Black-browed Albatross at Bempton Cliffs - A Dream Morning

There are some birds that I never expect to see, either in the UK or elsewhere.  Black-browed Albatross, or any Albatross for that matter, is one of those birds. I'm unlikely to ever find myself on a bespoke trip in the Southern Atlantic, and I'm not really one for spending days looking out to sea on the off-chance that one day one will drift through my telescope view as a blurry blob in the haze.  So the chances of seeing one were virtually zero. Until Thursday 2nd July 2020.  

During that evening two birders on Bempton Cliffs were lucky enough to come across one as it drifted above them, eventually landing with a small group of Gannets on the cliff top. It stuck around for a while allowing a few lucky people great views. The Gannets weren't too happy with it and pushed it off; it left the cliffs and flew strongly north past Filey Brigg and was last seen briefly further north again. 

Although I expected it to have headed off along the coast never to be seen again, I thought it would be worth taking a chance so I headed over to Bempton Cliffs for dawn the next day, speculatively hoping it would appear at some point during the day, but not really expecting it. If there was no Albatross it wouldn't have been a wasted day as Bempton is one of the best sites in the country, always something interesting to look at and a spectacular place to be. 

I arrived before dawn and sat in the car as it got a little lighter.  At dawn it was misty and raining lightly, and I headed down to New Roll-up viewpoint where there were around five others looking in all directions. One was a local and after around 15 minutes he took a phone call from a friend who was a couple of miles down the coast at Flamborough Head. I couldn't believe the news that was being relayed - the Albatross was flying around the north side of the Headland. It should have been visible distantly through the various scopes that were desperately trained in the direction of Flamborough, but it was murky and no-one could pick it up.

There was a difficult decision to be made - should we leave and head to Flamborough, which would have taken around 20 minutes in total, by which time it could have drifted north and we would have missed it.  Two of the small group left and took the chance, the rest of us remained in place and preyed it would move closer towards Bempton.  A handful of others arrived.  A couple more phone calls suggested it was still there, but the news this time was that it seemed to be slowly moving out form North Landing up the coast. At this point I realised I might have a chance of seeing this bird and things got serious.  Someone spotted it, moving out to sea in the distance, surely it wasn't going to dissapear? It veered back in towards the coast, but into one of the many bays and out of site.  

It came out of Thornwick Bay between Flamborough and Bempton and a couple more of the group got onto it before it went back into the next bay, but importantly it was getting closer. It then again came out from behind one of the cliff points and I saw it - huge, unmistakable, majestic. The Albatross continued towards us, around the corner again into Staple Newk.

The Albatross spent the next ten minutes flying in and out of the cove, trying to land with the Gannets but never quite making it. I moved down to Staple Newk itself and briefly got some shots of it a little closer as it glided in and out.  It then drifted north past my previous viewpoint and out of sight further north. Everyone present was ecstatic.

Over the next couple of hours it wasn't seen again but more people were arriving, and by late morning there were several hundred people on the cliff tops. A huge roar was suddenly heard around 11am as the bird re-appeared from the North end of the cliffs, lingering for a while at various points and giving stunning views as it drifted within metres of those crammed on the various viewpoints. I actually saw some jumping up and down with excitement and high-fiving as it flew past them.

In the interim few hours it had been sat on the cliffs somewhere, evident by the patch of mud it had acquired on its breast.

The Albatross looped around again then moved quickly north along the cliffs, and was soon gone from the Bempton area as it presumably continued up the coast.

Despite more people arriving through the afternoon and the next morning it didn't appear again and had clearly moved on.

This is without doubt the best bird I have seen in the UK, and to experience it at such a great location as Bempton Cliffs was a special morning.

Thanks for looking!

Post Lockdown Asian Desert Warbler, Northumberland

As lockdown was coming to an end in June, an Asian Desert Warbler was found on Lindisfarne in Northumberland, and it was great to get out again and travel for this special bird. I arrived on the Thursday evening, too late as a search for an hour at dusk suggested it might have departed.  After an interesting night on Lindisfarne causeway in the car (hoping the tide wouldn't get too high!) a few hours later at dawn it was located by its song and continued to move amongst the small trees in the dunes for a couple of hours.  It was around all morning and then was gone by the evening, not seen the next day.

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Black-throated Thrush Double

Some images of the terrific adult Black-throated Thrush that spent several weeks at Whipsnade in Bedfordshire in December 2019:

 

A little closer to home, another bird found at Grimsby in January 2020:

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Shetland 2019

Here are some highlights from a great trip to Shetland in late September and early October 2019

A nice start with a Red-breasted Flycatcher in the iris beds at Quendale:

Pied Flycatcher, catching flies, Hoswick:

The first of two Greenish Warblers, this one at Levenwick without tail feathers:

Little Bunting at Sumburgh Lighthouse:

The superb Turkestan Shrike around gardens and fields at Levenwick:

Arctic Tern with Sand Eel at Grutness:

The Semipalmated Sandpiper, a long-stayer at Gutcher beach:

A Snowy Owl had been reported in the north Mainland area of Ronas Hill (the highest point in Shetland).  The target bird for one day required a trek into a huge area of boulders and bogs and lochs. 

Setting off from the radio mast around Ronas Hill:

The area the Snowy Owl had previously been seen:

After a fair bit of searching the bird was located distantly tucked into a hole on a small hillside on the far side of the summit:

Closer views of the Owl:

After a long walk back to the car, it was time to go from the Arctic to the Tropics with a nearby Bee-eater only a few miles away at Ollaberry:

Red-backed Shrike picking insects from the side of the road at Gott:

Orcas had been reported regularly around the islands, and towards the end of the week I was in Lerwick when news cam out that a pod was in the south around St. Ninian's Island.  30 minutes later I was there but they had already headed north.  The only option was to drive ahead of them which wasn't easy as there were few roads to get down to the west coast where the whales were likely to be.  I took the decision to drive all the way up to Scalloway and down the Burra peninsula to hopefully intercept them.  After a few wrong turns, I got lucky and ended up on East Burra where a few people were gathered as they headed towards us.

A bull and calf Orca heading past us north in Clift Sound:

Two of the pod of 8 surfacing as they pass the waiting crowds at Wester Quarff:

Later nearby in Scalloway a couple of Waxwings were located in one of the gardens.

The highlight of the following day was another Greenish Warbler, this one showing well at Cunningsburgh:

The last couple of days were relatively quiet, with no new rarities being found.  

A Garden Warbler and Redpolls at Quendale:

One of several Yellow-browed Warblers also at Quendale:

A nice Short-toed Lark was found nearby south of Quendale:

A Merlin terrorising the Meadow Pipits at Quendale Mill:

The final day was spent watching the SemiP Sandpiper again at Gutcher, awaiting the time to head to the ferry.  There was still time for some final excitement though, as news came through of a Bonelli's Warbler on Burra.  As this was almost on the way to the ferry in Lerwick a mad dash ensued to get to the location.  There were at least 50 people looking into a dense area of hedgerow, and the warbler was soon located again, giving brief but close views before another dash to the ferry for the long journey home:

Leaving Lerwick, Shetland, October 2019:

Thanks for looking!