Quick overnight trip up to
Flamborough Head to sort out a house sit this week was pleasing enough though it did rain a lot and there wasn't much doing bird wise ... plenty of
Gannets moving North & South off the Head itself plus a few
Common Scoter, Meadow Pipits in off the sea and a single
Arctic Skua and
Red Throated Diver was all I could manage. Clearing skies and a burst of evening sunshine made a brief visit to South Landing, the site of Yorkshire Wildlife's splendid
Living Seas Centre, made the trip worthwhile though.
I went a bit snap happy with a female
Kestrel that was hunting along the cliff top .... not all as sharp as I wanted but considering that the majority of my images are hand held shots, not bad. So here's my hunting
Kestrel cameo .....
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| Kestrel series1, South Landing, Flamborough |
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| Kestrel series2, South Landing, Flamborough |
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| Kestrel series3, South Landing, Flamborough |
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| Kestrel series4, South Landing, Flamborough |
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| Kestrel series5, South Landing, Flamborough |
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| Kestrel series6, South Landing, Flamborough |
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| Kestrel series7, South Landing, Flamborough |
Kestrels are one of our most masterful of birds, sadly on a bit of a decline at the moment, they're synonymous with the British countryside and we've all seen them hovering by the roadside. Its those funny 'sticky out' feathers on their forewings (called
alula or
bastard wings and easy to see on the above pics) that enable them to hover in the sky as they scan the ground for prey... anything from small voles to earthworms.
Back on the shoreline, the tide was well up and the amongst the small selection of waders probing around I was intrigued by one that was noticeably bigger than the half dozen or so
Dunlins ... frustratingly it didn't hang about but when it flew off I saw no white rump which would have made it a
Curlew Sandpiper ... damn it could have been a
Pectoral Sandpiper. No time for a pic either ... damn... another one gets away!
Got some nice close ups of
Dunlin and
Turnstone though .... all turning into Winter plumage but all looking good in the evening light
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| Turnstone, South Landing, Flamborough |
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| Dunlin, South Landing, Flamborough |
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| Dunlin2, South Landing, Flamborough |
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| Juv Eider Duck, South Landing, Flamborough |
Out to sea there was a single
Eider Duck, looked like a young one to me ... not the best of pics but at least the sea looks good!
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The Van.... Thornwick Bay, Flamborough
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And so, after a meal and a couple of pints in
Flamborough village, time for bed ... and ok it rained all night but what a place to wake up in the morning.....
Looks like I'll be doing a house sit in a lovely little cottage looking after 3 lovely cats mid October .... peak time for winter birds coming in...should be good!
