With the overnight rain persisting into Wednesday morning I was pretty slow in getting out into the field. I had to go into Scarborough, but decided on a quick check of the new viewpoint at Wykeham South Lake was in order. This proved to be a worthwhile move as a Little Tern flying over the lake was a very nice surprise. Disappointingly it didn't linger long and after about five minutes it departed high to the north-east. It remains a surprisingly rare and erratic visitor to the Scarborough Birders recording area. Since 1970 there have been just 17 records involving 27 individuals in the area and of these just two have been in the spring, illustrating its rarity in the area.
Continuing with my plan to head into Scarborough, I was on my way into town when a text from Steve Wignill gave me news of a Red-backed Shrike, so a further diversion found me at Scalby Beck, but disappointingly there was no sign of the shrike. Two Redstarts were clearly new in, but with other things I really need to get done I had to leave. Predictably the shrike reappeared after I left, but with other commitments dealt with I returned in the late afternoon to enjoy some nice views of this very smart bird. A couple of record shots are below.
It may come as a slight surprise that Red-backed Shrike is more regular in the area than Little Tern with at least 40 previous records in the area.
Continuing with my plan to head into Scarborough, I was on my way into town when a text from Steve Wignill gave me news of a Red-backed Shrike, so a further diversion found me at Scalby Beck, but disappointingly there was no sign of the shrike. Two Redstarts were clearly new in, but with other things I really need to get done I had to leave. Predictably the shrike reappeared after I left, but with other commitments dealt with I returned in the late afternoon to enjoy some nice views of this very smart bird. A couple of record shots are below.
It may come as a slight surprise that Red-backed Shrike is more regular in the area than Little Tern with at least 40 previous records in the area.
So after a most enjoyable day it was back to moorland surveys on Thursday morning. A pretty typical selection of North York Moors birds were recorded on the moors east of Scaling Dam although things were generally pretty quiet. The highlight of the morning here was a Hobby flying over heading east. On my way home I dropped in at Long Nab, where Nick Addey had found a Red-backed Shrike yesterday evening. I soon found it and enjoyed some nice views of this individual which was frequenting the ringing site and feeding well. A singing Sedge Warbler was also present, not a regular species here.