After last year`s restriction on travel it was nice to visit our regular places in East & North Yorkshire. Along with Kevin C, Chris B, myself and Bob K driving we left Rochdale at a leisurely 10am. Even on a Saturday morning the M62 was fairly busy but as we headed for the Bempton area the usual parade of caravans, tractors were there to meet us. At RSPB Bempton the car parks were almost full, well it was a lovely day. The usual species were seen on the cliffs at Bempton with: - Gannet, Fulmar, Kittiwake, Guillemot, Razorbill and the eagerly awaiting gulls patrolling the cliffs for a parent to not be concentrating.
Now we have not been having much luck with seeing any Honey Buzzard at Wykeham (why come) or anywhere else for that matter so it was with much trepidation that we made our way there. The species had been reported every day this week, so we might have a chance? We saw a fellow Lancastrian birder, who had been there since 8am in the morning, he had not seen any Honey Buzzard! A pleasant 2 hours revealed: - Willow Warbler, Crossbill, Siskin, Common Buzzard, and Carrion Crow then, at last, two Goshawk put on a really nice aerial display. Another Goshawk also performed really well for us all but the other species was not seen or reported on Saturday, must have known we were coming!
With various savages in Europe killing as many Turtle Doves as they can to prove their manhood it is always nice to go to watch these beautiful birds at their breeding quarters. After a bit of searching we saw about four of them flying around, but not many calls were heard. Please can someone educate the killers of this species as they pass through backward countries? A call at a Fish & Chip shop is always a bit of a highlight of this trip, the one at Thornton Le Dale is always good. A television programme called Bangers & Cash centres on Mathewsons cars and various memorabilia. Now as luck would have it Derek Mathewson was pulling up with a load of cars on his trailer, what a treat for us all!
At the last call of the day we arrived at Sutton Bank that is at 978 feet above sea level and home to lots of bird species. We had a look at the bird feeders and were all pleasantly surprised to see a Turtle Dove on one of the feeders. That`s the first time we have seen one actually on the feeders, lots of pictures were taken and a good general appreciation of how beautiful this much declining species is. As dusk then darkness set in we donned our various coverings and applied liberal amounts of insect repellent and headed off to hear /search for Woodcock & Nightjars. After 15 minutes a Nightjar was heard then a Woodcock flew by, after a quick call from Bob K, we headed to a clear fell area and managed to have really spectacular views of Nightjar. This was a hairs on the back of your neck encounter as one bird flew within 15 feet of us. At 11-30pm we went home having had a real great day/night out!
