Friday 23 December 2011

Twinkling Scarborough Lights

Yesterday the forecast was too cloudy for the Short-eared owls, so I thought I'd take my nephew to see the Great Northern, Black Throated & Red Throated Divers in Scarborough Harbour. The weather improved during the drive until at Scarborough itself the sunlight was very bright & the wind not too strong. Unfortunately, we could only find a Cormorant & Guillemot in the harbour itself. Not having walked around the harbour, I didn't really know where I was supposed to be looking, but we did find very some very confiding Turnstones & a single Rock Pipit. The Purple Sandpipers were a little more distant, and a Red-throated Diver flew past & came to land far out at sea. An East Yorkshire snapper also seemed unable to find anything worth photographing & a few other birders were also on the lookout. Then my nephew spotted some Jellyfish & when we looked down we found more & more of them. Some contained green flashing lights, whist others had red pulsing lights running along their sides. We also saw more typical semi-circular jellyfish, but my camera wouldn't focus on these individuals.

After lunch Ben & I popped in to Forge Valley Feeding station. The birds had run out of food, and as soon as I put a little seed down on a table, and before I got back in the car, the birds flocked down in large numbers. There were many Marsh, Great & Blue Tits, plus Chaffinches, Blackbirds & Robins. However, the undoubted stars were the Nuthatches (at least 3) who also came to the table when Ben stood next to the car. Ben also spotted a pair of Treecreepers on nearby trees.

After we left the harbour area, a Weds morning stalwart found the distant Great Northern Diver in the harbour & a twitter acquaintance & his colleague saw a Woodcock being chased by a Peregrine - now, that would have been a sight to see, as long as the Woodcock got away & the Peregrine snatched a gull or pigeon instead!
Sea Gooseberry?
dittlo
Turnstone - only 1 toe on its right foot!
Rock Pipit - with best foot forward
Purple Sandpipers
Shag
Nuthatch
Chaffinch
Marsh Tit
Robin - a sop to the season

1 comment:

Mike Randall Bird Photography said...

Nice post Michael, feet/toes missing is an aspect of Scarborough's Turnstones. I take it due to left fishing lines and the like.