A satisfying personal first for the patch, after one - likely this bird - decided to spend an afternoon off the Brigg a few weeks back, while I was otherwise engaged in not-so-sunny Scarborough. Once again I was elsewhere, but thankfully this time the bird decided to stick around and wait for my return.
Feeding increasingly close inshore along the southern flank of the Brigg, we were able to gain great views of the bird as it worked its way along incoming tide. Never ideal for photography (with the sun directly behind), it entertained us for a good half an hour before we clambered back up the slope and into the blustery northerly.
Never an easy bird to see along the Yorkshire coast, it's the kind of species that may not reappear here for several years, and so after the frustrations of the previous week it was a welcome stroke of luck.
