With a half decent forecast today,i decided to make the trip up into North Yorkshire to my fave place Scarborough.On the journey up it was a bit rainy so before reaching my destination i decided to drive over to Forge valley and the excellent feeding station while the rain stopped.I have been visiting this site since i was a toddler and it is always great to see the species we don't encounter commonly where i live.My personal favourite being the lovely Marsh Tit of which at least 2 were making visits to the feeders.Also seen on around the feeding station were 2 Nuthatch,40 plus Chaffinch and several Blue and Great Tit.In the surrounding woodland the echoing sounds of early Spring included singing Wood Pigeons,the afore mentioned Marsh Tit and a couple of drumming Great-spotted Woodpeckers.At last the weather broke and i travelled over to my parking spot on Marine Drive.After another shower passed over i got the gear together to the sound of cackling Fulmars pairing up on their cliff side residences.After meeting up with local Cetacean expert,Stuart Baines,we stood and watched at least 7 Harbour Porpoise as they hunted and interacted with each other giving some excellent views of this superb animal.After enjoying the Porpoises i made my way down to the Harbour to look for the Juvenile Great-northern Diver.I met up with fellow Birders,Chris Bell and Micky Mcnaghten and we enjoyed stunningly close views of the Diver as it caught several crabs and small fish,sadly this bird was found dead the following day,what a real shame.After taking loads of photos of the cracking Great-northern i made my way around to the East Pier as it was high tide,to look to see if any Purps were roosting and sure enough there was a small group of birds today,with 11 being present.It is always great to catch up with them on my winter visits and they have to rank among my favourite waders.Next stop was the Mere and after some patience,the wintering Firecrest was eventually seen feeding in a Eucalyptus tree in the company of 3 Goldcrest,but was easy to lose amongst the evergreen leaves,a good local record for the area.After enjoying the Firecrested Wren i ended my visit in the company of the wintering Med Gulls at Holbeck car park and they put on a great show as normal with super,stunning,close views.Today there was 5 adults and 2 3rd calendar year birds and they showed very well for the camera as they searched the grassy areas surrounding the car park for earth worms,superb birds and anyone who discards them as a common and boring must need their head seeing to.So another great visit to this fantastic area for the hobby was had today and i travelled home through the stunning Wolds a happy boy.
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| Juvenile Great-northern Diver. |
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| Juvenile Great-northern Diver. |
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| Juvenile Great-northern Diver. |
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| 2nd calendar year Great black-backed Gull. |
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| 3rd calendar year Med. Gull. |
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| Adult Med. Gull. |
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| Adult Med.Gull. |
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| Adult Black-headed Gull. |
Stunning images, especially that flapping diver, brilliant shot.
ReplyDeleteThanks Ashley,much appreciated :-)
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