With the continued presence of the 1st winter male Red-headed Bunting still at North Marsh at Flamborough and the added bonus of some other tasty eastern migrants,today's destination was an easy one.
I got up bright and early and made my way over to Flamborough for first light and to meet up with Tim and Arash for a top day's birding at this superb site.
As it got light and we paid for our parking for the day,our destination to start was to go and see the Red-headed Bunting over at North Marsh.
As we walked a few migrants were arriving and included a handful of Fieldfare,Blackbirds and Woodcock,the latter giving superb views as they arrived in off the sea.
Eventually we made it around to where the Bunting has been spending the last week in hedgerows and adjacent stubble near to North Marsh.
The bird was seen straight away,although partially hidden all the time we watched it,but you could see its pale plumage,with a yellowish wash to the rump,biggish-almost Corn Bunting like head,with large bill.
The bird is in heavy moult and isn't the smartest rarity i have seen to be fair,but a new species for me all the same.
This is potentially a second record for Britain and obviously a first for Yorkshire of this far eastern breeding species of Bunting and was a solid start to our visit.
We then headed back towards the lighthouse to the superb news that the previous day's Two-barred Greenish Warbler was still present along with a Pallas's and Dusky Warbler for good measure!.
We played it cool though and looked for migrants on our walk back,seeing a lovely pair of Northern Bullfinch around the Golf Course Willows,2 Continental Coal Tits,several newly arrived Goldcrest which fed inches away from us and overhead a chunky Mealy Redpoll passed us by.
We then walked over to where the other star birds where getting some nice views of the Dusky Warbler as it made its way around the undergrowth below the lighthouse compound,giving that tongue clicking 'Teck' call,my first since the bird i found on my local patch at Goxhill in November 2020.
Next was another real rarity like the Bunting,but not quite as rare,the very smart Two-barred Greenish Warbler.
To say this bird showed well was an understatement,giving point blank views allowing all to get some fantastic views of this far eastern species and take in the birds identification features.
This is my second sighting of the species,after a bird i saw at Spurn in October 2021.
Amazing to think that this little bird hatched as a chick this year in Northern Mongolia/Manchuria or Southern Siberia and is now off course some 3500 miles from its natal area.The species winters in South Eastern Asia,so is a long way from home,a similar area to the Red-headed Bunting and Dusky Warbler.
Final goodie and for me the star of the show today,was a gorgeous Pallas's Warbler,it was watched in relatively the same area as the Two-barred and was seen by some,feeding close to it.
These have always been a favourite species of mine and it was really great to reacquaint myself with this gorgeous siberian visitor,a real pleasure to see,with its seven stripes and primrose yellow rump.
After enjoying the lovely Siberian visitors we had some lunch and then went for a wander around the area to see if we could find any other notable species to add to our already amazing day.
The best we managed to add were 5 lovely Purple Sandpiper observed feeding along the low water mark,below the seawatching shelter,several Red-throated Diver and a flock of 35 Common Scoter which flew south offshore.
Well what a cracking day out today at this brilliant place to bird,a real privilege to visit again!
 |
| Part Of The Crowd Of Visitors Looking For The Two-barred Greenish Warbler. |
No comments:
Post a Comment