Friday 10th August 2018

At Scalby Mills today just a single Knot, 6 Redshanks, 15 Turnstones, 2 Lesser Black-backed Gulls, 50+ Sandwich Terns, 7 Common Terns and a single Arctic Tern. The only other news today was from Harwood Dale Lake where there were 14 Mandarin Ducks and a Snipe.

Thursday 9th August 2018

This morning there was a Teal and a Snipe on Johnson’s Marsh and 3 Golden Plovers and a Sedge Warbler at Long Nab. Later in the day we had 6 Snipe on Cromer Point Pond and in Wykeham Forest 3 Spotted Flycatchers, a Willow Tit and 6 Crossbills.

This afternoon/evening 17 Turnstones on the Harbour high tide roost including 3 returning colour-ringed birds; at Scalby Mills 2 Knot, 3 Turnstone (plus 6 flew south), 2 Ringed Plover and a Dunlin flew south and in Old Town there were 130 Starlings.

Knot - Scalby Mills - Chris Bell

Wednesday 8th August 2018

A female Pintail and a Snipe were on the Taylor Way pond this morning; the duck then transferred to the Seamer Tip pond. This evening there were a couple of Knot at Scalby Mills.

Knot - Scalby Mills - Nick Addey

Pintail - Seamer Tip Pool - Mike Randall

Tuesday 7th August 2018

11 Teal east over Scalby Lodge Pond plus about 60 House Martins and 2 Swifts then this evening a Shelduck and 2 Common Terns were at ScalbyMills.

Monday 6th August 2018

This mornings highlights off Long Nab included a Shelduck (S), 20 Teal (S), Common Scoter (2 S, 59 N), 2 Manx Shearwater (S), a Balearic Shearwater (seen in feeding flock at 08.30 but went S at 08.38), a Little Egret (S at 09.35), a juvenile Marsh Harrier (S at 09.28 and was seen later hunting around Cromer Point), 7 Knot (S), a Greenshank (S), 38 Sandwich Terns (11 S, 27 N), 3 Common Terns (S), a Great Skua (N), 112 Swifts, 78 Sand Martins, 136 Swallows, 36 House Martins and 6 YellowWagtails (all S), also 2 Minke Whales went south at 13.25.

This evening at Scalby Mills a juvenile Shelduck, 3 Mediterranean Gulls (3cy, 2cy and adult), an adult and a juvenile Common Tern, 3 Knot and 4 Sanderling.

Sunday 5th August 2018

At Wykeham South Lake species included a Little Egret, 6 Grey Herons, 5 Egyptian Geese, a Common Sandpiper, 8 Lesser Black-backed Gulls, 700 Herring Gulls, 3 Common Gulls, 4 Black-headed Gulls and 2 Yellow Wagtails.

At Long Nab not much moving today with the best being an adult Mediterranean Gull going south this evening, also in the area today 2 Common Sandpipers just north of the Obs, 7 Willow Warblers, 9 Chiffchaffs, 3 Blackcap, a Lesser Whitethroat, 19 Whitethroat and 11 Yellow Wagtails; just down the coast at Crook Ness a Sedge Warbler and 4 Willow Warblers; a Snipe and a Yellow Wagtail at Cromer Point and 6 Dunlin in Jackson’s Bay. At Scalby Mills today an Eider, a 2cy Mediterranean Gull, 5 Common Gulls (4 ads, 1 juv), 250 Herring Gulls, 10 Lesser Black-backed Gulls and 30 Greater Black-backed Gulls then across town at Holbeck there were 6 Mediterranean Gulls (5 ads and a 3cy).

Around Peasholm there were about 30 Swifts this morning; a Dunlin and a Snipe were on Johnson’s Marsh: a Little Egret on Seamer Mead; a Hobby was chasing hirundines at Herdborough Farm on Seamer Carr and 2 Honey Buzzards were reported at Wykeham Raptor View Point today.

Finally today a Minke Whale was seen about 2 miles off Marine Drive between 09.50 and 10.08.

Saturday 4th August 2018

This morning a Dunlin and a Snipe were on Johnson’s Marsh and a Little Egret dropped in for a couple of minutes before heading off to the west. Later this morning three Honey Buzzards were seen together from Wykeham Raptor View Point and 3 Willow Tits, an adult and two young birds, were seen around the car park.

A Hobby went south along the A64 between the Flixton and Seamer roundabouts this afternoon and then it or another took a Swift over Valley Road at 20.50 this evening. Also during the afternoon 2 Sanderling were in Jackson’s Bay where 4 Whimbrel flew over to the south.

Out of town 3 fledged Little Owls were at Thornton-le-Dale sewage works and an Osprey was at the Ellerburn Fish Farm at 17.40 this evening.

Late news in this evening concerns the highlight of the day which was seen at the Taylor Way pond early this afternoon when a Bittern flew noisily out of the reeds and headed in the direction of Seamer Tip pool.

Little Egret - Johnson's Marsh - Terry Hobson

Friday 3rd August 2018

A mixed group of approximately 150 Barn Swallows and House Martins on the wires at Ravenscar and at least 5 Hummingbird Hawk Moths in the area.

At Long Nab this evening a juvenile Mediterranean Gull, a Great Skua and a flock of 110 Common Scoter went north and a Common Sandpiper south; there was also Snipe this evening on Johnson’s Marsh.

juv. Common Gull - Marine Drive - Andy Hall

Egyptian Goose - Wykeham South Lake - Terry Hobson

Turnstone - Harbour - Andy Hall

Thursday 2nd August 2018

At Wrench Green there were 3 Green Sandpipers and a Common Sandpiper on the pond below North Stile; another Green Sandpiper and 5 Egyptian Geese were at Wykeham South Lake and at Wykeham Raptor View Point a single Honey Buzzard was reported.

At Long Nab today a Green Sandpiper went south as did 483 Swifts (a record August count for this site), 2 juvenile Willow Warblers were amongst birds ringed this morning and two Minke Whales were also recorded.

Peregrine (with breakfast) - Castle Cliffs - Stuart Baines

Wednesday 1st August 2018

At Long Nab today a fully spooned adult Pomarine Skua was sat on the sea at 07.20 but departed south at 07.50, also from here 2 Little Egrets went south, as did 7 Whimbrel and 113 Swifts.

Elsewhere a Barn Owl on a roadside fence post on Filey Road near the Cayton turning at 06.35 and 57 Whimbrel went west over the Lebberston Car Boot field.

Cetaceans today from Long Nab were a single Minke Whale heading south at 07.50 and two Atlantic Bottle-nosed Dolphins also heading south at 07.55.

Peregrine - Castle Cliffs - Andy Hall

Tuesday 31st July 2018

A quiet evening seawatch from Long Nab today with 4 Knot being the highlight, this brings the total for the last 6 days of July to 787 Knot recorded moving south.

Elsewhere today 14 Herons on Johnson’s Marsh; 3 Teal on the Scalby Lodge small pond; 2 Teal and 2 Grey Wagtails on the Taylor Way pond; an Eider off Marine Drive and 4 Mediterranean Gulls in South Bay.

Monday 30th July 2018

Moving south past Long Nab today we had a Shoveler, 3 Teal, 13 Common Scoter, 5 Manx Shearwater, 20 Oystercatcher, 16 Whimbrel, a Black-tailed Godwit, 6 Turnstone, 23 Knot, 5 Sanderling, 6 Dunlin, 7 Redshanks, 50 Sandwich Terns, a Common Tern, 2 Puffins, 63 Swift, a Yellow Wagtail and a Grey Wagtail whilst moving north were 2 Common Scoter, a Little Gull, 7
Sandwich Terns, an Arctic Skua and 3 Puffins.

Also today a Green Sandpiper was on Johnson’s Marsh, a Hobby flew south over Crossgates at 14.40 and in South Bay below Holbeck there were 8 Mediterranean Gulls (3 adults, 4 1^st summer and a 1^st winter).

Sunday 29th July 2018

At Long Nab today although the waders were still moving but in smaller numbers the highlight today was a record movement of Swifts, all the waders were moving south again except for four Turnstones that went north. The count today was 31 Oystercatcher, a Golden Plover, a Grey Plover, 34 Whimbrel, 16 Turnstone, 230 Knot, 2 Dunlin and 3 Redshank plus a Common Scoter (N), 2 Manx Shearwaters (1 S, 1 N), 2 juvenile Mediterranean Gulls (1 N, 1 S), 163 Sandwich Terns (116 S, 47 N), 3 Common Tern (S), a Great Skua (N), 5 Puffins (S) and an astonishing 4,264 Swifts went south before mid-day (well counted guys!!!).

Also today in Cornelian Bay 2 Eider, 6 Knot, 5 Whimbrel, 12 Curlew, 25 Oystercatchers, 2 Common Terns and c30 Sandwich Terns while at the same location 12 Knot, 9 Whimbrel and 3 Turnstone flew to the south. Harwood Dale Lake had 12 Mandarin Duck, a Snipe and a Common Sandpiper and Johnson’s Marsh had a  Green Sandpiper.

A Minke Whale was also seen today off Long Nab, it was moving south at 08.30 about 2.5 miles out.

Saturday 28th July 2018

Another good day for wader passage at Long Nab today with 10 species recorded for the second consecutive day and all of those recorded were heading south apart from a single Oystercatcher that went north, figures as follows – 68 Oystercatchers, 122 Whimbrels, 7 Curlews, 3 Bar-tailed Godwits, a Black-tailed Godwit, a Turnstone, 233 Knot, 7 Sanderling, 2 Dunlin and 5 Green Sandpipers that flew in from the east and continued west. Also moving today were a Garganey (S) at 07.08, a Shoveler (N), 79 Teal (65 S, 14 N), a Tufted Duck (S), 2 Eider (N), 356 Common Scoter (16 S, 340 N), a Sooty Shearwater (S), 4 Manx Shearwater (S), a juvenile Mediterranean Gull (S), a juvenile Yellow-legged Gull following a fishing boat north at 07.33 and then south at 10.29, 295 Sandwich Terns (55 S, 240 N), 10 Common Terns (5 S, 5 N), a Great Skua (N) and 11 Swifts (S).

Also today two Green Sandpipers were noted elsewhere in our area with one on Johnson’s Marsh at 04.45 at least and another was reported later in the day at Stoupe Brow.

Friday 27th July 2018

Wader passage was still a feature of the movement off Long Nab but only 10 species were involved today with all birds moving south, 5 Oystercatchers, a Lapwing, a Ringed Plover, 2 Whimbrel, 2 Curlew, 6 Black-tailed Godwits, 52 Knot, 37 Sanderling, 42 Dunlin and 7 Redshanks, also today 2 Shelducks, 77 Teal, 77 Common Scoter, a Sooty Shearwater, 16 Manx Shearwater, 62 Sandwich Terns, 5 Common Terns, an Arctic Tern, a Great Skua, 13 Puffins and 570 Swifts.

Also today 3 Green Sandpipers on Johnson’s Marsh and 2 Whimbrel went south over Cayton.

Finally a Hummingbird Hawk Moth was seen again on the Buddleia on Knipe Point Drive.

Thursday 26th July 2018

13 species of waders past Long Nab today 114 Oystercatchers (113 S, 1 N), a European Golden Plover (S), 2 Ringed Plovers (1 S, 1 N), 32 Whimbrel (28 S, 4 N), 4 Curlew (3 S, 1 N), a Bar-tailed Godwit (S), 11 Black-tailed Godwits south over the sea at 18.05, 5 Turnstones (S), 245 Knot (215 S, 30 N), a Curlew Sandpiper (S), 9 Sanderling (S), 79 Dunlin (S) and 23 Redshank (S) plus 275 unidentified small waders went south. Also from Long Nab today a Shelduck (N), 58 Teal (23 S, 35 N), 328 Common Scoter (11 S, 317 N), 18 Goosander (S), 32 Manx Shearwaters (28 S, 4 N), a Little Gull (N), 2 Mediterranean Gulls (N), 163 Sandwich Terns (21 S, 142 N), 32 Common Terns (12 S, 20 N), a Great Skua (N), an Arctic Skua (N), 22 Puffins (11 S, 11 N) and 5 Swifts (S).

Also reported today on Johnson’s Marsh were 16 Herons, 25 Moorhen, a Teal and a Green Sandpiper.

Wednesday 25th July 2018

An early morning report of a Barn Owl over the A64 at Sherburn at 04.30 and at Long Nab the highlights included a 1^st summer Mediterranean Gull, 6 Manx Shearwaters (2 S, 4 N), 109 Common Scoter (6 S, 103 N), 7 Sandwich Terns (6 S, 1 N), 7 Puffins (2 S, 5 N) and 2 Yellow Wagtails.

Tuesday 24th July 2018

At Long Nab today just a couple of Teal going south, 133 Common Scoter (N), 3 Snipe (N), 12 Sandwich Terns (S), 2 Puffins (1 S, 1 N) and 62 Swifts (S) being the highlights.

Monday 23rd July 2018

The only news today came from Scalby Mills this evening when three Mediterranean Gulls were seen including the return of an old friend, PNN5 is back for another winter and not a lot at Long Nab this morning but 2 Manx Shearwaters went north and two Puffins going south were the highlights.

Sunday 22nd July 2018

Long Nab was very quiet today with 2 Common Sandpipers on the beach to the north of the Obs and a single Ruff flew south.

This morning an adult Mediterranean Gull was in North Bay in front of the skate park and a Red Kite was over Wrench Green while this afternoon there were 5 unringed adult Mediterranean Gulls and 4 Black-headed Gulls hanging around the Holbeck car park at 14.00.

Saturday 21st July 2018

At Long Nab this morning seawatching was rather quiet with the highlights being 8 Teal and 35 Common Scoter to the north, 5 Manx Shearwater (S), 28 Sandwich Terns (4 S, 24 N), a Common Tern (S) and 4 Puffins (1 S, 3 N), also c280 Linnets in the field behind the Obs and a single Yellow Wagtail.

Also today 25 Moorhens on Johnson’s Marsh; in Jackson’s Bay 2 Whimbrel and 14 Oystercatchers and at Scalby Mills 2 Redshanks, 20 Sandwich Terns, 200 Black-headed Gulls including 2 green ringed Norwegian birds and 4 Common Gulls.

Other wildlife today included a Minke Whale heading north in North Bay and viewable from Blenheim Terrace at 16.35 this afternoon plus a Hummingbird Hawk Moth was visiting a Buddleia for a few hours on Knipe Point Drive.

Friday 20th July 2018

The only news today was a Lesser Black-backed Gull and 6 Egyptian Geese at Wykeham South Lake.

Thursday 19th July 2018

Passing Long Nab this morning we had 73 Common Scoter and an Arctic Tern went north and 9 Knot, 12 Dunlin, 4 Redshank, 4 Whimbrel and a Tree Pipit all went south. Also today 12 Herons and 4 Lapwing on Johnson’s Marsh; a Honey Buzzard was reported from Wykeham Raptor View Point; a Great Egret was on the pike lake at Wykeham Lakes at 07.30 and this evening at Scalby Mills there were 5 adult and 3 juvenile Sandwich Terns.

Wednesday 18th July 2018

No reports received today.

Tuesday 17th July 2018

Seawatching today from Long Nab produced 5 Shoveler (S), 41 Teal (11 S, 30 N), 293 Common Scoter (25 S, 268 N), a Sooty Shearwater (N), 23 Manx Shearwater (15 S, 8 N), 2 Whimbrel (S), a Bar-tailed Godwit (N), 6 Knot (S), 2 Dunlin (S), 87 Sandwich Terns (28 S, 59 N), a Common Tern (S), an Arctic Tern (N), 42 Puffins (19 S, 23 N) and 3 Swifts (N). Also from Long Nab this morning there were 2 Minke Whales one of which went south and the other went in the opposite direction.

Elsewhere today at Harwood Dale Lake there were a Black-tailed Godwit, 12 Mandarin Ducks, 3 Teal and a juvenile Yellow Wagtail all of which were seen this afternoon.

Monday 16th July 2018

The Grasshopper Warbler was still reeling on Thornton Carrs this morning but otherwise no other reports.

Sunday 15th July 2018

At Holbeck a 2^nd summer moulting into winter plumage Mediterranean Gull was on the rooftops at 09.00 and was soon joined by an unringed adult, also 2 juveniles flew south off Marine Drive this evening.

Saturday 14th July 2018

The only bird news today concerned a high count of 17 Grey Herons at Johnson’s Marsh and then this evening a Little Owl was calling in Burniston off and on between 22.55 and 23.30.

Also today a Minke Whale was seen close inshore off Marine Drive this morning as it headed towards North Bay.

Friday 13th July 2018

Three Honey Buzzards were reported from Wykeham Raptor View Point today and the Grasshopper Warbler remained on Thornton Carr where there was also a Little Owl by the Sewage Works.

Thursday 12th July 2018

Despite searching for a couple of hours or more early morning the Rose-coloured Starling in Osgodby was not seen today; 2 breeding plumage adult Mediterranean Gulls were seen at Holbeck and a Grasshopper Warbler was at Thornton Carrs (possibly the first record for this area).

A Minke Whale was in the inner South Bay briefly this morning at 08.20.

Wednesday 11th July 2018

The highlight of the day was undoubtedly the discovery of an adult Rose-coloured Starling on feeders in an Osgodby back garden this morning. The bird was seen around 09.00 and photographed by the house owner, it was seen again briefly in flight at 14.30 but despite searching the area for another couple of hours it was not relocated.

The only other news today was a Whimbrel that flew north over Johnson’s Marsh at 08.20 this morning.