The journey up from home,was mostly traffic free and was broken up by the lovely sight of 2 hunting Barn Owl,one between Driffield and Langtoft and another hunting the grass verges just outside Wykeham village.
As i arrived at the raptor viewpoint i was greeted to the sight and sound of 6 Crossbill as i got out of the car and prepared my gear for the visit,a nice start i thought to myself.
A short walk and i was at the viewpoint and i had it all to myself,heaven!.
It was decidedly nippy to start,with a blustery south west wind,so i kept all the warm gear on until it warmed up.
There were several small flocks of Crossbills chipping around overhead,a single Brambling and then i got onto my first of at least 9 Goshawk as it flew along the treeline on the opposite side of the valley.As i have said many times before,it is such a privilege to have these fantastic raptors just over an hours journey from home.
I carried on watching and a nice group of displaying and sparring Common Buzzards showed nicely as they tumbled and mewed overhead.It was hard to gauge the numbers present today,but i had 7 in the air together at one point and birds were moving along the valley also.
It wasn't long before i was joined by several other birders and more great sightings included a Red Kite,only my 3rd sighting here and at least 2 pairs of displaying adult Goshawks,earlier we had watched an immature bird also displaying.Added interest amongst the Crossbill flocks,were 2 wing barred individuals.
It was now time to move on and i made my way around to Troutsdale Valley,parked up and had my lunch,before walking up to Hilla Green.A walk around the area here revealed a lovely singing Marsh tit,2 Brambling and singles of Dipper and drake Mandarin.
As the good weather was continuing i drove over to Scarborough,making quick visits to both the Marine Drive/Harbour areas and then onto Holbeck for the Med Gulls.
Some cracking views were enjoyed of one of the Peregrines as it flew in with prey to it's cliff side perch and proceeded to pluck it and around the harbour a small group of Purple Sandpipers showed well.
At Holbeck,the Med. Gulls eventually showed brilliantly and today's group consisted of 5 adult birds(Including polish ringed PNN5) and a lovely 3rd calendar year bird also.
So after another superb visit to this bird rich area i travelled back home through the wolds,contented at another great days birding.
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| A Panoramic View From The Raptor Watchpoint,Wykeham Forest. |
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| Male And Female Common Crossbills,Wykeham Forest. |
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| 2nd calendar year Female Goshawk,Wykeham Forest. |
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| 2nd calendar year Female Goshawk,Wykeham Forest. |
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| A Huge Crop Of The Red Kite As It Passed Along The Valley. |
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| Troutsdale Valley. |
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| Troutsdale Valley. |
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| Hilla Green And The River Derwent. |
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| Peregrine,Marine Drive,Scarborough. |
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| Purple Sandpiper,East Pier Scarborough. |
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| Adult Mediterranean Gull,Scarborough. |
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| Adult Mediterranean Gull,Scarborough. |
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| Adult Mediterranean Gull,Scarborough. |
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| Adult Mediterranean Gull,Scarborough. |
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| Adult Mediterranean Gull,Scarborough. |
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| 3rd Calendar Year Mediterranean Gull,Scarborough. |
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