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Flamborough Foot-it Part 1: Off to a Flyer!
Fri 5th Sep, 2014
Volunteering for a cause you believe in is such a joy, and my role on the conservation working group of Flamborough Bird Observatory offers me a wonderful opportunity to help a fantastic team build better habitat for birds and other wildlife on the ‘Great White Cape’ of Flamborough Headland. My personal autumn project is a ‘Foot-it’ challenge which involves me seeing or hearing as many bird species as possible during September and October. The rule is I only record species in the FBO area after setting out on foot from my home near the lighthouse. Nothing spotted from car, bike, boat or roller-skates counts! See here for more details: Flamborough Migration Foot-it Challenge.
So here we are lunch time on 4th September. Three and a half days of plod have got me off to a great start. My first species at dawn on 1st was the inevitable Woodpigeon but within minutes I was on the cliff-top searching for seabirds. The weather on Monday was a bit too benign for seawatching, although when every species is new it’s all exciting! Amongst the passing terns flew a Mediterranean Gull, but it was weird seeing so few auks when only a few weeks ago they were everywhere!
My priority is scarce migrants based on the assumption (risky business) that I can always ‘clean up’ on common stuff later. So my next stop was the Bay Brambles for migrant songbirds and here, thanks to birder friend Martin Garner popping up from behind a bramble bush, I managed to nail a Wryneck.
Off to Old Fall where thanks to recent heavy rain (close your ears if you’re a farmer!) flooded fields have created some lovely wader habitat. Little Stint and Curlew Sandpiper are very scarce birds here, so special ticks! After such a good start I decided to do a long plod which was rewarded with some tricky species; Shoveler, Little Grebe and Grey Partridge all falling in quick succession near Northcliff Marsh.
Day Two dawned with northerly winds and the promise of better seabird passage. And so it came to pass! Three hours perched on the cliff with a team of birders produced Sooty, Manx and Balearic Shearwaters; Arctic, Great and Long-tailed Skuas. The long-staying Barred Warbler was next before birding guilt and work commitments took over! In between typing I managed to leg it 200 metres from the office to twitch two Caspian Gulls lounging around in a nearby ploughed field.
Day Three: I was up at the crack of dawn and hoofing it to South Landing for more waders. Despite the low tide, however, there were hardly any on show. A walk back to Old Fall held more promise and didn’t disappoint with Pied and Spotted Flycatchers and a Redstart.
So by noon on Day Four I have reached 100 species, with Spotted Flycatcher a lovely bird for the iconic number - although it was very nearly Greylag Goose!
Running total for sponsor money: I have been collecting sponsorship for several weeks and as of 4th Sept I have £621.00 in the pot! If you would like to sponsor me please send me an email.
richard.baines@yorkshirecoastnature.co.uk
Richard Baines