Saturday, January 23, 2010

North Yorks re-visited.


Another trip up to see the female Black-throated Thrush today at Newholm resulted in us getting much better views of the bird in 100% better weather conditions.Today,she seemed to be more engrossed in chasing the local Blackies out of her patch than spending time feeding and incessantly chased them!,we enjoyed some great views of her in flight also,showing just how much bigger than Blackbird she was.Also noticeable today,was the vocalisations of the bird,with her calling with a slight "chack" which was reminiscent of Redwing and i also noted a feature of which i hadn't observed on our last visit,the orange/rufous underwing coverts as the bird preened and a few other subtle characters such as the black lores,buff eye ring and pointed tips to the tail feathers.After enjoying this beauty for a second time,we made our way towards Scarborough,seeing a Peregrine en-route and then enjoyed superb views of the female of the pair of Peregrines at Scarborough.Also on the same area of cliff,where several pairs of Fulmar taking up residence on their breeding ledges,allowing superb views of this mini albatross!.Nearby a single Common Porpoise was watched briefly offshore.Our next stop was only a short distance away,Holbeck car park for the super Med Gulls,with 7 birds on this visit,5 adults and 2 2nd winter birds which put on a great show after Dave produced some of his sandwiches for them.The final place we visited was the excellent Filey Brigg,which i have always done well at,with today being no exception,with several good birds being seen which included a single female Velvet Scoter,3 Long-tailed Duck(1st w. male and 2 females) and a single Great-northern Diver,the Long-tails and Velv showing really well.Also here was a supporting cast of 27 Eider,with some fine drakes being seen,70 Common Scoter,15 Red-throated Diver and 12 Purple Sandpiper.There was also quite a lot of Gannet activity offshore and at least 30 Guillemot already in their summer plumage,bringing thoughts of spring to mind.Other none bird highlights included a single Ray's Bream carcase,check out the teeth on it in the above photo! and both Common and Grey Seals.A brilliant day out in the home county!.

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