North to Yorkshire

I went to ManorCon, a board games convention, held in Leicester on Friday July 15th. My only good bird while there was a Peregrine Falcon with young at Leicester Cathedral.

Peregrine Falcon

On Sunday 17th I took the train to Peterborough where David met me and he spent a little time showing me around his place of work, the RSPB reserve at Nene Marshes. After some tea we then drove to Scunthorpe in northern Lincolnshire for the night via a stop at the RSPB reserve at Blacktoft Sands which was a little disappointing except for a Common Snipe and a Spotted Redshank.

On Monday July 18th David and I headed to Hornsea Mere which sounded interesting but did not have a lot to offer. A large group of birds sat to the side of the parking area - Greylag and Canada Geese, Carrion Crows, Jackdaws, Eurasian Coot and Herring Gull -  but the mere itself held few birds. Only a Common Tern was of much interest.

Greylag x Canada Goose

Our next stop, the main purpose of the trip, were the breeding seabird colonies at Flamborough Head and Bempton. We parked in Bridlington and walked around the harbour running into a Barnacle Goose of dubious origin and my first Ruddy Turnstones of the year.

Barnacle Goose

As we boarded the Yorkshire Belle we saw Black-legged Kittiwakes on the harbour wall and heard three Sandwich Terns flying overhead. The boat trip was excellent and we had good views of the alcids on the rocks.

Black-legged Kittiwakes

Common Guillemot (Murre)

Atlantic Puffin

Razorbill

Our next stop was the RSPB Bempton Cliffs reserve and we got to see the colonies from above. This viewpoint was further along than the boat had gone and we got to see Northern Fulmars, Northern Gannets and Eurasian Shags as well.

Eurasian Shags

Northern Fulmars

Northern Gannet

This was the hottest day of the year - over 30C (86F) and to end the day we headed to a cooler spot - The North York Moors National Park - and we spent time in the cool woods around a stream where I added Willow Tit for the year. Taking a route back across the moors we saw several Yellowhammer.

Yellowhammer

We ended the day with a visit to the famous Beverley Minster located just a few metres form our hostel.