Review of the Year, 2022 - part three

Chestnut-sided Warbler in the Mass homestead garden, July 

This summary covers July, August and September '22

The end of June and early July was spent in the beautiful countryside of the Dordogne, where we enjoyed an idyllic week celebrating my old man's 80th year on the planet (and what a pleasure to be able to have done so). Again, by no means a birding a trip, but the garden and surrounds of our weird, expansive accommodation were full of the kind of species that we don't see nearly often enough in the cold, dark north... more here.

Hoopoe over the garden in the Dordogne

Yep, it really was this tame.... 

Back for a few days surveying work (and a sneaky gander at the Turkestan Shrike down the road at Bempton - above, and more here), before a long planned two-and-a-half weeks back in the USA with the American family.

Cooper's Hawk and Ruby-throated Hummingbird in the Mass garden 

Naturally jam-packed with family visits and excursions, it included a lovely few days away with the in-laws and nieces in a sleepy Vermont village, as well as the usual quality time in various places across Massachusetts; naturally, it also involved a little birdy collateral, as described here and here. 

After a messed-up journey home with lengthy delays and sleepless red-eye flights, my first blurry day back on home soil involved a Caspian Tern (above) at work on the Humber (!) and a Cory's Shearwater among seawatching highlights back at Filey in the evening - what a welcome home... more on that memorable day here. 

Bottlenose Dolphins hanging out by our YCN boat in the summer.... 

Our Yorkshire Coast Nature Seabird and Whale adventures are a much-anticipated feature of every summer guiding season these days, and (despite being away for much of it) I led plenty of trips again this year; as always, we had many great experiences with both avian and mammalian highlights.

... and Manx Sheawaters and Minke Whales doing likewise 

The seabirds, dolphins and porpoises were all good value, and (despite leaving it late this year), the Minkes eventually came through with a vengeance. More here and here. 

Our surveys on both banks of the Humber continued, and the much-anticipated return of multitudes of migratory waders was a joy to behold (and count) throughout the late summer and autumn.... more here.

Black-tailed Godwit and Curlew Sandpiper at Killingholme

By mid-August, it was time to hit the road. Despite visiting Shetland a couple of times in recent years - on exclusively bird-focused autumn trips with the team - I've always wanted to experience the islands in a more relaxed, holistic way, and the stars aligned perfectly this year. Our dear friends Eike and Andrew had temporarily moved to Lerwick, with a spare room and spare time avaiable; they didn't need to ask twice, and with time off negotiated, we put together a plan....

A 17-day road trip - incorporating Eyemouth (as always on our way up, and then back from, the north), two days and nights exploring the neolithic wonders of Aberdeenshire, a 13-hour overnight ferry to Shetland, ten days on the islands with our friends (which incorporated lots of exploring of the various other islands, as well as the mainland - an idyllic few days on Yell, plus day trip to e.g. Fetlar, Unst and more), another 13-hour ferry and slow journey home - was pretty much perfect in every respect, right down to the Orcas, on the last day, just an hour before we had to leave....

Pied Flycatcher, Sumburgh, Shetland, August

Barn Owl, Filey, September 

Back for early September, and straight into surveying/guiding mode once more; of the former, lots more on the Humber, and of the latter, the first run of my Autumn Birding Discovery Days. And, with the migration season shifting up a couple of gears and more opportunity (especially early and late in the day), plenty of off-the-clock local birding.

Icterine Warbler, Buckton

September '22 was a real pleasure from this perspective, especially in the light of that increased opportunity (after much less chance to bird hard locally in recent years, for good reasons), with periods of decent migration conditions coinciding with the time to hit the local patches with pleasing regularity.

European Honey-buzzard in off the sea, Filey, September

But for odd sessions at Buckton and Flamborough, for whatever reasons the divining rod kept me mostly (very) local, with the majority of my time spent on the doorstep here in Filey. Increased effort equalled increased reward (who'd have guessed?), with plenty of entertaining sessions - everything from record-breaking Caspian Gull counts (eleven over a short period, including four south in one session), heavy visible migration, productive sea-watching and some nice self-finds (Honey-buzzard, Wryneck, Icterine Warbler etc) to keep the tank topped up.

Common Redstart fresh in on Carr Naze, Filey

More on those local birding session in September can be found here, here and here. 

One of a record number of September Caspian Gulls at Filey

 All good practice for the next adventure of the year...... (final part to follow soon!)