Filey Brigg.......

Chris taking a few shots of the big sea.

Looking back towards Carr Naze,with a distant Scarborough in the distance.

A nice change of scenery today,saw Chris and myself heading for this cracking birding hotspot on the North Yorkshire coast.No real rarities were encountered today,but several nice birds were seen for the year and we got some cracking views of the resident commoner species.The year ticks came in the form of Sooty and Manx Shearwater,Arctic Skua and Bonxie,with the Arctic Skua's showing particularly well harrying terns close in off the Brigg,giving us a great chance to study the birds plumage,particularly on one confiding juv..Unfortunately,the Shearwaters were more distant and the Bonxie passed by at about mid-distance.Also seen were a decent sized flock of 55 Little Gull passing slowly north,as they fed.But today it was the commoner species which we were able to study at our leisure and we enjoyed fantastic views of Gannet,Fulmar,Guillemot,Eider,Kittiwake,Knot,Sanderling,Dunlin,Bar-tailed Godwit and a personal favourite Whimbrel,with one bird showing very nicely on the Brigg as it refuelled,before carrying on its migration south.Other goodies included a juv. male Peregrine which showed very nicely,a single Black-tailed Godwit which flew north,3 cracking juv. Wheatear and the surprise of the bunch a Goldcrest on Carr Naze.Non bird sightings included several Red Admiral butterflies,1 Common Porpoise and a couple of Grey Seal.A very enjoyable day in some nice weather.