Tuesday October 6

Another non-birding day. It rained all morning while we waited for our friends Pete and Barb to arrive from Newcastle. They did so at lunchtime, so we ate here and then headed for Whitby.

I did sneak off briefly looking for anything ornithological.

The Turnstone, one of three, was actually a year-tick. I will be interested to see where the Herring Gull was ringed.

It is now the following morning, outside the fog is thick and the forecast is for heavy rain all day. Obviously its a birding day.

Monday October 5

I spent the morning dithering. The rain looked imminent, but failed to arrive until 10.00 am. Until then I had made a couple of half-hearted forays into the immediate surroundings, finding nothing better than a fly-over Snipe.

When the rain did arrive, accompanied by a stiff south-easterly, birding was rendered impossible, so we hunkered down until lunch. After about 13.30 the weather showed signs of improving and so I gritted my teeth and headed for Hawsker Bottoms.

As I approached the little sewage works just above the Cleveland Way, a Ring Ouzel called from the surrounding bushes. Very promising. I saw it as it flew out, and then heard a second bird. Also piling out were four Song Thrushes, two Blackbirds, and two Blackcaps. Clearly migrants had arrived.

I then headed to the top of the cliff and sea-watched for 30 minutes. This only produced half a dozen Red-throated Divers and 40 Gannets. I was about to give up when I spotted flock of 55 geese heading south. They turned out to be Barnacle Geese.

I eventually headed back to the sewage works, and at last found a bird I had been hoping for, a Yellow-browed Warbler. It posed beautifully for several seconds and I really should have got a decent shot of it, but I was momentarily distracted by a second bird in the same elder bush, which turned out to be a Blue Tit, and as I returned to the Yellow-browed and pressed the shutter, it turned and exited. Drat. I did get a shot but it shows none of the diagnostic features and I'm too ashamed to show it.

I hung around for forty minutes, and eventually a tit-flock reappeared. With them was the Yellow-browed Warbler and several crests, one of which sounded like a Firecrest. Unfortunately I failed to see it to confirm my suspicions, while the Yellow-browed Warbler kept on evading my lens. Once they all returned to the Hawsker Bottoms jungle, I decided to head home.

I know I normally show even my worst photos, but I have to draw the line somewhere.

Oh, go on then!

Literally an arse-end view of a Yellow-browed Warbler

Sunday October 4

Still on holiday, but there was action at Morton Bagot. This morning Dave rang to say a cream-crown Marsh Harrier had just flown over him at Netherstead. Dave's first at Morton Bagot. I was genuinely pleased for him, although when he commented that it was a pity I hadn't been there because I would have had a great chance of a good photograph I thought he was pushing it a bit!

As it happened I was having rather a good morning myself. Today had been designated a non-birding day so I outflanked my companions by going out for an hour before anyone was up. It was a cloudy morning with just a hint of a southerly breeze. My first five Redwings of the autumn flew over, a good sign. Shortly afterwards I spotted an adult Peregrine perched on a telegraph pole, and then a tiny falcon dashed over, tilting briefly at panicking Starlings, a female Merlin. I had barely gathered my thoughts when a familiar call had me searching the sky, eventually spotting five Crossbills heading north high overhead.

I returned to the cottage pleased with this haul, and then found a Coal Tit which perched in full view showing off its steel grey mantle and sharply defined white cheeks and nape.

Unfortunately I didn't have my camera with me to record any of this, but it was put to use to record Lyn and her friends as part of their anniversary celebration weekend.

Jan & Carol, with Lyn in the middle.

We then set off for Whitby. I was being very good, and left the binoculars behind. I still had my camera though.

Whinchat

Starlings bathing in a pond at the Abbey

Back on message, the Abbey

My lens also found two Wheatears, and a Meadow Pipit at the abbey, and a Kittiwake at the docks in Whitby itself. Lyn, Jan, and Carol found lots of jewellery, porcelain etc, which they bought, and we all found an excellent fish and chip restaurant.

The afternoon was over all too quickly, and we bade farewell to our friends as they returned home. I noticed the wind was starting to blow south-easterly, so absented myself once more. This paid off within ten minutes as a half forgotten "tew" call followed by a faint "trrtrrtrr"was fortunately repeated causing me to realise a Lapland Bunting was flying over.  I got onto it and was thrilled to see it drop into a distant field. I was less pleased to discover that the field in question contained dense pasture, and all I managed to kick up were a few Meadow Pipits.

Not a bad non-birding day though.

Hawsker

Well here we are, on our holidays. Our location is a small village just south of Whitby, and we are sharing a cottage with two of Lyn's long-standing friends.

So today Lyn, Jan, and Carol have gone off on a search for bargains (last I heard they were in Middlesborough), while I set about exploring my new patch.

Having studied Google Earth over the last few weeks I decided my best bet was a place called Hawsker Bottoms. The other thing to come under close scrutiny was the weather forecast. Being on the east coast I was hoping for easterlies and rain (Lyn didn't share this wish), and this morning it seemed that the weather was holding its breath. No wind at all and complete cloud cover.

So I spent the late morning exploring Hawsker Bottoms, not as rude as it sounds. I was actually a little disappointed. The ravine leading down to the sea was certainly well vegetated, just too well vegetated. It was an impenetrable jungle of large trees and hawthorn. A ringer had been there all morning, and told me he had caught very little. Hardly any birds called, and my best small bird was a fly-over Siskin.

Never mind, at least the sea couldn't hide. It was like a mill pond, so the Gannets, Guillemots, and gulls were all far off shore. At least six Red-throated Divers flew south as I watched from the coastal path. My best discovery came from here as I heard geese calling and looked up to see four Barnacle Geese heading north. One or two Porpoises showed themselves occasionally well off shore.

Barnacle Geese

I returned to base for a cup of tea, and then set out on a marathon exploration of the fields around the cottage. No scarcities were found, but there were big differences from Morton Bagot. Tree Sparrows were regularly seen in small groups, the largest about 14. I counted 62 Collared Doves, 427 Starlings, 188 Lapwings, 146 Linnets, 260 Herring Gulls, and 140 Black-headed Gulls.

So a steady start, but if the wind goes easterly up here I may be in with a chance of a find.

Thursday October 1

A late start and a quick look at the flashes produced 46 Meadow Pipits, three House Martins, a Swallow, and a Siskin moving south.

On the flashes were 67 Teal, two Green Sandpipers, seven Mute Swans, and 42 visible Snipe.

There are nine Snipe hiding in this shot.

The hedgerows mustered a couple of Chiffchaffs, a Goldcrest, and a dozen Yellowhammers.

So much for easterlies at Morton Bagot!

Sunday September 27

A sunny morning with a light easterly breeze.

As I waited for Dave to arrive there was a sudden commotion as Rooks, Jackdaws and Woodpigeons took to the air in panic. A short scan produced a large accipiter. A big Sparrowhawk? Perhaps, but the wings looked longish and broad-based. Size is hard to judge, but as it suddenly dived into the trees in the distant wood known as The Alders, I got some perspective and felt it was larger than a Woodpigeon or a Rook. The circumstances and apparent size of the bird left me suspecting it was a Goshawk, but I'm not sure I clinched the identification.

Dave arrived and we waited, but there was no second appearance. However, there was evidence of visible migration, with 15 Swallows heading south, and 37 Meadow Pipits on the telegraph wires. A male Stonechat appeared on the sturdy fence among the Meadow Pipits.

Stonechat & Meadow Pipit

Three Redpolls flew south, and the whole area was generally busy with birds. We dragged ourselves away from the potential Goshawk, and started a circuit. A single House Martin flew around, and we located two Blackcaps, another male Stonechat, and two or three Chiffchaffs.

At the west end of the bridle path a small bird flew past me and perched in the big willow. I focused on it and was for a moment perplexed. Some kind of chat? Then it shivered its tail and I realised I was looking at a female Redstart. As I shouted its name to alert Dave, the bird took off and headed out of the tree and away across the pool field.

We carefully followed the fence line, flushing about 20 Yellowhammers, and several Meadow Pipits, but no Redstart. At the flash field we counted 56 Teal, three Green Sandpipers, and 12 Snipe. Dave then spotted two Wigeon, the first of the autumn, as they flew past, and followed this up with a view of the Little Owl. I just got onto both Wigeon and Owl before they disappeared, the latter into the foliage of the oak tree it has probably been occupying all year.

As usual the walk back was quieter, but at least today felt as though the autumn migration was underway.

Thursday September 24

A sunny morning with a moderate to fresh south-westerly breeze. I strolled around the patch this morning without, to be honest, seeing anything very unusual.

There are still plenty of hirundines about, at least 16 House Martins and three Swallows at any one time, and not much sign that they were moving. The remaining summer migrants have largely gone, although I still logged 10 Chiffchaffs and three Blackcaps.

One surprising feature of the day was the registering of Owls and imposters. I reached the slurry patch just beyond Netherstead, and was watching four Chiffchaffs darting about in the bright sunshine, when a Tawny Owl hooted several times from the planted bushes beyond. There was no hope of seeing it though. Later on, I was at the hedge by the Flash field when I heard a Little Owl, or I thought I did. After peering through the hedge I could see no sign of it, but it called again, this time rather strangely. Several more weird calls followed, plus one which sounded exactly right for Little Owl. By now I was starting to suspect an imposter, and I had a pretty good idea what it would be. I was therefore not too surprised when a Jay flew out of the hedge and away. No more calls were heard. Jays are surprisingly good mimics, although in my experience they rarely bother, preferring the standard squawk.

The Flash field contained 37 Teal, 20 Snipe, and three Green Sandpipers. A few Siskins and Meadow Pipits flew over.

On returning to my car I found I had failed to take any blog-worthy photos, and had also not sketched anything. My target birds for today were near-passerines, and so I set off to look for a Woodpigeon. This proved a surprisingly lengthy task, but eventually one appeared.

Hardly worth it really.