Red-tailed Shrike at Bempton, Yorkshire

 Red-tailed Shrike

Bempton Cliffs

Kittiwake

Razorbill

Nesting Gannet

Gannet

In flight Gannet

Wandale Farm

Shrike entered his larder

One for Red-tailed Shrike for luck

News broke on Wednesday (29th June) of a male Red-tailed Shrike very close to RSPB Bempton Cliffs. The first report stated Isabelline Shrike, however in 2000 these were split into three seperate species. I'd seen Durian (that breeds from the Caspian Sea through to central China)in Norfolk. Chinese Shrike is very unlikely as a short range migrant whilst this beauty was identified as a Turkestan Shrike which as an adult differs from the Durian Shrike in having a rufous crown, nape and hind-neck and a prominent white supercilium. It breeds in south Siberia and central Asia.

We hatched a plan on the first day myself and the Squire was going to be free and Chris Lane joined us. We decided we would leave at 6.30am and just hope postive news would be released as we headed north, which it did before we hit the M1. The journey was pretty smooth just very long. We were welcomed to the Wandale Farm. Access to the farm was £10 which seemed very reasonable given they had to pay staff and no one would have seen the bird without the access.

Any time I go and see a Shrike I know that they can be illusive & you can be waiting around a long time. No such worries on this occasion as the Red-backed Shrike flew up and down the hedgeline giving us spectacular viewing opportunities. Tree Sparrow families fed in the same hedgerow whilst Corn Bunting & Yellowhammer sang from the telegraph wires closeby. As we were late to the party as usual there was only around thirty birders/photographers present, all very well behaved and gave the rarity plenty of room to go about it's business.

It occured to me when writing the blog I have now seen eight of the nine Shrike species on the UK list, namely Great Grey, Lesser Grey, Masked, Red-backed, Woodchat, Brown, Durian, and Turkestan. I best not hold my breath for the missing Long-tailed but you just never know with birding.

We exited the farm via the eastern side to enable us a walk along the cliffs where we took on the breeding sea birds including Guillemot, Razorbill, Puffin, Kittiwake, Gannet and Fulmar, sadly no sign of Albert.

Black-browed Abatross flies into RSPB Bempton Cliffs

Black-browed Abatross (@owenbeaumont1 Twitter)

Black-browed Abatross (@owenbeaumont1 Twitter)

 Black-browed Abatross (@owenbeaumont1 Twitter)

With a big crowd on site my images are lacking in light & quality I'm afraid

Close to one year after the magficant Black-browed Albatross graced RSPB Bempton Cliffs I was heading back on the evening of 28th June. I spend all day debating whether to go or not. With Squire isolating to the virus, Mark working and the Captain purring with a sighting in Norfolk it was going to have to be a solo drive. I remember the previous year it did a morning of flying then never returned so I was dubious. Anyway the day passed without making a decision, finally I decided I'd go after my morning meeting and deal with the fate either way. I certainly wasn't going to see this species sat on my sofa. 

The species breed in three strongholds being Falkland Islands, South Georgia Island and Chile, so perhaps Yorkshire wasn't that far. The birds can live upto 70 years which is quite amazing and have wingspan upto 240cm.

The drive was traffic free both ways but the reports were less regular, just kept saying sat in cliffs. Surely not for 4 hours. Would he wait ! Yes he would, in fact the bird never moved other than an odd flap of the wings and a twist of the head as it watched the Gannets fly over. Sadly I wasn't treated to the flight views birders had seen the previous day. After around 90 mins and a mouch around I decided to head home which proved to be a good decision as the bird did not take flight for another three hours before landing on sea before flying off.  

I did feel for those who tried to twitch the bird the day after I saw it and was disappointed. There is nothing more frustating then booking time off from work and driving for a zero return. Seeing a few other birds on the day never really feels like compensation.

Many thanks to Owen Beaumont who kindly let me us a couple of his images for the blog. Pleas drop him a follow on Twitter & Instagram.

With the first half the year coming to an end, it's been pretty good to date for rare birds even given the lockdown period when we were all stuck on our local patches. To record nine new species in these six months has been really pleasing. 

Spring day trip to Bempton

Gannets bonding
 

Puffin

Shot through wild flowers
 

Gathering nesting material
 

Razorbill
 

Love the tone on this Gannets crown

 

Barn Owl
 

Barn Owl
 

Just a few of the 11,00 pairs of Gannet

Puffin

Kittiwake

Kittiwake

Take off time

Corn Bunting

With this cold & wet weather system set to continue I had to make the most of any breaks so on Wednesday I woke up early and headed to Bempton Cliffs in Yorkshire. With no chance to get out to the Farnes this year, Bempton is the next best thing. The jouney from the midlands is around 3 hours 20 mins however I shaved 15 minutes off that with a clear run from a 4.45am depature. The staff at Bempton hadn't arrived at the centre when I got there. 

The Tree Sparrows were chirping away as I passed the visitor centre and headed down towards the cliffs when there in front of me was the local Barn Owl hunting and not taking any notice of a small audience stood in admiration of the birds flying skills. Both Corn Buntings & Tree Sparrows were singing from fence post on the edge of the same field. 

The cliffs were fulls of birds nesting and protecting their territories for another busy season. Bempton is a place you really appreciate what is in front of you, just full of life in every direction. I won't list the species observed as all were very much as expected. I did have a walk around Flamborough but couldn't add anything to what I'd seen at Bempton but I did help a few people see their first ever Puffins.

 

In search of the Yorkshire Honey Buzzards

Honey Buzzard (Martin Loftgren)

Wykeham Forest

Razorbill

Georgous gannet

Tree Sparrow

Puffin

Ahh bless photo

Gannet colony

Not much room on cliffs

And stretch

Scarborough Peregrine

Honey Buzzard is a species that I've never seen or got close to seeing as there is so little information available. I'd tried twice for them at Acres Down in New Forest when in the area without even a sniff so I spread my wings looking for any help. Spurn birder, Steve Routledge came to my assistance and offered me some good tips, plenty of excellent reading and the offer of a meet up. So Friday morning I left home at 4.30am to go to Wykeham Forest on North Yorkshire Moors. As I arrived Steve was already set to go so we headed up to the raptor point and was joined by Tim Cowley.

The view of the canopy was excellent, the lads were very hopeful of a couple of sightings. A Garden Warbler & five Crossbills kept us entertained whilst we waited and waited. Plenty of Common Buzzards & Swifts but no Honeys ! At 9.45am we got our first sighting which was perhaps our worst but as the morning progressed the views improved. We may have seen two birds however the one we recorded in the same area a number of times and only strayed west once. Whilst you could see them with binoculars you needed you a scope at all times to confirm the ID's. Wing clapping was only witnessed once which was a shame & you can always wish for a perfect flyover . These secretive raptors arrive in the third week in May before leaving mid to late august with juveniles following in September. 

As the morning progressed there was plenty of good banter between sightings and other sightings included a Raven, two Red Kites and 2/3 Goshawks. Many thanks to Steve & Tim for their help. I left the forest around 1.30pm as sighting had gone quiet & headed to RSPB Bempton Cliffs. Whilst I've been there twice before you can't miss the chance to see sea birds so close. There were more Puffins than I'd seen previously whilst there were the usual high number of Razorbill, Guillemot, Kittiwakes & Gannets. Bempton must be the best place to now see Tree Sparrows, they were everywhere. As I left the reserve I found two Corn Buntings by the farm. 

Thankfully I'd booked to stay over and the next morning I found one of the famous Scarborough Peregrines when I passed the cliffs when out running. I returned after breakfast to get some breathtaking views of the bird hunting the cliffs. 

Tour de Yorkshire at Bempton Cliffs

Razorbill

Gannet

Scarborough

Sir Bradley Wiggins

Team Sky over the climb

Cliff face at Bempton

Gannets collecting nest material

No room at the inn

Room for two

Touchdown

Bempton Cliffs

Puffin

Spot the Peregrine

Visitor Centre

I've always wanted to visit the Gannet colony at Bempton so it was great to visit on the day before the inaugural Tour de Yorkshire was taking place. The staff on reception were very helpful and quickly dealing with the many visitors arriving to enjoy the sea birds.

From the first view point I quickly picked up big numbers of Fulmar, Kittiwake, Guillemots and Razorbills. The wind was very powerful which made digiscoping very difficult however I did take the SLT camera also to allow me to get some shots of the Gannets.

The Puffins were harder find, whilst a few were on the cliffs most of them were sitting on the sea. This was not the case with the Gannets as there were thousands on the cliffs and in the air allowing some fantastic views. The population is thought to be approx. 12,000 however I didn't fancy counting them. It was great to sit on the cliff tops and watch the birds very closely. Many were landing right in front of me picking grass for nesting material.

Whilst watching the Gannets I picked up a Peregrine sat up high in the cliff face. Can you see him ?

The visitor centre had a nice touristy shop, coffee shop, toilets and live cameras showing the nesting birds. Well worth a visit if you are heading that way.