Good stuff!

I'll be quite brief and let the pictures tell the story...

2nd October: Bempton and Thornwick holiday park

Pale-legged leaf warbler was my target bird and it would be lifer 451. If I saw it its name would have to be Fahrenheit. It was seen a few times without me getting a clear stationary view. Until...

Tree sparrow too.

Thornwick Bay holiday park had an elusive olive-backed pipit that hid in leaf litter and under a fence.

It was good to see Sam West trying to remain unnoticed in the crowd. Our paths have crossed a few times: Staveley when he came for a pec sand last year [or the year before] and a good few years ago in Lincolnshire when we were looking for a nesting Montagu's harrier. We never saw the bird. Rumour had it that a RSPB team went in to ring the chicks and a fox followed the scent that night and wiped them out. I don't know if it's true.

4th October: Bempton

Daurian shrike - a very pale bird. First views were tricky as it was hiding in a prickly shrub. Eventually it flew to a much better position and showed as shrikes often do.

5th October: Bridlington Harbour

I joined Carl Dutton and Mark Coates down by the harbour entrance. The bird had just flown off further into the harbour and I was told it would soon reappear. It did and was very flighty and difficult to follow against the background of the waves. Grey phalaropes are very small and I was concerned the big gulls might make a meal of it. First views were distant but it came much nearer.

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