Fabulous Flamborough,Friday 25th September - Monday 28th September 2020.

This weekend Tracey and myself had pre-booked a weekend away at Flamborough staying at North Moor Farm cottages near to North Landing.

Unfortunately for Tracey the weather forecast for Saturday was gale force winds and showers and wasn't very conducive for walking,but we still made the most of our visit and got some great birding in as well as enjoying the magnificent scenery this beautiful headland offers.

The following account is what we managed to see during the weekend:

Saturday 26th

An early morning watch in storm force northerlies from North Landing made it impossible to stand at times,but i managed to shelter behind one of the buildings as i scanned the sea.

A few nice birds were seen in the couple of hours from this viewpoint and included several Sooty Shearwater, 7 Great Skuas,7 Pale-bellied Brent Geese battling their way north,Arctic Skua,5 Eider south and in off flock of Starling.

After a couple of hours i wandered back to the cottage for a welcome cuppa and bacon sarnies.

Another watch from the lighthouse/sea watching hide from 2.30 until 6ish was far more productive as the rain had eased and visibility was much improved.

Much better views of Sooty Shearwaters were seen from here,with at least 150 being seen,along with 35 Manx Shearwater,a handful of Arctic & Great Skuas and the star of the show,a stunning pale morph Long-tailed Skua which steadily flew north close in,thanks to Phil Cunningham for letting us into the hide to see it.

Sunday 27th

A much better day today weather wise after the early morning showers had dissipated.After a walk around Selwick's Bay with Tracey our main concentration was land birds,as the wind had eased,so we walked around to Old Fall with our friend Steve to see if the 2nd calendar year male Red-breasted Flycatcher was still showing.Sure enough on arrival he was still in the same area i had seen him in early morning,what a cracking little bird as he sallied after flies.Other birds seen in the area included 13 Redwing,19 Barnacle Geese which flew south,2 Brambling,Great-spotted Woodpecker,Redpoll,2 Chiffchaff and a calling Firecrest which i didn't see unfortunately.

After some lunch we said goodbye to steve and his wife and headed over to South Landing,which proved a good idea,as we were treated to some cracking views of a Hawfinch feasting on Hawthorn berries showing in the open at times and we also managed to see at least 2 Yellow-browed Warbler which were associating with a mixed tit flock.Other migrants observed here included a Wheatear,male Stonechat,Blackcap,Brambling and a Common Buzzard.

Monday 28th

Sadly it was time to go home and as i packed the car,a single Common Crossbill flew in off the sea and south.What a brilliant place this is and we are already looking forward to our next visit here with brilliant birding and stunning scenery.

North Landing,26th.

North Landing,26th.

Selwick's Bay,26th

The Impressive 'Chalk Tower',27th.

Selwick's Bay,27th.

The Iconic Lighthouse,27th.

Selwick's Bay,27th.

Check Out Those Wellies!

Selwick's Bay,27th.

Lower Bradfield,Damflask & Agden Reservoirs & The Loxley Valley,Sunday 20th September 2020.

A day out today with Mrs R,walking around this lovely area,firstly walking around Damflask Reservoir in the morning,then Agden Reservoir after lunch,saw us covering some lovely landscapes and a relatively new area for us just a stones throw from Sheffield city centre.

A few nice birds encountered today,included 2 of my favourite species,Dipper and Grey Wagtail,the former was watched feeding along the stream which feeds into Damflask,formed by the Dale Dike and outflow from Agden Reservoir.Also along this little stretch were at least 5 Grey Wags,making for some great viewing.

This area is a little gem and we will certainly be back again in the near future,as it also has a great pub for food.

The following are a few images from our day:

Damflask Reservoir.

Damflask Reservoir.

High Bradfield.

Agden Reservoir.

Fly Agaric,Agden Reservoir.

Fly Agaric,Agden Reservoir.

The Quintessential Summer Scene,Lower Bradfield.

Local Patching,Saturday 19th September 2020.

Another visit out to the local patch today,produced another great days birding with 2 more new species for the patch year list to put me on a respectable 142 for the year,18 short of my target of 160.the following is what i saw during the 9 hours out and about.

I started proceedings at East Halton as always,parking in my usual spot at Winter's Pond and after getting my kit together for the day,i was off.

To start with,very little was to be seen on Winter's,so i carried on straight to the Humber floodbank,found a decent place to sit and began to watch the Estuary.It was a big tide this morning and was still coming in,with a blustery easterly wind,things looked superficially good for some seabirds,but it was just missing that important element,rain.

After a good hour and a half or so,with nothing to show for my efforts apart from a Dark-bellied Brent Goose and a juvenile Arctic Tern,both heading towards the Skitter,i decided to make a move and wandered back towards the car and check the pit in case anything had dropped in.As i walked,a couple of juvenile Peregrines put on a fantastic aerial display as they chased and sparred overhead,what a great sight.

A good scan around revealed nothing too exciting,but 10 Little Grebe,11 Shoveler,Little Egret and a single Dunlin were more than what was present at dawn.

I then decided to walk down the edge of the Mitigation Site and could hear that all too distinctive sound of Pink-footed Geese.Sure enough in the distance over the Skitter a flock of 228 birds were heading roughly west,before splitting into 2 groups.This is the largest flock i have seen so far this autumn,but the sight and sound of this mini flock was just superb!.

Other bits on the Mit site,included 2 Ringed Plover,2 Little Egret and a lateish Whimbrel which was nice to see,with a good sized flock of 75 Linnet also noted.

An extended period of watching at the Skitter as the tide dropped paid dividends,with me seeing a single Little Stint bombing past with 4 Dunlin followed by a flock of 6 Pintail heading towards Goxhill.These latter two species were both new for the year and were very nice to see.Other niceities around the Skitter included 600+ Black-tailed Godwit,juvenile Marsh Harrier,26 Knot,36 Wigeon and a Grey plover.

I didn't even attempt to try and read any colour rings on the Black-tails,as it was far too windy today.

Nothing of note along Skitter road and as i reached Winter's for the second time today,a quick look before going home certainly was worthwhile,with a cracking juvenile Spotted Redshank feeding at the far bank from the approach track.This was a new species for my 'Winter's' list,putting it at a pretty good 156 species.

Numbers of Wildfowl had certainly built up from the morning,with 350 Greylag,180 Mallard,54 Black-tailed Godwit and 58 Lapwing being logged.

Sadly it was time to head home,but i had enjoyed another brilliant day out on my little part of England.

Sunrise Over The Humber,Taken With My Samsung S10 And Swarovski ATX85 Telescope.

Some Lovely Light Over The Humber Pre-Sunrise.

The Pontcysyllte Aquaduct & Llangollen Canal,Sunday 13th September 2020.

As Trace and myself had stayed at Chester the previous evening,after breakfast today we decided to visit the amazing world heritage site at Trevor Basin and pay the spectacular Pontcysyllte Aquaduct a visit,followed by walking the picturesque Llangollen Canal to Llangollen and back.

The aquaduct is worth visiting on its own for the head spinning height the canal travels above the River Dee,thanks to Thomas Telford & William Jessops feat of engineering genius,but the canal walk meanders through some stunning scenery.

We even managed to see a few birds,which included a Dipper and 2 Grey Wagtails along the Dee at Llangollen.

The following are a selection of photos from our visit to this lovely area:

The River Dee At Llangollen.

Stunning Views Of The River Dee,From The Aquaduct.