Best BIRDING DAY ever...
THREE LIFERS IN ONE DAY? NO WONDER THIS TRIP TO THE EAST COAST STICKS IN THE MEMORY!
The Yorkshire Coast on 8 October 2016 was the stuff of legend – the first appearance of Bempton’s now-famous Black-browed Albatross, an Eastern Crowned Warbler at the same site, and Easington’s Siberian Accentor all drew the crowds.
I saw none of those birds, but that wasn’t unusual. Life was incredibly busy at the time and big birding days out were a rare luxury. My battered book of bird lists – an ancient Bird Watching freebie – shows I only went birding once that month. This particular day, my birding buddy Adam and I were heading coastward, with a feeling of rarities in the air.
Our first destination was Bempton Cliffs. I’d been to Bempton plenty of times before to enjoy the summer seabird spectacle, but I’d never fully appreciated the tantalising potential of its scrub for attracting migrants. Just two days before our visit, an Arctic Warbler had briefly joined the Eastern Crowned Warbler, which rather rudely left the next day.
A Brambling on our way down to the visitor centre was a promising sign, and we soon heard some good news – a juvenile Bluethroat that had been reported two days before was still at large. I’d always wanted to see a Bluethroat, so the adrenaline kicked in as we marched down to the cliff-top path, where a crowd of birders had gathered. And what an incredibly obliging and handsome chap it was, with beautiful, clear markings – no obvious blue on show, but unmistakably a Bluethroat. Seemingly oblivious to the respectful observers, it hopped happily about on the path, feeding in the grass verges.
There was another star bird up in the scrub, where a smattering of Goldcrests hung off the branches like baubles – a Red-breasted Flycatcher. I had some murky history with this species. A few years before, I believed I’d found one at Coombes Valley RSPB, but as time passed I came to question this. There’d have been no reason for a summer-plumage male to be in a Staffordshire woodland in late summer: a fanciful ID of a slightly quirky Robin seemed more likely.
Thankfully there was no doubting this one – no red breast, but some nice, distinctive features, most strikingly its black-and-white tail pattern and classic flycatcher behaviour, flitting and hovering in trees around the pond as we watched admiringly from the overflow car park.
Next we went on a wild goose chase at North Marsh, Flamborough, fruitlessly searching for a Taiga Bean Goose, before heading to Thornwick Pools, where we eventually abandoned a quest for an elusive Great Grey
Shrike and carried on into the holiday park, where there was talk of a Pallas’s Warbler.
It could easily have gone the way of my previous attempt to see this species, which involved a barren trek down a blustery Spurn Point. Standing with a row of birders staring into a line of willows, and fielding questions from intrigued holidaymakers, we clocked at least one Yellow-browed Warbler, before searching for the Pallas’s further along. And there it was! This tiny riot of yellow stripes popped up to feed in a small gap amongst the trees, flashing its yellow rump and putting on a fleeting but dazzling show.
Not just three lifers in a day, but one of those unforgettable birding experiences that keeps you going back for more.
About John
Paul, aka ‘Dippyman’ is a York-based writer, editor, nature lover, and doodler. You can find him on Instagram as ‘paulbrookdippyman’ and @PaulBrook76 on Twitter, and you can read his blog at dippyman.wordpress.com
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