tern of the tide

Having spent a couple of days at the coast looking for waders, I found myself distracted by the sound of terns. A drowsy shoreline is made wilder by the creeking and squeeking of these art deco sculptures- the very essence of sleekness and speed. 

 

Hit

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z5fAWpv_axs 

Everything seemed to crank up after half-term and free time seemed to slip away quickly.  However there were some dirty hits of rare birds and twitchery that were too good to miss.  Adding to the Mediterranean flavour of the Yorkshire twitch a Roller pitched up at the end of June not far out of the Ely10 at Icklingham on the edge of the Brecks.  It took 5 days before I could squeeze in an after work visit but it was well worth it.  The flambouyant predator doing it's huge Shrikey thing from roadside wires.

A surprise came in the form of the return of a Black-browed Albatross to the cliffs at Bempton.  With the returning North Sea BB Albatross mauled and hacked by a flock of 9 Sea Eagles off the Danish coast earlier in the spring there was a general malaise about the prospects of an Albatross making it onto the cliffs of the Great White Cape again.  Seems there's been a second bird out there all along and there was jubilation as it returned and settled into some level of predictability.  During the late 80's as youngsters based in York we always fancifully dreamed, on our YOC trips to Bempton, that an Albatross would settle in the growing Gannetry - as one had done at Bass Rock from 1967 and then on Shetland from 1972 to 1995.  

Nonchalant to seafolk, Bass Rock hosted Albie from 1967 - 69

A pre-dawn drive led to a 5am arrival at the clifftop where within minutes I had my eyes on this iconic bird, although I have seen many Albatross on pelagics  off New Zealand and Australia, this was different and a tremendous buzz.  

With the rest of the day stretched ahead of me and one childhood dream fulfilled I started to hatch another plan.  During the early 90's I made several unsuccessful attempts to see Elsie, the returning Lesser Crested Tern, on the Farne Islands and Yorkshire coast.  Subsequently we found our own Elsie at the salt pans near Roquetas De Mar on a package holiday to Spain and another more recently in Morocco but I still had a yearning to see a yellow billed tern doing it's thing in a Sandwich Tern colony.  I'd been a bit surprised to miss the breeding Elegant Terns at Nourmoutier in France during a summer holiday a few years ago, so as I drove down the M18 I challenged myself to drive past the A1 turn off and head west on the M62.  3 hrs later I pulled into the car park at Cemlyn Bay on Anglesey hopeful of putting another youthful fancy to bed.  I loved Cemlyn Bay - a pair of Black Guillemot bobbed around in the moon shaped bay and Chough charred over head.  Walking the shingle the cacophony of the tern colony heightened and I was pleased to see that the nesting island was very close - any views I had of the summering Elegant Tern would be epic.  An indeed they were.

3am Eternal

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HDsCeC6f0zc

More birding the candle at both ends during a trip to the Northlands to see family in late May.  There was evening news of both a spanking adult Lesser Grey Shrike and a party of 9 Beeaters pinned down to a roost beneath the decaying gothic grandeur of Whitby Abbey - irresistible.  I set my alarm for 3 am and stumbled into the gloaming  it was already light in the east and the dawn chorus was starting.  The drive to Whitby is always enjoyable - crossing vale, dale and moor before taking in a spectacular view of the yorkshire coastline.  This morning it was sublime and I stopped to listen to the song of Redstart, grumbling of Red Grouse and Curlew trembling the air.  

The first view of the coast floored me.  A bank of thick, contoured cloud was settled low over the sea with the sun rising into a clear sky of tangerine through to peach and deep blue above.  The coast and the outline of the Abbey set against that.  Very special.

Not long after dawn I heard the gorgeous tremulous exuberant exotica of Beeater calls from within the little valley but couldn't see the birds.  A bit of searching and moving around to get a view and 7 of the 9 beauties were on view.

After drinking these beauties in I decided to look for the Shrike.  I had a hope that I might be able to watch the Shrike and the Beeaters at the same time and the Beeaters were becoming more vocal and ready to depart.  A quick hack across a field and I was enjoying a cracking bird, really handsome.  To top it off the Beeater calls started to crescendo and the flock of 9 swirled over head and regrouped to head south along the coast.  I was back home for breakfast and a day with the family - all credit intact.

slow life

 

emergence