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Flamborough Foot-it Part 2: Gulls - The Great, the Black-backeds and the Ugly...
Wed 17th Sep, 2014
The wonderful thing about natural history is its unpredictability. On the Yorkshire coast, every autumn is different; bird migration keeps throwing up new arrivals and challenges.
So far this autumn, migrants have been dominated in rarity value, numbers and size by gulls. From local Herring Gulls and Russian Great Black-backeds to Polish Caspians, gulls have congregated on the outer Head in massive numbers! Thankfully one of the UK’s top gull enthusiasts, Martin Garner, has also recently migrated to the outer Head, where he has been helping everybody identify these ugly and beautiful birds. In the first eight days of my Foot-it challenge, this one family of birds has contributed no less than ten species to my list. Welcome to Gull World!
Sneaking landward under the noses of these massive scavengers, large numbers of Great and Blue Tits have arrived from across the North Sea, while others have moved from further north in the UK. Among these familiar birds have been several north European gems, such as the newly-arrived Red-breasted Flycatcher seen on a Sunday morning “slipper twitch” – a Foot-it dash to the cliff top.
Local patch birding gives you an insight into the distribution of local species and has certainly influenced my Foot-it list. For example, the vast majority of Flamborough Rooks are to be found not on the outer Head but in the village and Danes Dyke. Consequently, Rook was down at number 108 on my list, squeezed between the first migrant Garden Warbler and a dashing Merlin at 109.
My final and favourite bird experience of this second week of the challenge was the Great Northern Diver which flew over our YCN Birding Discovery Day group on Sunday. Stunning in its breeding plumage and uttering its evocative call, it was a fantastic surprise as we stood by Old Fall Plantation.
For all the latest Flamborough sightings, keep an eye on the Flamborough Bird Observatory web site here:
Richard Baines