August 8, 2013 archive

Visit to Filey Dams : 8th August 2013

Visit to Filey Dams : 8th August 2013

On the morning of the 8th we had got up early and had a walk along Flamborough Cliffs before retuning to the Bempton Cliffs but since we were in the area there was one last place we wanted to visit and that was the one recommended to us at Spurn, the Yorkshire Wildlife Trust site at Filey Dams Wetlands , a freshwater marsh curiously situated in the middle of a bunch of newish housing estates. We had been told that it was fantastic for waders but it seemed a little unlikely at first as we drove around suburban housing estate streets looking for the entrance. We did eventually find it and parked up. There are a couple of hides and we started off at the left side hide, the so-called “Main Hide. Here there were a few Gadwall and a Mallard and a pair of Greylag Geese but not a lot else. We stayed for a while but eventually we decided to take the path to the right hand side to get to the “East Pool Hide” where things improved.

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Visit to RSPB Bempton Cliffs : 8th August 2013

Visit to RSPB Bempton Cliffs : 8th August 2013

On the morning of the 8th we got up early and had a walk along Flamborough Cliffs before retuning to the RSPB site at Bempton Cliffs where I meant to take my 500mm lens and leave my scope behind. It was far too hot to carry both so I decided that it would be interesting to take some pictures with my long lens so I could compare it to the digiscoped photos I had taken the day before at the same spot. I also wanted to try again to see Fulmars and Skuas. In the former case we were lucky getting really good views of two Fulmars, one coming straight at us and veering away only when it was nearly above us.
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Visit to Flamborough Cliffs: 8th August 2013

Visit to Flamborough Cliffs: 8th August 2013

We stayed at the North Star Hotel in Flamborough on the night of the 7th and rose early on the morning of the 8th for an early breakfast and an early (for us) walk along Flamborough Cliffs on an incredibly hot and sunny morning. In fact the temperatures were more like mid-day that 9am but it was beautifully still morning with only the noise of a farmer hay-making to break the sound of silence and birds. As we walked out of the hotel we immediately saw a flock of House Sparrows that were nesting in the roof space of the hotel and feeding in the corn field opposite. As we got to the cliffs a mixed bunch of Swallows and House Martins swooped around and the sound of Kittiwakes could be heard even before the cliffs were in sight. As we walked along the cliff path we saw a pair of birds fly above us and engage in a furious aerial battle – it turned out to be two Peregrines having a fight about something and going at it talon to talon until they disappeared into the distance still fighting.
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