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| Red-backed Shrike, Carr Naze |
Better late than never... a belated round-up of the second half of May, delayed on account of full-on birding throughout and followed by work and guests since then. I had the decks pretty much clear for the period, and thus was out in the field as much as possible, often for most of each day.
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| Little Egret (and Jackdaw security) |
The results were mixed and hard-won against a backdrop of almost no noticeable migration, as has been the case thorughout the season - grounded migrant day totals rarely involved a second hand for counting (and often only a couple of fingers), waders were all but absent, and sea-watching was deathly quiet. Conversely, conditions were often tantalisingly favourable, and often kind to other sites either side of us on the coast; a continuing reminder of the capricious nature of east coastal birding.
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| Wood Sandpiper, East Lea |
From the beginning: a dawn visit to the Dams and East Lea on 15th produced the autumn's first and only Wood Sandpiper initially skulking at the former site and then briefly out in the open at the latter. The same first light tactics there on 17th were just about vindicated with a Little Ringed Plover and a Common Sandpiper, followed by ongoing Breeding Bird Surveys on the coastal strip in the late morning sunshine, where a cream-crown Marsh Harrier circled in high and off the sea, buzzed by Swifts.
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| Marsh Harrier over the sea.... |
Duly inspired to spend three early afternoon hours looking skywards at my favoured Muston Sands watchpoint drew a total blank, and several hours back there from mid-morning the next day (18th) was almost as unproductive - Sod's Law, then, that a walk through the middle of town a while later should yield an Osprey thermalling north.
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| .... and an Osprey over the town |
Favouring the Dams and East Lea early again the following morning (19th) instantly produced, as an immature Spoonbill - one of several species I've somehow managed to avoid since moving to Filey - sneaked quietly southbound shortly after dawn; the first Little Egret of the season dropped in a while later, before being hustled off the premises by local gulls and corvids.
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| Little Egret |
Come the 20th, and promising conditions inspired a full circuit of the coastal sites (after a blank early check of the wetlands); unfortunately little to show for it besides single Spot Fly and Garden Warbler, but a Curlew Sandpiper and 16 Common Terns through at the Dams were unusual bonuses.
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| Sanderlings in the Brigg |
The 21st was warm and sunny with a southerly airflow, which, aside from two Hobbys (one in over the bay, the other at the Dams), was quiet - not including what was almost certainly a Honey-buzzard heading north (and away) from East Lea early afternoon. A late afternoon in the wonderfully close company of Arctic-bound waders on the Brigg end was some consolation, and time very well spent.
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| Sanderling |
With more promising conditions following (an easterly airflow, variable cloud, intermittent precipitation), the next few days were dedicated to fine-tooth combing all potential migrant cover; retrospectively a bit of a blur, with countless patrols of the land producing next to no new arrivals, instead invoking an increasing sense of Groundhog Day. Not without highlights however:-
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| Spoonbill, Dams |
A smart male Red-backed Shrike favouring the magic bush on Carr Naze brightened up proceedings, and provided some hope of drift migrants finally giving us the nod. A Spoonbill - on plumage, likely the same bird I had overhead a few days previously - arrived at the Dams on the 25th and proceeded to put on a fine show in the warm sunshine, but was soon overshadowed when a much rarer southern overshoot suddenly appeared before the clicking shutters embedded in the East Hide:
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| Night-heron, Dams |
Filey's second Night-heron (after a single observer fly-by in the late eighties) was a real treat, and was a timely shot in the arm during the last lap of a fairly modest spring here at the Obs. A little more inspiration then for the 26th, which, with the warm airflow continuing, again looked good for broad-winged flyovers - and this time provided a happy ending, with a female-type Honey-buzzard circling high and north of East Lea in the early afternoon. A patch first for me of a less than annual species, and pleasing vindication for increasing neckache this spring....
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| A secretive Icterine Warbler in the Top Scrub |
Despite best efforts and a good-looking forecast, another deathly quiet couple of days followed, but with the window starting to close, it was a case of ploughing on regardless. A cold, dark and windy morning of the 29th began at the southern end of Long Lane - where, from a patch of cow parsley (adjoining a caravan containing loud humans and canines), sang an otherwise invisible Icterine Warbler. Bingo.
The rest of the day spent searching all the coastal cover with no further joy was subsequently much less of a let-down, and the following day (30th) held at least as much promise (although after recent days and weeks, expectations were suitably tempered). As well as a couple more Red-backed Shrikes, Garden Warblers and Spot Flys, yesterday's Icterine Warbler continued to sing and show occasionally, and as a positive book-end to a slightly underwhelming period, I found a second (my seventh here so far), feeding quietly within the depths of the Top Scrub.
