Saturday 26th-Sunday 27th January 2013

January 28, 2013 • Leave a Comment

'You can't always get what you want...'

Rolling Stones: 'Let it Bleed' album 1969

Before we begin, here's a little teaser. What bird is this?

Swan Goose Saturday: Barry and I made a relatively late start and set off for Scarborough to see a glaucous gull in the harbour. We parked on Marine Drive and soon picked up the peregrine that a young woman birder was watching. Thanks very much for the help if you read this!!

Peregrine A distant red-throated diver was out in the bay.

Red-throated Diver A cormorant came in to land nearby.

Cormorant Cormorant With no sign of the gull we tried Scalby Mills where it had also been seen. Barry picked up a slavonian grebe there.

Before going back to the harbour I drove up to Holbeck to see if any med gulls were about. I thought they might be pleased to see me if I shared my lunch with them.

'Did you say pilchard sandwiches?'

Mediterranean Gull Mediterranean Gull Mediterranean Gull Mediterranean Gull Back to the harbour for a longer walk round produced no white gull. A stump-footed turnstone seemed to trot around unimpeded by his handicap. I wonder what happened to him?

Turnstone On the harbour wall I spotted a lone purple sandpiper.

Purple Sandpiper We walked along the top of the harbour wall, overlooking the rock armour. Something disturbed some redshanks.

Redshanks Then something quite unexpected happened. A large flock of purple sandpipers followed the redshanks and began to swirl around in front of us before landing back on the rock armour. Every picture tells a story...

Purple Sandpiper Purple Sandpiper Purple Sandpiper Purple Sandpiper Purple Sandpiper Purple Sandpiper Purple Sandpiper Purple Sandpiper As we walked back to Tiggy a cormorant surfaced alongside me.

Cormorant

Before setting off for home I decided to boost our day tally with a visit to Scarborough Mere. there was still a lot of ice. This herring gull was playing with a shell.

Herring Gull?

Here's the answer to the teaser I posed earlier:

Swan Goose A swan goose. Some sort of hybrid bar-headed goose was also present or at least a bird whose forbears had once met a bar-headed goose...

...and Barry very cleverly found both a red-crested pochard and a mandarin. More of the mandarin later but here's the pochard. I included the first photo to show just how big this bird is compared to the tufted ducks.

Red-crested Pochard Red-crested Pochard

'...but if you try sometime, you just might find you get what you need'

Rolling Stones: 'Let it Bleed' album 1969

Sunday: on my own this time, I set off for Barmston to see a Kumlien's / iceland gull. No-one seems to have agreed which it is - Kumlien's being an iceland variant anyway. However news the night before of a white gull at York University prompted a first call at East Heslington lakes. No sign of the gull, but near the bus stop shelter by the main lake I saw multiple meadow pipits and a pair of mistle thrushes. A good start to the day!

I arrived at Barmston after driving through some impressive flood waters on a TomTom cross country short cut to avoid Bridlington. It saved time as I was keen to get there. The bird had come up on the pager!

Unsure where to go and confused by a man with a big lens photographing something down on the beach [turnstones and ringed plover] I set off along the boulder clay cliff top hoping to find a way down. A rook was on the grass nearby.

Rook It wasn't intentional but one shot caught him blink!

Rook I soon met some birders who told me where to go. [In a nice way, I mean.] The bird wasn't on the beach but in a dip in a field. I headed that way. Next moment the bird is in the air in front of me. Ever an opportunist photographer I checked ISO and f number in between each set of shots. Here we go.

Iceland/Kumlien's Gull Slightly dirtier looking than an iceland?

Iceland/Kumlien's Gull Iceland/Kumlien's Gull Iceland/Kumlien's Gull But still pretty white...

Iceland/Kumlien's Gull ...especially on the ground.

Iceland/Kumlien's Gull I headed for Bempton to see if I could add to my 3 ticks with a gannet and/or a fulmar. They told me at the visitor centre that the fulmars were back. I couldn't find any.

First gannets of the year - albeit very distantly.

Gannets Rock doves were on the cliffs. Some look pretty well like the real thing! [esp. the one at the top]

A great black-backed gull flew slowly past.

Great Black-backed Gull

I decided to check out the harbour in Scarborough again. No sign but the peregrines [2 of them] were more active. One was on the cliff.

Peregrine The other was flying around in the same area.

Peregrine Peregrine It then joined the other one.

Peregrine Finally I called back at the Mere in case the pochard or mandarin were any closer after the thaw. No sign of the pochard but the feisty little mandarin was battling with the big boys by the car park as a family were feeding the birds. The light was fading and was a contrasty mix of shade and late light. If you know what I mean. The results were quite nice - if you like this kind of thing!