursday 14 September 2017

Sunday 10th September 2017

A nice variety and good numbers of certain species at Long Nab today including a Pochard (S), 4 Red-throated Divers (S), a Black-throated Diver (S), a Little Egret (N), a Ringed Plover (N), 3 Snipe (2 W, 1 SW), a Black-tailed Godwit (SW), a Bar-tailed Godwit (S), 43 Sandwich Terns, 3 Arctic Skuas, a Swift (S), 7 Sand Martins (S), 43 Swallows (S), 1378 House Martins (S), 957 Meadow Pipits (S) and 173 Linnets (S) plus 2 Lapland Buntings in the stubble field to the north of the Obs and one of these continued to show well into the afternoon. This is the earliest autumn record of this species as the previous earliest record was from Cloughton Wyke on 21st September 1983.

At Jackson’s Bay this afternoon 7 Ringed Plover, 4 Dunlin, 5 Redshanks, 3 Bar-tailed Godwits and 29 Turnstones and there were 15 Teal on Johnson’s Marsh.

Lapland Bunting - Long Nab - Chris Bell
Lapland Bunting - Long Nab - Nick Addey

Saturday 9th September 2017

At Long Nab today the highlights included 5 Golden Plover, 2 Ringed Plover, a Snipe, a Whimbrel, 16 Sandwich Terns, a Swift, 23 Swallows, 95 House Martins, 275 Meadow Pipits, 5 Rock Pipits and also in the area a Chiffchaff, 2 Whitethroats, a Song Thrush, a Stonechat and 2 Wheatears.

The wader count from Jackson’s Bay this afternoon was 16 Ringed Plover, 8 Dunlin, a Sanderling, 77 Oystercatchers, 2 Knot, 24 Redshank and 15 Turnstones. The rest of the reports today were also from the coastal strip with a Common Sandpiper at Scalby Mills; 3 Sandwich Terns in North Bay; a Wheatear opposite the Skateboard Park by North Bay at 15.00 and a Swift was seen over South Bay.


Wednesday 13 September 2017

Friday 8th September 2017

The only news today concerned a group of 16 Sandwich Terns in Cayton Bay including two birds that were  ringed, one (T51) was traced to the Netherlands and the other (UPK) came from NE England, either Coquet or the Farne Islands.

A piece of late news concerns 3 young Tawny Owls reported tonight at the North Cliff Golf Course.


Sandwich Tern T51 - Cayton Bay - Chris Bull
Sandwich Tern UPK - Cayton Bay - Chris Bull
 

Thursday 7th September 2017

At Long Nab this evening the highlights included a Tufted Duck (S), a Curlew (S), 26 Sandwich Terns (3 S, 23 N), 18 Common Terns (15 S, 3 N), 9 Arctic Skuas (2 S, 7 N), a Swift (S) and a Swallow (S).

Also today we had 4 Mediterranean Gulls in South Bay: a Wigeon and a Shoveler on Johnson’s Marsh; 6 Swifts over Oliver’s Mount and a Whitethroat at The Holmes.


Wednesday 6th September 2017

In Jackson’s Bay today a Sanderling, 2 Ringed Plover, 2 Oystercatchers, 7 Redshank and 6 Turnstones; along the coast on the rocks below the Holbeck car park were 9 Mediterranean Gulls, a 1st cy, a 2nd cy and 7 adults and finally 6 Swifts flew southwest over Seamer.

Wednesday 6 September 2017

Tuesday 5th September 2017

A Dotterel flew south calling constantly over Long Nab (Cliff Top House) at 18.27.

A juvenile Yellow-legged Gull flew south in North Bay at c15.40 and this evening also in North Bay we had an Arctic Tern and 20+ Common Terns.

2 Wigeon had returned to Scalby Mills and at Potter Brompton Carr there were 74 Teal, 2 Wigeon and 19 Lapwing.

Lone Swifts were seen today over Filey Road, another at Ebberston and a third bird on the western side of Rillington.

Arctic Tern - North Bay - Chris Bell
Arctic Tern - North Bay - Chris Bell
Arctic Tern - North Bay - Chris Bell



Monday 4th September 2017

A possible Greenish Warbler was heard on Castle Hill on the north side of the archway at about 15.30 in association with a Tit flock but unfortunately the bird wasn’t seen.

A few Swifts are still hanging on in the area with 1 over Cornelian Ravine, 4 over North Marine Drive with about 50 hirundines and this evening a single over Crossgates and 8 over Valley Road.

At Long Nab today the variety was good with highlights including 13 Wigeon (5 S, 8 N), 3 Shoveler (S), 3 Pintail (S), 331 Teal (194 S, 137 N), 5 Tufted Duck (S), a Velvet Scoter (N), 195 Common Scoter (14 S, 181 N), 4 Red-throated Divers (2 S, 2 N), a Golden Plover (N), 2 Ringed Plover (S), a Snipe (S), 8 Bar-tailed Godwits (N), 5 Whimbrel (S), 5 Curlew (4 S, 1 N), 4 Sandwich Terns (2 S, 2 N), 10 Common Terns (S), a Great Skua (S), a Swift (S), 4 Swallows (S), a House Martin (S), a Meadow Pipit (S) and a Tree Pipit (S), also in the area were a Willow Warbler, 7 Whitethroats and a couple of Wheatears.


Sunday 3rd September 2017

A very quiet day with little of note being reported anywhere in our area.

At Ravenscar a total of about 50 Meadow Pipits and a Whinchat and at Long Nab 4 Shoveler (S), 198 Teal (114 S, 84 N), 63 Common Scoter (1 S, 62 N), 5 Red-throated Diver (1 S, 4 N), 1039 Gannets (S), 4 Golden Plover (S), 16 Curlew (S), 2 Common Tern (S), 4 Arctic Skuas (N), 2 Swifts came in from the east and went south and a juvenile Peregrine (S). Also in the area there was a Stonechat and in the afternoon 2 Wheatears by the obs. 

Wheatear - Long Nab - Nick Addey

Sunday 3 September 2017

Saturday 2nd September 2017

Rather unusual today that the highlight wasn’t a bird, it wasn’t even a mammal, it was in fact a cartilaginous fish. 2 Basking Sharks (Cetorhinus maximus), the world’s second largest fish were seen from a boat off Marine Drive this morning. One was about a mile off and heading south at 09.00 the other was only about ½ mile off and also heading south.

Over Peasholm this morning a Swift and 9 Meadow Pipits, a single Bar-tailed Godwit in Jackson’s Bay and at Scalby Mills this afternoon we had a Kingfisher, 2 Ringed Plover, a rather brief second winter Yellow-legged Gull and 4 Teal flying south.

Hirundines ready to depart - Scalby Mills - Chris Bell
Ringed Plover - Scalby Mills - Chris Bell
Bar-tailed Godwit - Jackson's Bay - Pauline Dent

Friday 1st September 2017

The only news received today was the presence of two Bar-tailed Godwits in Jackson’s Bay this morning.

Bar-tailed Godwits - Jackson's Bay - Pauline Dent
 

Thursday 31st August 2017

A fairly quiet day today and the influx of Pectoral Sandpipers on the east coast definitely avoided our area completely.

We had a Wheatear on the rocks along Marine Drive, 11 Herons on Johnson’s Marsh and at Harwood Dale Lake 11 Mandarins, 6 Teal, a Heron and a Common Buzzard.

Wheatear - Marine Drive - Stuart Baines

Wednesday 30th August 2017

There were signs of a good movement of Chiffchaffs at Stoupe Brow today but only a few Willow Warblers which fits nicely with the observation of 8 Chiffchaffs together in a single tree/shrub on South Cliff.

A couple of Wheatears were seen along Marine Drive near to post 53 and there were also a couple at Cockmor Hall, Snainton around lunchtime; 4 adult Mediterranean Gulls on the rooves at Holbeck car park and at Harwood Dale Lake the Greenshank was present for another day and there were also 18 Teal and 19 Mandarins.

Tuesday 29th August 2017

This morning on Harwood Dale Lake there was a Greenshank, a Redshank, a Snipe and 3 Yellow Wagtails and on Johnson’s Marsh we had a Kingfisher.

On South Cliff after the rain there were signs of some movement today with an increase in Warblers, 4 Willow Warblers, 6 Chiffchaffs, a Whitethroat, 3 Blackcaps and a Garden Warbler but the best thing was a juvenile Cuckoo flying northwest. The biggest surprise though was a Fulmar gliding low over the fairways of the South Cliff Golf Course and nearby on the rocks below Holbeck 5 adult Mediterranean Gulls were reported.

Past Long Nab today were a Wigeon (S), 98 Teal (12 S, 86 N), 149 Common Scoter (20 S, 129 N), 3 Red-throated Divers (1 S, 2 N), a Sanderling (S), 21 Sandwich Tern (8 S, 13 N), 11 Common Tern (1 S, 10 N) and 2 Great Skua (S). This evening around the hedges and fields were a Barn Owl, a Little Owl, 3 Willow Warblers, 9 Chiffchaffs, a Whitethroat and a Goldcrest.

Whitethroat - Long Nab - Nick Addey