Yorkshire

Kittiwakes, Scarborough

Early last Summer I promised myself that when we were out of lockdown I'd have a trip out to Scarborough for a bit of seawatching (it's one of those places that makes for a long day out and can be quite productive). With the lockdowns and the different tiers and all the other circumstances of our plague years I've only recently felt it could (or should) be an option.

The train journey over was good, though Yorkshire's fields seem a bit thinner on birdlife than Lancashire's. The highlight was between Haxby and Strensall when a merlin took flight from a trackside perch as the train sped by. Eight buzzards soaring over Huddersfield town centre was a surprise.

Kittiwakes on Scarborough's M&S

The weather forecast was a bit mixed but it turned out to be a bright early Summer day at Scarborough. Walking down to the beach I was impressed by the number of kittiwakes nesting on ledges of the buildings. Living in the Northwest of England it seems a bit unlikely that kittiwakes are our commonest gull but then when you see the sheer numbers festooning seaside towns on the Eastern seaboard it's not so surprising.

Great black-back, Scarborough Harbour

I wandered down the beach to the harbour. There were kittiwakes and groups of herring gulls loafing about. More kittiwakes flew over, most carrying lumps of seaweed for nest materials. A couple of cormorants fished near the harbour and further out there were little black dots on the water which could have been anything. A couple of swallows flew low over the water and on towards White Nab. A couple of rock pipits skittered around the jetties and breakwaters.

Rock pipit

Guillemot
This is the "bridled" form with the pale eye ring and stripe.

I walked down Marine Drive from the harbour to the accompaniment of nesting kittiwakes on the cliff beneath the castle. Rafts of kittiwakes rested on the water. Here and there there were more little black dots on the water, most of which turned out to be guillemots, though the first one I positively identified was a razorbill. A few of the guillemots came in a bit closer so I could get a better look at them. A dozen gannets flew in line formation about a mile out (I'm always surprised by how conspicuous and easy to identify gannets are at a distance).

Scarborough Castle

I walked round Marine Drive and took the path up to Blenheim Terrace and thence back to the station. Chiffchaffs, blackcaps and goldfinches sang in the bushes on the cliffs.

I had to change trains at York so I took a side trip out to the university at Heslington to see if I could catch the Savi's warbler that's been singing in the reedbeds by Lakeside Way. It's a quick trip out on the 66 bus and the lake (big pond really) is two minutes walk from the bus stop.

A dozen people were lined up by the reedbed. Half a dozen reed warblers, a couple of sedge warblers and a reed bunting really couldn't care less and went about their business alternately fly-catching and singing. I was told the Savi's warbler had sung ten minutes before my arrival so I waited and scanned the reeds for anything unusual. About quarter of an hour later the bird gave a snatch of song about ten yards in front of us. None of us could see it but for ten seconds it sounded as if there was a cicada in the reeds. A few minutes later it gave a shorter burst of song about six feet further away. Another quarter of an hour later a dark shape flitted across the base of a small tree in the reeds and another burst of song came from the depths it disappeared into. One of the other birders managed to get a photo of the bird, I just got a brief glimpse of its rear end. 

I waited a little longer with no further joy and then, with one eye on the weather I went for my bus. (The heavens opened as the train to Manchester pulled out of York Station.)