With the previous afternoons reports that the Drake Surf Scoter that had taken up temporary residence in Filey Bay,had been seen to fly out to sea,it was with a little trepidation that Chris and myself headed out to Filey bright and early to hopefully see this cracking duck.After a pretty traffic free journey we arrived at North Cliff country park,paid our parking fee,and got the kit together and headed for the brigg.A quick look from the cliff top quickly revealed the bird to be thankfully still present with his Common Scoter buddies.A quick descent down the brigg side soon saw us in position and watching this superb drake as he fed on several shellfish.He unfortunately kept his distance and was never close enough for any good shots,not with my kit anyway,but some gave nice scope views.This is my first Surf since a drake at Spey Bay in November 1994,so was a very welcome sighting and also had the added bonus of adding it to my Yorkshire list.Unfortunately after a some time watching the bird,it was flushed along with its cousins by a fishing boat and the birds flew out into the middle of the bay.We then spent the next couple of hours watching the sea and enjoying some excellent views of at least 16 Sandwich Terns and hundreds of Guillemots along with smaller numbers of Puffin,Razorbill,5 Eider and 2 Manx Shearwater,which passed by further out,north.Also a decent sized flock of 160 Common Scoter passed by in the same direction as the Manxies and the best bird of the seawatch,a summer plumaged Red-throated Diver flew by and landed on the sea.We then headed back towards the car after seeing a couple of Grey Seal and enjoyed a few more views of the Surfie as he had drifted back in on the incoming tide.A quick visit to the country park cafe for a cuppa and bacon sarnie,then saw us heading for the RSPB reserve at Bempton.We spent the remainder of the day here at this superb seabird city,attempting to gain some decent images of the resident seabirds.It was a real challenge to get flight shots today,as it was so windy,but i managed a few decent efforts.There were fairly good numbers of Puffins present after the spring auk wreck,which was great to see and the smell,sights and sounds of this excellent site were a joy to watch and experience.Another great day out and thanks to Chris for driving.
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| 4th Calendar year Gannet,Bempton RSPB. |
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| 4th Calendar year Gannet,Bempton RSPB. |
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| 5th Calendar year Gannet,Bempton RSPB. |
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| Adult Gannets,Bempton RSPB. |
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| Sparring adult Gannets,Bempton RSPB. |
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| Drake Surf Scoter,with Common Scoters,Filey Bay. |
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| Drake Surf Scoter,Filey Bay. |
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| Guillemot,Bempton RSPB. |
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| Puffin,Bempton RSPB. |
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| Razorbills,Bempton RSPB. |
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| Tree Sparrow,Bempton RSPB. |
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