Ah, February - always a joy, eh..... not to complain, of course, and even in this often bleakest of months and scenerios, the local patch continually provides. It's a month that is usually comparitively low-key here in Filey but for the promise of cold-weather movements, and a period of the latter (inspired by plunging temperatures, the full range of precipitation and bone-chilling easterlies) stole the show earlier in the month.
Black Redstart - still pluckily sticking it out in the bay corner
Billed as
The Beast From The East 2, it was more of half-hour TV spin-off than a genuine sequel (for a reminder of the sheer scale of the original, see
here), but it forced an exodus of landbirds from an increasingly inhospitable mainland Europe to take their chances over the raging North Sea, with predictably mixed results.
Argentatus Herring Gull in the bay corner
Thrushes, Snipe and other species were involved, but by far the most notable and abundant was
Woodcock. Sadly many didn't make it (as evidenced by the many casualties along the shoreline), but many others did, and there must've been hundreds in the local area on several of the most productive days; in one small area of local coastal cover (the main part of Top Scrub), I counted a minimum of 31 on 5th, with double figure counts the norm for a good week thereafter.
Local wetlands were mostly iced over, with influxes of waterbirds including Wigeon and Coot (both above) indicative of more extreme conditions inland, and wildfowl were on the move in modest numbers - including pale-bellied Brents and Pink-feet. The bay has been reasonably quiet, however, but for the pleasingly predictable Great Northern Divers and a notable build-up of Great Crested Grebes (below), with 25 in one small area on our wind-battered beach walk yesterday and double figures all week...
Great Northern Divers fishing in the surf
Sharing the beach with Sanderlings (above) is a regular perk of winter walks, but sharing it with a Fox (below), enjoying the extensive seafood buffet of the strandline before slipping away pursued by corvids (below), was a rarer treat.
Woodcock (above), Dunlin, Snipe and another Woodcock (all below) - cold weather movers and shakers
