Starting the new year as I intend to continue (we'll see how long that lasts, eh), here's a quick round-up of the first ten days or so of 2020.
After getting back from the States, we'd the pleasure of guests until the 3rd, later on which was the first chance I had to nip out for a quick session locally here in Filey. It was a pleasure also to catch up with the Firecrests in Church Ravine - annual here in small (but increasing) numbers, but a rare bird in winter - and then a quick pre-dusk check of East Lea produced eight Barnacle Geese with the ferals; up to two Barnacles are regular, but with the influx of geese in recent days (including this species), this is as good as it gets for wild ones locally, and so were notable.
Then, finally, an opportunity to catch up with the long-staying, now-legit-wintering Yellow-browed (type?) Warbler. Found by Dan back in November while I was in Israel, it's a very interesting bird, and while it's apparently been confirmed as a Yellow-brow (the silver bullet apparently coming from sonograms), it's an education to say the least... Approaching it as unbiasedly as possible, it would immediately set the alarm bells ringing without prior knowledge re: its apparent ID -
I watched the bird in relatively dull, flat light (hey, it's January in Filey) and morphologically, while there are arguably pro-inornatus features on closer / longer / alternatively-lit inspection, its overall olive-grey, washed-out tones, creamy-buff supercilium and - from certain angles - uncontrasting wing coverts strongly suggest Hume's, to my eyes at least. Good luck with one like this for thirty seconds in a dark November canopy....
Oddly counter-intuitive, and bringing to mind a Hume's in the bay at Flamborough a few years ago which I also wanted to get to grips with for educational purposes - which, largely because of its bright, green, contrasting tones, I can't say I did.... throw in the call, which to my (clearly still untrained) ear was inseperable from Yellow-brow, and it's fair to say there's still a lot I can learn from these late autumn birds.....
Further afield, I'd two more Humber wader surveys this week, on both North and South banks, with impressive numbers assembled along the inter-tidal zone at both sites. They may not be the most aesthetically pleasing locations I've surveyed, but the abundance of shorebirds is a treat nonetheless. Lapwings well into four figures were a particular joy -
A small diversion on the way to one of them via Hornsea Mere was very productive - masses of wildfowl out on the water from Kirkholme Point, which included a redhead Smew, Greater Scaup and two Long-tailed Ducks (below); must remember to drop in on this excellent site and check through the duck flocks more often.
