Whooper Swans
Filey Town
For the first week of September, the gulls won the battle, with up to 75% of each night's recording's graffitised beyond recognition; after returning from a few precious days away in North Wales, however, suddenly the sono was much more inviting, and by mid-month maybe only 15-20% of each recording was unusable...
There were rewards even before that watershed, too, with a wonderfully conversational flock of Snipe on the night of the 2nd (above), a Grey Plover on 4th and another low-flying local Barn Owl - at the time, the second record of this unlikely urban rooftop skimmer.
The rest of the month was pleasantly varied and entertaining (especially with that comparatively clean sono to analyse) without being mind-blowing: highlights included Bar-tailed Godwits on 14th, a late Little Ringed Plover (23rd), the first autumn Robin (20th), a flock of Turnstones (28th), the first Redwings (28th), plus various expected species, from Dunlins and Oystercatchers to Curlews and Grey Herons.
October, however, would prove to be another trip entirely. A quiet first few days nonetheless included a late Whimbrel on 1st, Redwings and Song Thrushes, Golden Plovers and other commoner stuff, before a real revelation on 6th - almost hidden between bursts of random Herring Gull, the unmistakable churrs of a flyover Dotterel! True nocmig gold, and all the sweeter for being both harder to unearth and for flying over not the undisturbed clifftop recorder, but my humble abode, with its streetlights, alleycats and drunks.... more on that happy occurrence here.
The same night provided my first (nocturnal) house registration of migrating Pink-footed Geese, with a large, noisy flock over the rooftops; more Pinks followed on the 9th, before a seemingly dead night on the 10th suddenly sprang into life after heavy showers at around 0345hrs - out of nowhere, and within just a couple of hours, 1109 Redwings, 113 Blackbirds, Brambling, Grey Plover, Moorhens, Golden Plovers, Snipe and more....
After a fine diurnal session here on the home patch in the afternoon (Grey Phalarope, Barred Warbler, lots of new arrivals), the night of the 13th was epic - minimum totals of 2318 Redwings, 783 Blackbirds, 16 Fieldfares, my first two Ring Ouzels (below), five Robins, 13 Dunlins, Snipe and plenty more - the after-dark, middle section to a wonderful 24 hours, bookended by finding a beautiful Rustic Bunting the next morning. Magical!
The latter part of the month was a little calmer, although thrushes were a constant feature, as were a host of classic late autumn shorebirds (including Curlews, Snipe, Oystercatchers) and passerines (Bramblings, Robins and Chaffinches), more Pinks yapped over in the darkness, and a further two Barn Owl registrations continued to make a mockery of local habitat barriers; better still, a much hoped-for nocturnal brass section kicked in emphatically on 22nd, with a large flock of Whooper Swans noisily navigating the Filey town sky.
Filey North Cliff
Meanwhile, up on the cliff top (about 1.3km north of my study recorder), a subtly different mid- to late autumn's recording was unfolding. As was evident earlier in the season, it was much more productive for shorebird variety, with (in additional to many registrations of the commoner species on other nights) a particularly strong pulse on 4th, which included Ruff, Whimbrel, Ringed and Golden Plovers, Curlews, Turnstones and Knot...
As hoped, it also scored much higher in the passerines stakes, with a much wider variety (and many more registrations): in September, for example, these included small but regular numbers of Skylarks (from 3rd), Robins (from 4th), Meadow Pipits, a Tree Pipit (12th), Song Thrushes, Redwings and Blackbirds, and a nocmig dream-come-true on 28th....
At 1855hrs - twelve minutes after dusk, with a bright moon rising and an otherwise long-silent recording rolling - two unmistakable tsooists of a Yellow-browed Warbler can be heard, from a bird presumably either having just made landfall, or, far more likely, giving a vocal starting pistol as it responds to its migratory urges (and the perfect conditions) before the next stage of its unfeasibly long migration from Siberia....
The following night's Goldcrest, an NFC in the early hours, may have been from a far commoner species, but was no less welcome and awe-inspiring for it. Spring up there is going to be fascinating indeed....
As well as the more expected species, September also provided regular flocks of Pink-footed Geese (from 14th), a couple of Common Scoter registrations, a Little Egret (15th), a late Common Sandpiper, Sandwich and Common Terns, and plenty more besides.
Unlike the study recorder and the almost zero effort involved, setting the recorder up on the North Cliff is dependent on conditions (strong winds and very heavy rain are best avoided) and opportunity - with windows for picking up and dropping off becoming an increasingly rare luxury as October rolled on. However, I managed most nights until the 18th, and while not quite rivalling the home recorder during the same period, it produced plenty of results.
Notable nights included the 6th, which featured a very heavy movement of Pink-footed Geese, and the 13th, which scored an impressive 1553 Redwings, 142 Blackbirds and 16 Song Thrushes among others.
Passerines continued to be a feature, with Dunnock, another Tree Pipit, more Chaffinches, several Lesser Redpolls and a Reed Bunting (below) all bumping up the list as the month wore on; arguably even more interesting than the urban Barn Owl recordings mentioned above were the calls of argumentative Little Owls from nearby cover on the night of the 5th - a species which is on the verge of extinction locally, and hasn't been recorded in that area for many, many years.
What a fascinating ride it's been thus far; November was, well, hardly dull either.....
(Flamborough Sep/Oct nocmig summary to follow soon)
