Day 3

Started down south of the village at Old Hive. I was determined to find something/anything after yesterday's visit to Tunstall. Quite a few Meadow Pipits and Swallows heading south. All quiet after 30 minutes scanning the sycamores. Then a movement. More scanning. Nothing. Another 15 minutes. There, what's that?

My first Spotted Flycatcher (H.95)...

No big deal in the grand scheme of things but a BIG deal for me!

In the next half hour I didn't see it again. Seems I'm going to have to dig them out. I sent Gavin a text and he replied saying he'd twitch it! A couple of messages from down the road...Woodchat Shrike and Olive-backed Pipit! It's an amazing place.

I saw him coming over Mill Hill just as the MEGA alert started to drip...

East Yorkshire...not a Woodchat Shrike BUT a MASKED SHRIKE (P.145, S.110)

Oh dear!

A few phone calls and a short drive and we were all lined up on the Canal Bank looking at a first for Yorkshire and third for Britain (that still includes Scotland apparently).

I'd seen the first at Kilrenny, Scotland in 2004 BUT this was obviously a monster Yorkshire tick. Did I mention I'd missed 4 recently. Maybe only three or four times!

It was in the triangle but very distant, sheltering in the hedge behind Rose Cottage.

This is definitely a record shot/dot...

So. where did it come from? Somewhere over here...

Flew west instead of South!

I saw a few in Cyprus in Spring 1995.

An even smaller dot is this Great Grey Shrike (P.146, S.111) that popped up on the wires in North Field...

You'll have to take my word for it!

It was like a who's who of Yorkshire Birding with many recognizable faces. I even saw John Harriman who I hadn't seen for many years. During our chat I mentioned birding around Scunthorpe in the mid-eighties...30 years ago...frightening! Great to see him.

Eventually people started to disperse as it seemed settled in it's feeding area. It turned out that it stayed in the same area all day. As I made my way back to the car a message came over the radio..."dark phase Honey Buzzard (P.147, S.112) over the Crown and Anchor". A quick scan and I picked it up moving towards the point...

Distinctive jizz

A day of distant Spurn views you might say.